Part Four
II-F-1. General Publications - The Big War, 1964-1972: Airborne
and Airmobile
Bird, Annette and Tim Prouty. The Sam Bird Story. Wichita,
KS(?), 1993(?).
Sam Bird served in the First Cav approximately Jan 1966
to Jan 1967.
Brennan, Matthew. Brennan's War: Vietnam 1965-1969. Novato, CA:
Presidio, 1985.
Memoir by a man who served in the First Air Cavalry. A
good look at the way the best American regular units
operated.
Brennan, Matthew, ed. Headhunters: Stories from the 1st
Squadron, 9th Cavalry, in Vietnam 1965-1971. Novato, CA:
Presidio, 1987. Pb New York: Pocket Books, 1988.
Brennan, Matthew, ed. Hunter Killer Squadron: Aero-weapons,
Aero-scouts, Aero-Rifles, Vietnam 1965-1972. Novato, CA:
Presidio, 1990. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1992.
Burford, John. LRRP Team Leader. New York: Ivy, 1994. 214 pp.
The book does not make Burford's biography clear; he
joined the Army in 1960, but may have left it and then
rejoined it at some point, before being sent to Vietnam in
July 1968 to join Company F, 58th Infantry, the LRP company
attached to the 101st Airborne Division. (This company was
later reorganized as Company L, 75th Infantry (Ranger);
presumably Burford made this shift.)
Chambers, Larry. Recondo: LRRPs in the 101st. New York: Ivy
Books, (1993?).
Clodfelter, Michael. Mad Minutes and Vietnam Months. Hb
apparently Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1988; pb New
York: Zebra Books, 1989.
By a soldier who served in Vietnam with the 101st
Airborne from July 1965 to December 1966.
Coleman, J.D. Pleiku: The Dawn of Helicopter Warfare in Vietnam.
New York: St. Martin's, 1988.
Covers the first battles between U.S. troops (the 1st
Cavalry Division) and the NVA, in what is usually called the
Battle of the Ia Drang, autumn 1965.
Coleman, J.D. Incursion. New York: St. Martin's, 1991.
This book is both broader and narrower than is
suggested by the title, which refers to the attack on the
Cambodian sanctuaries, May 1970. Coleman, who was an
information officer with the 1st Cavalry from April 1969 to
April 1970, concentrates on the 1st Cavalry, but runs the
story back to 1968 instead of concentrating on events of
1970.
Ericson, Don and John L. Rotundo. Charlie Rangers. New York:
Ivy Books, 1989.
A joint memoir by two men both of whom arrived in
Vietnam in September 1969 to join the 173d Airborne Brigade
(both had in fact wanted to go to Vietnam), and went to
Company C, 75th Infantry (Charlie Rangers), a large and
highly regarded recon company. Ericson was happy to leave at
the end of his one-year tour; Rotundo chose to extend his
tour voluntarily to March 1971.
Estep, James L. Comanche Six: Company Commander, Vietnam.
Novato, CA: Presidio, 1991. pb New York: Dell, 1992.
Estep served four tours in Vietnam: as a Special Forces
sergeant 11/62 to 11/63; a Special Forces officer 1/65 to
1/66; a company commander in the First Air Cavalry (the main
focus of this book) from late 1967 until he was seriously
wounded north of Hue 3/68; and at the ARVN NCO Academy 7/72
to 3/73. Names have been changed, and sometimes also the
identities of units operating together with Estep's.
Gadd, Charles. Line Doggie: Foot Soldier in Vietnam. Novato,
CA: Presidio, 1987.
Gadd served a one-year tour with the 101st Airborne
Division (1/501 Bn) starting in December 1967.
Goebel, Ulf. Sgt. Ed Arthur's Nam. Westerville, OH: Dakar,
1974.
Arthur served with the First Air Cavalry.
Hymoff, Edward. The First Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam. New
York: Lads, 1967.
Alternate data says this is The First Air Cavalry
Division: Vietnam. New York: Ladd, 1966.
Johnson, Lawrence H. III. Winged Sabres: The Air Cavalry in
Vietnam. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1990.
Jorgenson, Kregg P.J. Acceptable Loss. New York: Ivy Books,
1991.
Jorgenson arrived in Vietnam in September 1969 as a
nineteen-year old sergeant assigned to the 1st Cavalry
Division. He served as a Ranger/LRRP, and later in a Blue
Team.
Kane, Rod. Veteran's Day: A Combat Oddyssey. New York: Crown,
1990. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1991.
The author was a medic with the First Air Cavalry.
Leppelman, John. Blood on the Risers: An Airborne Soldier's
Thirty-five Months in Vietnam. New York: Ivy Books, 1991.
Leppelman joined the 173d Airborne Brigade in February
1967. Extremely bitter about what he regarded as lousy
weapons and lousy officers, he transferred first to riverine
forces, and eventually the Rangers.
Linderer, Gary A. The Eyes of the Eagle. New York: Ivy Books,
1991.
The author served in an LRP Company (F Company, 58th
Infantry) of the 101st Airborne Division. This book covers
his service in Vietnam from June to December of 1968.
Linderer, Gary A. Eyes Behind the Lines. New York: Ivy Books,
1991.
Sequel to The Eyes of the Eagle. Covers the months up
to the author's departure from Vietnam in June 1969.
Linderer, Gary A. Black Berets and Painted Faces: The Story of a
LRP in Vietnam.
Book club edition combining both of Linderer's books in
a single volume.
Luttrell, Richard A. All Her Boys. (Carlton Press), 192 pp.
Memoir by a man who served with the 101st Airborne.
Mertel, Col. Kenneth D. Year of the Horse - Vietnam. Exposition
Press, 1968; pb Bantam, 1990.
Mertel arrived in Vietnam in 1965 as commander of the
1st Battalion, Airborne, 8th Cavalry, in the 1st Air Cavalry
Division. (The book says virtually nothing about Mertel's
previous tour, apparently 1962-63, in Vietnam.)
Moore, Lt. Gen. Harold G. and Joseph L. Galloway. We Were
Soldiers Once . . . and Young. New York: Random House,
1992.
The battle of the Ia Drang, 1965. Moore was a
battalion commander; Galloway witnessed the battle as a
journalist.
Murphy, Edward F. Dak To: The 173d Airborne Brigade in South
Vietnam's Central Highlands, June-November 1967. Novato,
CA: Presidio, 1993. 384 pp.
Oplinger, Jon. Quang Tri Cadence: Memoir of a Rifle Platoon
Leader in the Mountains of Vietnam. McFarland, (1994?).
214 pp.
Oplinger arrived in Vietnam June 1968, and commanded a
platoon in D Company, 2/5, First Cav, for three months
before being evacuated with serious wounds.
Sefton, Col. G. William. It Was My War: I'll Remember it the Way
I Want To. Manhattan, KS: Sunflower University Press,
(1994?).
Silver, Benjamin S. Ride at a Gallop. Waco, TX: Davis Brothers
Publishing, 1990. 404 pp.
The development of the 11th Air Assault Division
(Test)/1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), 196365, by an
officer who participated as commander of the 228th Assault
Support Helicopter Battalion (Chinooks).
Stanton, Shelby L. Anatomy of a Division: The 1st Cav in
Vietnam. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1987.
II-F-2. General Publications - The Big War, 1964-1972: The
Climax: Tet and the Battle of Khe Sanh
Agence France Presse. Vietnam: L'heure decisive. L'Offensive du
Tet (fevrier 1968). Paris: Robert Laffont, 1968.
Hammel, Eric. Fire in the Streets: The Battle for Hue, Tet 1968
Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1991.
Hammel, Eric. Khe Sanh, Siege in the Clouds: An Oral History
New York: Crown, 1989.
Krohn, Charles A. The Lost Battalion: Controversy and Casualties
in the Battle of Hue. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1993. 224 pp.
The 2/12 Cav (1st Cav Division), sent without adequate
support to attack a strong PAVN force on the outskirts of
Hue, Feb. 3 1968. Author was the battalion's intelligence
officer.
Nolan, Keith W. Battle for Hue: Tet 1968. Novato, CA: Presidio,
1983. Pb New York: Dell, 1985.
Oberdorfer, Don. Tet. New York: Doubleday, 1971. (pb New York:
Avon, 1972).
Pisor, Robert. The End of the Line: The Siege of Khe Sanh. New
York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1982.
A big conventional battle out in the hills, that
occurred at about the same time as the Tet Offensive (early
1968).
Prados, John and Ray W. Stubbe. Valley of Decision: The Siege of
Khe Sanh. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1991 (pb New York:
Dell, 1993).
Stockwell, David B. Tanks in the Wire: The First Use of Enemy
Armor in Vietnam. New York: Jove, 1990.
The PAVN attack on the Lang Vei Special Forces Camp,
1968. The accuracy of this book has been questioned.
II-F-3. General Publications - The Big War, 1964-1972: The Hue
Massacre.
Bullington, James. "And here, see Hue!" Foreign Service Journal,
November 1968.
Bullington, a foreign service officer, successfully
remained hidden while the Communists were occupying Hue.
Herman, Edward S. and D. Gareth Porter. "The Myth of the Hue
Massacre." Ramparts. May-June 1975.
Porter, D. Gareth and Len E. Ackland. {title unknown}. The
Christian Century, November 5, 1969.
A very early effort to debunk the Hue Massacre of 1968.
Information rebutting this article (or perhaps a summary of
it that had appeared in The New York Times) was entered into
the Congressional Record, May 21, 1970, pp. 16502-16521, by
Senator Gordon Allott of Colorado. An interchange between
Allott and Barry Goldwater, in which Goldwater was making
preposterous charges against the press, appears on pp.
16520-16521.
Porter, D. Gareth. "U.S. Political Warfare in Vietnam - The 1968
'Hue Massacre'." Indochina Chronicle, no. 33. (24 June
1974), reprinted in Congressional Record, 19 February 1975.
Vennema, Alje. The Viet Cong Massacre at Hue. Vantage Press,
1976.
See Herman & Chomsky, vol. 1, p. 433, n. 193, for
doubts as to the reliability of this work.
II-F-4. General Publications - The Big War, 1964-1972: The My Lai
Massacre.
Bilton, Michael and Kevin Sim. Four Hours in My Lai. New York:
Viking, 1992.
Calley, William L. as told to John Sack. Lieutenant Calley: His
Own Story. New York: Tempo, 1974.
Lieutenant Calley commanded the unit that actually
conducted the My Lai massacre.
Everett, Arthur, Kethryn Johnson, and Harry F. Rosenthal.
Calley. pb New York: Dell, 1971.
Gershen, Martin. Destroy or Die: The True Story of Mylai. New
Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1971.
Goldstein, Joseph, Burke Marshall, and Jack Schwartz. The My Lai
Massacre and its Cover-up: Beyond the Reach of Law? The
Peers Commission Report with a Supplement and Introductory
Essay on the Limits of Law. New York: The Free Press, 1976.
The bulk of the volume is made up of of the official
report of a U.S. Army inquiry headed by General William R.
Peers. Goldstein, Marshall, and Schwartz, who have added an
introductory essay, and a selection of relevant documents,
comment that the report was not really written by any
commission, but by General Peers as an individual.
Greenhaw, Wayne. The Making of a Hero: The Story of Lieutenant
William Calley Jr. Louisville, KY: Touchstone, 1971.
Hammer, Richard. One Morning in the War: The Tragedy at Son My.
New York: Coward-McCann, 1970.
Hammer, Richard. The Court-martial of Lt. Calley. New York:
Coward-McCann, 1971.
Hersh, Seymour M. My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and its
Aftermath. New York: Random House, 1970.
Hersh, Seymour M. Cover-Up. New York: Random House, 1972.
A civilian reporter's version of the My Lai massacre
and its cover-up.
McCarthy, Mary. Medina. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1972.
Peers, General William R. The My Lai Inquiry. New York: Norton,
1979.
The story of the inquiry into the My Lai massacre, by
the general who headed the enquiry.
Tiede, Tom. Calley: Soldier or Killer?. New York: Pinnacle,
1971.
Wilson, Col. William V. "I Had Prayed to God that this thing was
Fiction." American Heritage. February 1990, pp. 44-52.
II-G. General Publications - Books by U.S. Generals and Admirals
Kinnard, Douglas. The War Managers: American Generals Reflect on
Vietnam. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1977
(pb, with new foreword and new photos, New York: Da Capo,
1991).
Kinnard was a US general who took a survey among a
"lot" of other US generals who had served in Vietnam, asking
them their opinions of the war, and published this book
summarizing what they told him.
Rowny, Edward L. It Takes One to Tango. Brassey's US, (1993?).
Not much of this memoir deals with Vietnam, but it does
include information on Rowny's participation in developing
the concept of air cavalry, and on Nixon-Kissinger
differences in regard to Vietnam policy.
Walt, Lewis. Strange War, Strange Strategy. Funk & Wagnalls,
1970. 234 pp.
Commander of U.S. Marines in Vietnam, 1965-1967.
Westmoreland, General William. A Soldier Reports. New York:
Doubleday, 1976.
Memoirs of the man who commanded U.S. forces in Vietnam
from 1964 to 1968. Warning: there are differences not only
in page numbering but in at least one place (pp. 1012)
actually in words between the original hardcover (New York:
Doubleday, 1976) and the paperback (New York: Dell, 1980).
Zumwalt, Admiral Elmo. On Watch. New York: Quadrangle/New York
Times Books, 1976.
Admiral Zumwalt was Chief of Naval Operations from 1970
to 1974.
II-H. General Publications - U.S. Soldiers on the Ground
Anderson, Charles. The Grunts. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1976.
Story of one operation by a Marine infantry company
very close to the DMZ (the boundary between South and North
Vietnam), May & June 1969. Day after day of exhausting
marches through the sun, without seeing any enemy troops,
and then an enemy mortar scores a direct hit on the Marines'
ammunition stockpile and the explosion kills thirteen men.
Unpleasant, but very much worth reading.
Baker, Kenneth W. Alone in the Valley. Pompano Beach:
Exposition Press, 1967.
Baker, Mark. Nam: The Vietnam War in the Words of the Men and
Women Who Fought There. New York: Morrow, 1981.
Bergerud, Eric M. Red Thunder, Tropic Lightning: The World of a
Combat Division in Vietnam. Boulder: Westview, 1993.
Slightly more than half of this very useful work is
oral history interviews with veterans of the 25th Infantry
Division.
Berry, F. Clifton. Chargers. Bantam, 158pp.
About the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.
Bradfield, Carl W. The Blue Spaders Vietnam: A Private's
Account. Lakeland, FL: ASDA Publishing, 1992.
Bradford, Alfred S. Some Even Volunteered: The First Wolfhounds
Pacify Vietnam. Westport: Praeger, 1994. 192 pp.
Bradford, now a professor of ancient history, served
with the 1/27 Infantry, part of the 25th Infantry Division,
September 1968 to August 1969. The main focus is on
operations in Tri Tam District, south of Dau Tieng
Brant, Toby L. Journal of a Combat Tanker: Vietnam, 1969. New
York: Vantage Press, 1988. 134 pp.
Brown, F.C. Delta Advisor: The War at the Rice Roots Level: Chau
Doc, Vietnam, 1969-70. Merriam, 1990.
Brown, John M.G. Rice Paddy Grunt: Unfading Memories of the
Vietnam Generation. Lake Bluff, IL: Regnery, 1986.
By a soldier who later joined the anti-war movement.
Camp, Col. Richard D. Jr., with Eric Hammel. Lima-6: A Marine
Company Commander in Vietnam. New York: Athenium, 1989.
295 pp.
The author served in the area near Highway 9, from Dong
Ha to Khe Sanh, from June 1967 to January 1968.
Caputo, Philip. A Rumor of War. New York: Holt, Rinehart, &
Winston, 1977. Pb New York: Ballantine, 1978.
Memoirs of a Marine Corps Lieutenant who was with one
of the first US ground units to arrive in Vietnam in early
1965. He served for about a year, in the northern section
of South Vietnam around Danang. He ended up getting
court-martialled for the killing of a Vietnamese civilian. A
very good account.
Carhart, Tom. The Offering. Pb New York: Warner, 1988. (Hb
Morrow 1987?)
Memoir by a 1966 West Point graduate who arrived in
Vietnam at the end of 1967, and served first with the 101st
Airborne, later as an advisor. Possibly fictionalized in
places.
Christian, David and William Hoffer. Victor Six. hb apparently
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990. pb New York: Pocket Books,
1991.
Ads for this book say that David Christian was at one
time the youngest, and later the most decorated, U.S.
officer in Vietnam. He served 1968-69. He was a LRRP, and
commanded a platoon of the 26th Infantry Division, and was
involved in operations into Cambodia before the overt U.S.
invasion of Cambodia.
Clark, Johnnie M. Guns Up!. pb New York: Ballantine, 1988.
The author was a USMC machine gunner.
Coe, Charles. Young Man in Vietnam 1968. Reprinted with new
preface: New York: Scholastic, 1990.
Intended for young readers but not euphemized. Coe was
a Marine lieutenant.
Cook, Lt. Col. John L. The Advisor. Dorrance, 1973. pb
(probably repaginated) New York: Bantam, 1987.
Downs, Frederick Jr. The Killing Zone. New York: Norton, 1978
(paperback Berkley, 1983).
Very good account by an infantry lieutenant who served
in central Vietnam (partly in a populated area near the
coast, partly in the highlands) from about mid 1967 to early
January of 1968. A good picture of the way average American
units operated.
Downs, Frederick Jr. Aftermath. New York: Norton, 1984
(paperback Berkley, 1985).
Continuation of the above: story of Downs' recovery
after having his arm blown off by a booby trap January 11,
1968. Includes as few interesting facts about his previous
combat service that hadn't gotten into his first book.
Ebert, James R. A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in
Vietnam, 1965-1972. Novato: Presidio. 456 pp.
Apparently an oral history.
Edelman, Bernard, ed. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam.
New York: Norton, 1985. Paperback New York: Pocket Books,
1986.
Ehrhart, W.D. Vietnam Perkasie: A Combat Marine's Memoir. (hb
Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1983?) pb New York: Zebra, 1985.
Ehrhart did intelligence work as a private, later
corporal, with the 1/1 Marines in Vietnam from early 1967 to
early 1968; was wounded in Hue February 1968.
Estes, Jack. A Field of Innocence. Pb New York: Warner, 1990.
Flesch, Ron. Redwood Delta. New York: Berkley, 1988.
By a Marine who served near Danang, 1965-66.
Ford, Gary Douglas. 4/4: A LRP's Narrative. New York: Ivy
Books, 1993.
Ford arrived in Vietnam in July 1967, was assigned to
173d Airborne Brigade, transferred to Company F, LRP, 51st
Infantry, attached to 199th Light Infantry Brigade, served
until early 1969.
Frey, Bill. Letters from Nam. edited by Bradshaw Frey. pb New
York: Warner, (1993?).
William Frey, a 25th Divison LRRP, was killed in April
1968; his tour was almost over at the time.
Garland, Ltc. Albert N., ed. Infantry in Vietnam: Small Unit
Actions in the Early Days, 1965-66. Nashville: Battery
Press, 1967; pb New York: Jove, 1985.
Garland, Ltc. Albert N., ed. A Distant Challenge: The US
Infantryman in Vietnam, 1967-1972. Nashville: Battery
Press, 1983.
Gober, Mac and William R. Kimball. Unchained
Gober, a Marine, returned from Vietnam very violent,
joined a motorcycle gang.
Goff, Stanley and Robert Sanders, with Clark Smith. Brothers:
Black Soldiers in the Nam. Novato, CA: Presidio Press,
1982.
Graham, Robert. "Vietnam: An Infantryman's View of Our Failure."
Military Affairs, XLVIII:3 (July 1984), pp. 133-139.
Hackworth, Col. David H. and Julie Sherman. About Face: The
Odyssey of an American Warrior. New York: Simon & Schuster,
1989.
A condensed edition has been published under the title
Brave Men. Pocket Books, 1993?. A memoir by a man who,
according to the dust-jacket, was the youngest full colonel
in Vietnam and America's most decorated living soldier, but
left the Army in 1971 after publicly denouncing American
policy in Vietnam.
Hall, Captain Ed. Y. Valley of the Shadow. Spartanburg, SC:
Honoribus Press, 1986.
Hall served as an advisor to the ARVN in III Corps and
the Rung Sat, 1966-1967.
Helle, Roger L. and William R. Kimball. Pointman.
Helle, a Marine, served three tours.
Hemingway, Al. Our War was Different: Marine Combined Action
Platoons in Vietnam. Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute, 1994
(forthcoming).
Previously announced as A Different Kind of War: An
Oral History of the USMC Combined Action Platoons 196571
Henderson, Charles. Marine Sniper: 93 confirmed kills.
Briarcliff Manor, NY: Stein and Day, 1986.
Book about (not by) the champion sniper Carlos
Hathcock.
Henderson, Charles. Marshalling the Faithful: The Marines' First
Year in Vietnam. New York: Berkeley, 1993. 460 pp.
Herbert, Lt. Col. Anthony. Soldier. New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston, 1973. 497 pp.
Memoir by a pretty competent officer who didn't get
along with his superiors, and got canned.
Herrod, Randy. Blue's Bastards. Washington: Regnery Gateway,
1989.
Herrod was a Marine private who was put on trial for
murdering Vietnamese peasants; Oliver North's testimony
helped him win acquittal. A review of this book in
Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute, November 1990, says
that Herrod was guilty, and that the book is a pack of lies.
Hirsch, Phil, ed. Vietnam Combat: Brutal stories of men fighting
a dirty war. New York: Pyramid, 1967. 173 pp.
Articles originally published in Man's Magazine, 1963-
66.
Hymoff, Edward. Fourth Infantry Division: Vietnam. New York:
Lads or Ladd.
Jaunal, Jack W. Vietnam '68: Jack's Journal. San Francisco:
Denson Press, 1981. iv, 164 pp.
Memoir by an NCO who served in the Third Amphibian
Tractor Battalion, and the First Reconnaissance Battalion
supporting the First Marine Division, in the Danang area.
Kelly, Jeff. DMZ Diary: A Combat Marine's Vietnam Memoir.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992.
Kelly was in 3/3 Marines 1968, as a forward air
controller.
Kimball, William R. Vietnam: The Other Side of Glory. pb
Ballantine.
Kimball served briefly as a mortarman with the 1st Air
Cavalry in 1968. He is now a minister, works with Vietnam
vets. This is not his story, but the stories of 14 other
vets.
Kitchin, Dennis. War in Aquarius: Memoir of an American
Infantryman in Action Along the Cambodian Border During the
Vietnam War. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994.
Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1976.
Kovic was a Marine, whose wounds left him paralyzed
from the waist down.
Lanning, Michael Lee. The Only War We Had. New York: Ivy Books,
1987.
Account by a lieutenant who served with the 199th Light
Infantry Brigade in 1969.
Lanning, Michael Lee. Vietnam, 1969-1970: A Company Commander's
Journal. New York: Ivy Books, 1988.
Continuation of Lanning's previous book.
Lehrack, Otto J. No Shining Armor: The Marines at War in
Vietnam, An Oral History. Lawrence: University Press of
Kansas, 1992.
The 3/3 Marines, 1965 to 1969. Lehrack, as a Captain,
commanded a company in this battalion, 1967-1968.
Leninger, Jack. Time Heals No Wounds. New York: Ivy, 1993.
Leninger served with the 1/12 Infantry Battalion, in
the 4th Infantry Division, September 1968 to August 1969.
Lisi, Patrick J. My Time in Hell. Port Washington, NY: Ashley
Books, 1977.
By a Marine Corps private (later corporal) who served
in I Corps from mid 1968 to mid 1969.
Marshall, S.L.A. Battles in the Monsoon.
Three 1966 battles.
Marshall, S.L.A. Ambush and Bird. Garden City, NY: Nelson
Doubleday, n.d.
A book club publication combining what were originally
two books: Ambush (Nashville: Battery Press, 1969) dealing
with the Battle of Dau Tieng in November 1966, and Bird
(Nashville: Battery Press, 1968) dealing with an action on
Christmas Day 1966.
Marshall, S.L.A. West to Cambodia and The Fields of Bamboo.
Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, n.d.
A book club publication combining what were originally
two books: West to Cambodia (Nashville: Battery Press, 1968)
and The Fields of Bamboo (New York: Doubleday, 1971).
McDonough, James. Platoon Leader. hb Novato, CA: Presidio,
1985. pb New York: Bantam, 1986.
McGlone, Randall K. Guts and Glory. pb Pocket Books, 1992.
McGlone was a forward artillery observer with the 3/1
Marines 1967-68; much of the book apparently deals with the
reopening of the road to Khe Sanh in 1968.
Merritt, William E. Where the Rivers Ran Backward. Athens, GA:
University of Georgia Press, 1989 (pb New York: Doubleday,
1990).
The author arrived in Vietnam August 1968, and served
with the 25th Infantry Division near Cu Chi. A brief glance
suggests the possibility the book may be somewhat
fictionalized.
Miller, John Grider. The Bridge at Dong Ha. Annapolis: U.S.
Naval Institute Press.
How a U.S. Marine destroyed a crucial bridge to delay
the NVA thrust into Quang Tri province during the Easter
Offensive, April 1972.
Myers, Donald F. Your War, My War: A Marine in Vietnam.
Indianapolis: Marine Corps League, (1995?). 398 pp.
Myers served for an extended period in the 3d Marine
Divison, ending when he was wounded in the A Shau in
February 1969.
North, Oliver L. and David Roth. One More Mission: Oliver North
Returns to Vietnam. HarperCollins/Zondervan, (1993).
Includes an account, apparently more detailed than in
North's previous book Under Fire, of his 1968 tour in
Vietnam as a USMC second lieutenant.
Ogden, Richard E. Green Knight, Red Mourning. New York: Zebra
Books (Kensington Publishing Corp.), 1985.
By a marine private who arrived in Vietnam in 1965.
Interesting, but spotty and incomplete; either it was
carelessly written, or the original manuscript was too long
and the publisher chopped sections out of it.
Olsen, Howard. Issues of the Heart: Memoirs of an Artilleryman
in Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990. 335 pp.
Prashker, Ivan. Duty, Honor, Vietnam: Twelve Men of West Point
Tell Their Stories. Pb New York: Warner, 1990, 358 pp. Hb
apparently New York: Morrow, 1988.
Puller, Lewis B. Jr. Fortunate Son: The Autobiography of Lewis
B. Puller, Jr. Grove Weidenfeld, 1991; pb New York: Bantam,
1993.
Lt. Puller, USMC, lost both legs to a booby trap in
October 1968, less than two months after arriving in
Vietnam. The bulk of the book apparently describes his
post-Vietnam experiences.
Reed, David. Upfront in Vietnam. New York: Funk & Wagnalls,
1967.
By a journalist working for Reader's Digest.
Regan, David. Mourning Glory: The Making of a Marine.
Devin-Adair, 1981.
Roberts, Craig and Charles W. Sasser. The Walking Dead: A
Marine's Story of Vietnam. New York: Pocket Books, 1989.
Roberts arrived in Vietnam in 1965 as a Marine private.
He served in line units, and also with the ARVN Rangers.
Russell, Norman L. Suicide Charlie: A Vietnam War Story.
Westport: Praeger, 1993. 216 pp.
Russell was a mortarman in C Company, 4/9, 25th
Infantry Division, late 1968 to late 1969.
Russell, Richard Allen. Hell in a Helmet: Memoirs of a Marine
Infantryman, Vietnam, 1967. Milford, MI: privately
published by Mr. Russell, 1989.
Includes photos, newspaper clippings, letters written
home while in Vietnam (some very pro-war in tone), etc.
Russell was in 2/9, 3d Marine Division.
Rustad, Bernard. Not to Reason Why: A Daily Diary of an
Experience in Vietnam. Privately printed, 1986.
Author was an Army enlisted man in Quang Tri province,
January to December 1971.
Santoli, Al. Everything We Had: An Oral History of the Vietnam
War by Thirty-three American Soldiers Who Fought It. hb New
York: Random House, 1981. pb New York: Ballantine, 1982.
Schwarzkopf, General H. Norman, with Peter Petrie. It Doesn't
Take a Hero, New York: Bantam, 1992.
Several chapters deal with Schwarzkopf's service in
Vietnam, as an advisor to the ARVN Airborne Brigade (a very
good unit) 1965-66; and then as commander of the 1/6
Battalion, 198th Infantry Brigade, 23d Infantry (Americal)
Division, a very bad battalion that Schwarzkopf was able to
improve a lot but not make really good, 1969-70, serving
near Chu Lai and in the Batangan Peninsula.
Senich, Peter R. The Long-Range War: Sniping in Vietnam. 280
pp.
Soiset, Roger. Two-Dollar Bill. (Columbia, SC?): Palmetto,
(1993?). 249 pp.
Soiset served as a lieutenant with the 199th Light
Infantry Brigade, 1969-70.
Stanton, Shelby L. Rangers at War: Combat Recon in Vietnam.
Orion, 1992(?)
Sympson, Kenneth P. Images from the Otherland. Jefferson, NC:
McFarland, 1995 (forthcoming). 224 pp.
A Marine officer, Sympson was in Operation Starlite in
1965. He was later artillery liaison officer for the 2/4
Marines in Operation Texas.
Terry, Wallace. Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by
Black Veterans. New York: Random House, 1984.
Reissued with an epilogue added, 1992.
Van Zanten, William. Don't Bunch Up. Archon, (1993?)
Memoir by a Marine who was an XO and then company
commander in Vietnam, 1965-66.
Vance, Samuel. The Courageous and the Proud. 3d ed. New York:
Norton, 1970.
Author, black, was a sargeant and platoon leader.
Ward, Joseph T. Dear Mom: A Sniper's Vietnam. New York: Ivy,
1991.
Ward, a USMC scout sniper, arrived in Vietnam in April
1969.
Wilson, George C. Mud Soldiers: Life Inside the New American
Army. New York: Scribner's, 1989.
Mostly about the Army of the 1980s, but one chapter
describes a battle fought in April 1966 by units of the 1st
Infantry Division, as comparison.
Wilson, James R. Landing Zones: Southern Veterans Remember
Vietnam. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990.
On oral history.
Young, Paul R. First Recon - Second to None: A Marine
Reconnaissance Battalion, 1967-68. New York: Ivy, 1992.
2LT Young served from January 1967 to January 1968.
Zumbro, Ralph, foreword by James F. Walker. Tank Sergeant.
Novata, CA: Presidio, 1986. pb New York: Pocket Books,
1988, 253 pp.
Zumbro joined the Army in 1957, left it, re-enlisted to
serve in Vietnam, with Company A, 1/69 Armor. At the time he
arrived, 1/69 was part of 25 Infantry, but on loan to 4
Infantry. The battalion served with various units while he
was in it, ending June 1968.
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