some excellent books about the Vietnam War :

[MORTARDUDE]

some excellent books about the Vietnam War :


Keith W. Nolan, Death Valley: The Summer Offensive, I Corps, August 1969. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1987 (pb Dell 1988).

Keith W. Nolan, Into Cambodia: Spring Campaign, Summer Offensive, 1970. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1990 (pb New York: Dell, 1991).

Keith W. Nolan, Into Laos: The Story of Dewey Canyon II/Lam Son 719; Laos 1971. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1986. The ARVN effort to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail by an invasion of the Laotian panhandle in 1971, and the U.S. operation in the northwest corner of South Vietnam that supported the ARVN effort.

Keith W. Nolan, The Magnificent Bastards: The Joint Army-Marine Defense of Dong Ha, 1968. 1994. 2/4 Marines and 3/21 Infantry against 320th PAVN Division, April-May 1968.

Keith W. Nolan, Sappers in the Wire: The Life and Death of Firebase Mary Ann. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1996, xiv, 289 pp. The 1/46 Infantry (Americal), night of March 27, 1971, Quang Tin province.

Dwight W. Birdwell and Keith William Nolan, A Hundred Miles of Bad Road: An Armored Cavalryman in Vietnam 1967-68. Novato: Presidio Press, 1997. Birdwell, a Cherokee, served on an M48 tank in the 3/4 Cavalry, 25th Division, beginning Sept. 1967; includes Tet Offensive in Saigon.

[Tamaroa]

to blow the Coast Guard's Horn

The Coast Guard at War: Vietnam, 1965-1975
by Alex Larzelere.

Try this one it covers all aspects of our service over there. Coast Guard Squadrons One and Three in Operation Market Time and other little pearls you probably never realized.

Regards,

Bill

[ArtySgt]

May I add one book recommended to me by Onesix. " THE BEAST WAS OUT THERE " by B.G. James E. Shelton Ret. This book is a difficult read for me, it is the only book I've seen that covers my time in Vietnam. The area's we worked and Units we supported with artillery fire. How ever this is a very good history of the War zone C area and the fighting that took place during the mid to latter part of 1967. The fighting was grim and vivicious.

[SuperScout]

In addition to those already cited by Keith W. Nolan, I would recommend "Operation Buffalo: USMC and the fight for the DMZ," and "The Battle for Saigon: American Forces During Tet." (BTW, and boasting, now he said, chapter 12 [I believe] has a bit of info I gave Nolan when he was researching his book.)

To get a more even-handed history of the area, read "The Emancipation of French Indo-China," by Donald Lancaster. He's a Brit, and as such, has no particular axe to grind, unlike many American authors. Lancaster thoroughly documented his tome, and has ample evidence that good ol' Uncle Ho wasn't as nice a guy as many would have us believe. He also cites repeated failures of the French high command, no surprise here, but back in France, and in Indo-China, as they bumbled their way to Dien Bien Phu. One of the more revealing facts gleaned from this book is the amount of $$ that France spent, in their despearate attempt to re-establish ther colonial presence in SEA; it was the equivalent of how much we gave them under the Marshall Plan. Lancaster goes on to chide Truman for not standing up to his French alter-ego, Charles DeGaulle, and tell him to cease and desist from SEA dramas, or we would cut off the $$

[grunt66]

I would add S.L.A Marshall's " Battles in the Monsoon" .An early introduction to the David Hackworth, Hal Moore and Hank Emerson in the Ia Drang. Excellent battalion commanders in the 1st Cav .

And William Keith Nolans " Battle For Hue" . One of the clearer
descriptions in that comfused urban fight.

[chilidog]

Larry,
I have read most of the books by Nolan that you mentioned. I would like to agree with you, but I'm not a vet. I'm not really qualified to say if they are right or wrong. I would like to say that they were recommended to me by some of the vets on the old board and I have found every one of them very gripping. Our very own SuperScout is in "The Battle for Saigon" and Montana Kid (from the old board) had just came back home when his unit was in "Sappers in the Wire." Nolan's latest book "Ripcord" is just as heart-wrenching.

If Keith Nolan has done nothing else, he has made this non-vet carry a much deeper love and respect for all of you that sacrificed so much for me and my freedom.


Chilidog

[MORTARDUDE]

Keith William Nolan has that rare quality that journalists and writers seem to have forgotten...he listens. He doesn't embellish, spin, color, add to, take away from, or justify his writing. What you tell him is what you get. Many folks have assumed he was a vet also. Of course, he isn't. A damn good writer and very nice person to boot.

Larry