Description
This unique account of the battle is based not only on interviews with the Marines involved, from private to colonel, but also on interviews and battlefield walks with men who fought with the 1st Viet Cong Regiment, all of them accomplished combat veterans years before the U.S. entry into the war. The result is a detailed narrative of the battle from the mud level, by those who were at the point of the spear.
The book also examines the ongoing conflict between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marines about the methodology of the Vietnam War. With decades of experience with insurrection and rebellion, the Marines were institutionally oriented to base the struggle on pacification of the population. The Army, on the other hand, having largely trained to meet the Soviet Army on the plains of Germany, opted for search-and-destroy missions against Communist main force units. The history of the Vietnam War is littered with many 'what ifs'. This may be the biggest of them.
About the Author
Otto Lehrack served with the U.S. Marines for 24 years as an enlisted man and officer. He was an infantry company commander during the Tet Offensive on his first tour (1967-1968), and the operations officer of a signal intelligence battalion on his second tour (1970-1971) in Vietnam. He has an MA in history from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Lehrack is the author of No Shining Armor: The Marines at War in Vietnam and America's Battalion: Marines in the First Gulf War.
Book Information
ISBN 9781612008011
Author Otto Lehrack
Format Paperback
Page Count 233
Imprint Casemate Publishers
Publisher Casemate Publishers