Download or read book Hamburger Hill written by Samuel Zaffiri and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2009-01-21 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The battle for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), was one of the fiercest of the entire Vietnam War. On May 10, 1969, Army, Marine Corps, and ARVN forces kicked off Operation Apache Snow. It was finally time to clean out the notorious A Shau Valley. The next day, elements of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, made initial contact with NVA forces on the lower reaches of Hill 937. The ten days of combat that followed became the human meat grinder known around the world as Hamburger Hill. The firestorm of controversy that sprang up around this incredibly bloody battle has long overshadowed the facts of the battle itself and the campaign of which it was a part. Now, in author Zaffiri’s masterful account of the battle, the full story, from the high command down to the individual Screaming Eagle on the mountain, is revealed. Praise for Hamburger Hill “[Samuel Zaffiri] skillfully blends his narrative with anecdotal material. It is the many chilling, sometimes poignant, vignettes that make the addition of this volume to any soldier’s bookshelf a must.”—Military Review “Vietnam combat veteran Samuel Zaffiri . . . presents the action and decision making at Ap Bia in remarkably forceful detail.”—Vietnam Magazine “Probably no other Vietnam battle better illustrates . . . Sherman’s dictum that war is hell. Mr. Zaffiri focuses on the incredible horror and hardship faced by the soldier on the ground. . . . [His] narrative is viscerally graphic. . . . Zaffiri’s realistic and authoritative account deserves to be read. By dramatically describing the assault on Hamburger Hill, the author has raised anew controversial questions about the Vietnam War that will be debated for a long time to come.”—Army Magazine

Download or read book Hamburger Hill May 11 20 1969 written by Samuel Zaffiri and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle for AP BIA Mountain.

Download or read book The Crouching Beast written by Frank Boccia and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-06-06 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a first lieutenant in Bravo Company of the Third Battalion, 187th Infantry, Frank Boccia led a platoon in two intense battles in the Vietnamese mountains in April and May 1969: Dong Ngai and the grinding, 11-day battle of Dong Ap Bia--the Mountain of the Crouching Beast, in Vietnamese, or Hamburger Hill as it is popularly known. The Rakkasans, the 3/187th, are the most highly decorated unit in the history of the United States Army, and two of those decorations were awarded for these two battles. This vivid account of the author's first seven months in Vietnam gives special attention to the events at Dong Ap Bia, following the hard-hit 3/187th hour by hour through its repeated assaults on the mountain, against an unseen enemy in an ideal defensive position. It also corrects several errors that have persisted in histories and official reports of the battle. Beyond describing his own experiences and reactions, the author writes, "I want to convey the real face of war, both its mindless carnage and its nobility of spirit. Above all, I want to convey what happened to both the casual reader and the military historian and make them aware of the extraordinary spirit of the men of First Platoon, Bravo Company. They were ordinary men doing extraordinary things."

Download or read book Nam Sense written by Arthur Wiknik and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2005-07-19 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A candid memoir of being sent to Vietnam at age nineteen, witnessing the carnage of Hamburger Hill, and returning to an America in turmoil. Arthur Wiknik was a teenager from New England when he was drafted into the US Army in 1968, shipping out to Vietnam early the following year. Shortly after his arrival on the far side of the world, he was assigned to Camp Evans near the northern village of Phong Dien, only thirty miles from Laos and North Vietnam. On his first jungle patrol, his squad killed a female Viet Cong who turned out to have been the local prostitute. It was the first dead person he had ever seen. Wiknik's account of life and death in Vietnam includes everything from heavy combat to faking insanity to get some R & R. He was the first in his unit to reach the top of Hamburger Hill, and between sporadic episodes of combat, he mingled with the locals; tricked unwitting US suppliers into providing his platoon with hard-to-get food; defied a superior and was punished with a dangerous mission; and struggled with himself and his fellow soldiers as the antiwar movement began to affect them. Written with honesty and sharp wit by a soldier who was featured on a recent History Channel documentary about Vietnam, Nam Sense spares nothing and no one in its attempt to convey what really transpired for the combat soldier during this unpopular war. It is not about glory, mental breakdowns, flashbacks, or self-pity. The GIs Wiknik lived and fought with during his yearlong tour were not drug addicts or war criminals or gung-ho killers. They were there to do their duty as they were trained, support their comrades—and get home alive. Recipient of an Honorable Mention from the Military Writers Society of America.

Download or read book Hamburger Hill written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because it was released less than a year after Oliver Stone's Platoon and within months of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, this exceptionally well-made film about one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War was largely overshadowed and overlooked. It's a pity, because in some respects this is the best of the Vietnam films of the late 1980s, at least in terms of the everyday authenticity it depicts. Stripped clean of dramatically extraneous narrative, the movie opts instead for a straightforward approach to its day-by-day account of one of the war's costliest victories--a deadly siege on Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley, where soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy over the course of eleven brutal assaults between May 10th and 20th, 1969. The film specifically follows the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, a mixture of "new guys" and battle-weary "short-timers" who fought against terrifying odds and suffered a 70% casualty rate. From first scene to last, Hamburger Hill traces the rise and fall of their battle experience, from the horror of firefights to the camaraderie of men who've faced death and survived. Racial tensions flare and subside, trusts are established, and courage emerges from unexpected places. Through it all, writer Jim Carabatsos and director John Irvin maintain a purity of focus that pays tribute to the soldier's life without promoting false patriotism or gung-ho theatrics. In addition, the film features a cast full of talented and well-known actors in the early stages of their careers, including Dylan McDermott (from the TV series "The Practice") and Don Cheadle, before gaining fame in Devil in a Blue Dress and Boogie Nights.

Download or read book Enduring Vietnam written by James Wright and published by Thomas Dunne Books. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction: a generation goes to war -- Memorial days -- Dong Ap Bia: becoming Hamburger Hill -- Passing the torch to a new generation -- Receiving the torch -- Not their father's way of war -- The American war in Vietnam -- Getting out of this place -- Duck and cover -- Enduring Vietnam: a story that has no end

Download or read book Vietnam written by John DiConsiglio and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mike Serrano, Arthur Wiknik, and Frank Boccia recount their experiences as U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, focusing on their efforts to capture a small mountain called Hamburger Hill in May 1969.

Download or read book Transition November 1968 December 1969 written by Adrian George Traas and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "By 1968, the government of South Vietnam, backed by U.S. advisers, had been fighting Communist Viet Cong insurgents and their patrons in neighboring North Vietnam for fourteen years. It was a desperate struggle that pitted neighbor against neighbor and exacted a mounting toll in the form of casualties, refugees, and socioeconomic dislocation. In 1965, the United States had added its own ground combat troops to the struggle, thwarting the very real prospect of a Communist victory. Since that low point, the allies had been gradually gaining ground in an escalating conflict. In late January 1968, the Communist leadership in North Vietnam had launched a major offensive in a bid to change the situation in its favor. The widespread attacks, which began during the Tet new year holidays and continued on and off through September, failed miserably. The population of South Vietnam refused to rise up in support, and the Communists suffered enormous casualties. As the enemy aggression abated, the commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), General Creighton W. Abrams, believed the allies were poised to make significant gains. But time was not on his side. Although the allies had defeated the enemy militarily, the shock that the Communists had been able to launch such a massive strike after years of American involvement had undermined support for the war back in the United States. With peace talks under way in Paris, Abrams raced against the clock to give South Vietnam the best chance for survival before the inevitable withdrawal of U.S. troops"--Page 7

Download or read book Cherries written by John Podlaski and published by John Podlaski. This book was released on 2010-04-20 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1970, John Kowalski is one of many young, naive teenage soldiers sent to Vietnam to fight in an unpopular war. Dubbed “Cherries” by their more seasoned peers, these newbies suddenly found themselves thrust into the middle of a terrible nightmare - literally forced to become men overnight. On-the-job-training is intense, however, most of these teenagers were hardly ready to absorb the harsh mental, emotional, and physical stress of war. When coming under enemy fire for the first time and witnessing death first-hand, a life changing transition begins...one that can't be reversed. The author is an excellent story teller, readers testify that they are right there with the characters, joining them in their quest for survival, sharing the fear, awe, drama, and sorrow, witnessing bravery and sometimes, even laughing at their humor. It's a story that is hard to put down. When soldiers return home from war, all are different - changed for life. "Cherries" tells it like it is and when finished, readers will better understand what these young men had to endure, and why change is imminent.

Download or read book Lullabies for Lieutenants written by Franklin Cox and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Capturing the chaotic nature of the U.S. Marine experience at war in Vietnam, this memoir recounts the experiences of a young officer in a series of unrelated short pieces. In a narrative as fragmented as the war itself, the only resolution is the same one reached by the Marines who fought--the conclusion of a tour of duty with no happy ending. Each chapter describes a specific event, a story of emotion, or a remarkable person (some are heroes, some are cowards). The reader lives the experience alongside the author, gaining a true sense of the pulse-pounding contact, surrealism, pathos, humor, and beauty that defined one of the low points of the American experience.

Download or read book Death Valley written by Keith Nolan and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2011-08-10 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a dedicated chronicler of the Vietnam War comes a vivid, insightful, grunt-level campaign history set against the backdrop of the troop withdrawal and the upheavals in American society. “The sounds and smells of the battlefield almost leap out from the printed page.”—Maj. Gen. John W. Barnes, U.S. Army (Ret.), New York City Tribune “Author of the well received Battle for Hue and Into Laos, [Keith William] Nolan once again captures the stark reality of combat in Vietnam. He tells the story of the 7th Marine Regiment and the 196th Brigade of the Army’s ‘Americal’ Division as they engaged the 2d Division of the North Vietnamese Army in the mountains and valleys southwest of Da Nang. This was the first major engagement after the announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam, and it occurred at a time when problems with drug abuse, race relations, and shifting morality were endemic in American society and the nation’s military. Nolan’s account not only takes in the combat operations, but also reflects some of these larger issues of the war.”—USNI Proceedings

Download or read book Hamburger Hill written by Samuel Zaffiri and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Vietnam s Forgotten Army written by Andrew Wiest and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2009-10 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War.

Download or read book Withdrawal written by Gregory A. Daddis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "better war." Over the last two decades, this term has become synonymous with US strategy during the Vietnam War's final years. The narrative is enticingly simple, appealing to many audiences. After the disastrous results of the 1968 Tet offensive, in which Hanoi's forces demonstrated the failures of American strategy, popular history tells of a new American military commander who emerged in South Vietnam and with inspired leadership and a new approach turned around a long stalemated conflict. In fact, so successful was General Creighton Abrams in commanding US forces that, according to the "better war" myth, the United States had actually achieved victory by mid-1970. A new general with a new strategy had delivered, only to see his victory abandoned by weak-kneed politicians in Washington, DC who turned their backs on the US armed forces and their South Vietnamese allies. In a bold new interpretation of America's final years in Vietnam, acclaimed historian Gregory A. Daddis disproves these longstanding myths. Withdrawal is a groundbreaking reassessment that tells a far different story of the Vietnam War. Daddis convincingly argues that the entire US effort in South Vietnam was incapable of reversing the downward trends of a complicated Vietnamese conflict that by 1968 had turned into a political-military stalemate. Despite a new articulation of strategy, Abrams's approach could not materially alter a war no longer vital to US national security or global dominance. Once the Nixon White House made the political decision to withdraw from Southeast Asia, Abrams's military strategy was unable to change either the course or outcome of a decades' long Vietnamese civil war. In a riveting sequel to his celebrated Westmoreland's War, Daddis demonstrates he is one of the nation's leading scholars on the Vietnam War. Withdrawal will be a standard work for years to come.

Download or read book Public Affairs written by William M. Hammond and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 684 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Public Affairs The Military and the Media 1968 1973 written by William M. Hammond and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1995 with total page 684 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1968-1973, the sequel volume to William M. Hammond2s Public Affairs: The Military and the Media, 1962-1968, continues the history and analysis of the relationship between the press and the military during the final years of the Vietnam conflict. Relying on official records and histories, news media sources and interviews, and significant secondary works, Hammond has carefully and capably traced the many turns that public affairs policies and campaigns took to protect military secrets without diminishing the independence of news correspondents. Massive amounts of information were forthcoming without endangering U.S. forces, but neither the press nor the government was totally satisfied with the system. Doubts and criticisms loomed large, giving rise to tensions and disagreements. With some exceptions, the military and the news media became enemies. What happened in Vietnam between the military and the news media was symptomatic of what had occurred in the United States as a whole. Hammond2s well-written account raises the issues and problems that can confront an open society at war, documenting events and precedents that will continue to affect military-media relations during future operations. It offers important lessons for Soldiers, newsmen, policymakers, and the public at large.

Download or read book U S Leadership in Wartime 2 volumes written by Spencer C. Tucker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-09-10 with total page 1056 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historical study of the relationship between civilian and military leaders in the United States during wartime, from the American Revolution to the Iraq War. Now from one of the world's leading publishers of military history comes a breakthrough reference on one of the most important and complex aspects of U.S. national defense. U.S. Leadership in Wartime: Clashes, Controversy, and Compromise offers a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics that constitute effective leadership in war and discusses the often contentious relationships between U.S. civilian and military leadership throughout American history. U.S. Leadership in Wartime focuses on ten conflicts, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, and the war in Afghanistan. Coverage for each conflict focuses on the dynamics of civilian-military relations and their impact on the course, outcome, and perception of each war under discussion. Coverage in each chapter includes an overview essay, sidebars, and detailed treatments of key engagements and battles, as well as detailed biographical essays of important figures—not just politicians and generals, but also labor leaders, business leaders, journalists, and women.