Rating: 
Summary: Perspective of a Black Lion
Review: I was the weapons platoon leader of Delta company during this operation. I was not interviewed by David Maraniss as I have been living in a black hole for the past 37 years and didn't want to be found or talk about it. I have since written and talked to Maraniss. The story of the Black Lions is factually correct and his descriptions of the soldiers involved is also correct. He brings a personal face to the participants unfettered by any political agenda and shows them as they were. Clark Welch was my company commander and his charisma and ability were so superior that Maraniss positive description hardly does justice to the man. I don't see how it could unless one was there. Maraniss portraits of the others are equally valid. Several things I was unaware of were revealed in the book. Col Triet the PAVN commander threw a regiment against us. At the time we thought it had only been a batallion. It amazes me that anyone managed to get out alive! General Hay the 1st Division commander managed to show up in the NDP when the battle was over. He was told that David Stroup the Delta company 3rd platoon leader deserved a silver star for gallantry. Hay found Stroup sitting under a tree crying as he had only 4 people left in his platoon. Hay said "This man doesn't deserve anything" and strode past. Nevertheless Hay awarded himself a silver star even though he wasn't there during the battle! If you really want to know the face of war then read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Masterful Historical Look At Vietnam And The Sixties Era!
Review: In his book, "The Sociological Imagination", the late C. Wright Mills described the mark of meaningful social analysis as employing the ability to intersect the lives of ordinary human beings purposefully within the locus of their unique historical circumstances. In this masterful work by Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss, such a perspective is wonderfully achieved concerning the meanings and contexts of the Vietnam War for those of us who lived through it. Maraniss does so by juxtaposing two disparate events occurring over a two-day period in October 1967, a savagely waged battle in Vietnam and an anti-war demonstration on the campus grounds of the University of Wisconsin in Madison. And the slowly emerging set of similarities and differences associated with these two sets of events emerges, in all its Techicolor hues and tones, as never before for the reader's edification and entertainment. Deftly avoiding the twin traps of first, Hollywood stereo types of both sets of circumstances one the one hand, and second, the nifty neo-conservative reconstructions of the truth a la David Lind as Vietnam being a 'necessary war' on the other, Maraniss dips deep into the heart of the complexities, contradictions, and human emotions swirling through one of the most contentious, ardently contested, and sometimes revolutionary period in 20th century American history. The cast of characters is long and difficult to keep in place, encompassing some six pages in the book's frontispiece. Likewise, the events and intertwining circumstances is sometimes not as well explained as it might be for any who are not familiar with it. Yet despite these quibbles, this is truly a magical book, one that transported me back to one of the most fascinating and memorable periods of my own life. The author's wondrous way with prose makes this effort seem more a novel than history, and surely that will make the book eminently accessible to a whole new generation of people willing to read serious nonfiction works. A work of this magnitude is a seemingly overwhelming challenge, yet the author manages to draw the characters vividly and meaningfully, drawing our attention to the ways in which each of them individually and all of them collectively are swept up by the uncontrollable currents of events transpiring around them. The narrative pace is set wonderfully, and Maraniss somehow catches the essence of both the horror of the war as a personal event for the soldiers on both sides of the battle as well as the moral ambiguities associated with the ideological struggle ensuing on the home front. Even more amazing, he poses important moral questions relevant to current affairs in terms of his questioning America's perceptions about its role in the wider world as well as the terrible cost of the war, both in Vietnam and at home, for the individuals involved and the society at large. And in so doing he raises serious doubt about the jingoistic approach of another President yet ready to unleash the dogs of war without considering the long-term consequences of so doing for ordinary people. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Between Two Worlds
Review: In October, 1967, I was waiting to be called to active service in the Navy Reserve, having, in the Spring of that year, finally flunking out of college. I had joined the Navy Reserve two years earlier as an insurance policy against the draft, and almost certain Viet Nam duty. As it turned out, I was assigned to the Navy Seabees and went to DaNang anyway. David Maraniss' book juxtaposes the two worlds of 1967: the reality of the soldiers on the ground in Viet Nam, fighting as much to stay alive and keep their buddies alive as for any cause, and the growing political and cultural protests against the war, and against established authority, on major college campuses. Like me, many in 1967 lived in both camps. Many of us were conflicted, vaguely against the war, but still unwilling to take active measures to dodge the draft. Many had the luxury of student deferments, which provided the benefit of avoiding the draft without having to pay any unpleasant consequences. For others,the draft was as natural a rite of passage as high school. The beauty of Maraniss' book is in capturing these two parallel universes. In each universe there were many people carrying out small acts on a much larger stage. In the end, though, it was the soldier on the ground, the grunt, who was faced with paying the price, with his life, and after the war, in too many instances, with his dignity. One comes away from Maraniss' book with a sense of the nobility of the common citizen-soldier on the ground, and the self-indulgence of the protesters against it.
Rating:
Summary: Making the Connection: The Vietnam War at Home and Abroad
Review: Nearly everyone knows the official story of the Vietnam War: the war was the worst military mistake the United States has ever made, although the government would be hesitant to admit it. But most people do not realize that U.S. citizens were also waging battles among themselves during the Vietnam War. While soldiers fought in vain in a foreign land thousands of miles away, civilians at home fought a sort of civil war. David Maraniss, author of They Marched Into Sunlight, happened to see the connection between war afar and at home and wrote a book about it. To make this connection even more visible, Maraniss writes about a battle (Operation Shenandoah II) and student protest (at the University of Wisconsin) that occurred on the same day: October 17, 1967.
After introducing and giving background information about the many characters in this book, Maraniss describes Operation Shenandoah II, which was fought in the Long Nguyen Secret Zone of Vietnam. A battle that was supposed to be a confident victory for the Black Lions, a battalion of the First Infantry Division, turned into a devastating ambush by the Viet Cong. Sixty-one U.S. soldiers died this day, and nearly as many were injured. The fortunate men of the Black Lions who happened to survive became different men. Through personal accounts and interviews, the reader learns that the confident became scared, the fighters became jaded. For example, after being injured during Operation Shenandoah II, Ernie Buentiempo saw no point in following military rules any longer. He refused to salute higher-ranking officers and smoked marijuana without regard to the consequences. "What are they gonna do?" he said. "Send me to Vietnam? We're already in hell. Put me in jail? Thanks!"
The reader also learns just how impossible it was for the U.S. to win the Vietnam War. Not only were our soldiers fighting in completely foreign territory, but they were also fighting an unknown enemy. The Viet Cong would do anything to defeat our military without regard to how many deaths it meant on their side. The North Vietnamese had a sneaky strategy: get close enough to the enemy that their artillery and air power would not be effective. As Maraniss points out many times throughout the book, the catch phrase of the Viet Cong was truth and falsehood, falsehood and truth. They would make the enemy believe one thing, then surprise them with the complete opposite. This is what the soldiers of the Black Lions experienced. Expecting a victory, they instead ran into almost complete annihilation.
While the Black Lions lost in Vietnam, another ineffective battle was being fought stateside. The 'hawks and doves,' as they were called, fought amongst themselves about continuing the war or having peace. A turning point in the peace movement occurred at the University of Wisconsin on October 17, 1967. Previous protests at the university and throughout the country had been nonviolent. But when hundreds of Wisconsin students protested recruiting by the Dow Chemical Company (makers of napalm and Agent Orange during the Vietnam War) on their campus, tactics by the protesters and police changed. Scores of students and police were injured that day when the police used their clubs to force students away, and the students fought back.
The protest at the University of Wisconsin highlighted the problems that existed at home, not just in Vietnam. Violent protest defeated the purpose of the peace movement. Supporters of the war argued that protesters were unpatriotic and aiding the Viet Cong. Those against the war even felt turmoil within themselves. Many often questioned whether it was fair that they were able to protest the war, while those who could not afford to attend college were in Vietnam dying for the U.S. But on the other hand, Maraniss points out that the protesters brought to light the incredible violations of civil liberties that began taking place during the Vietnam War. Agents of the FBI, for example, used to disguise themselves as insurance agents on buses traveling to anti-war rallies. They would get information from the protesters (such as names, addresses, and social security numbers) to start files on the protesters, a completely illegal act. The protesters were not just trying to end the war in Vietnam, they were also fighting for their rights within the U.S.
Maraniss very effectively connects the war in Vietnam and the anti-war movement at home. Some reviews of They Marched Into Sunlight complain that Maraniss's book makes no such connection and really has no purpose. On the contrary, Maraniss just makes his point in a different way than to what readers are accustomed. For once we do not simply get the official, documentary view of a war. Maraniss uses emotional personal accounts to bring alive the history of the Vietnam War. Throughout the book, it seems obvious that Maraniss was against the war. But he never interjects his own opinion - he lets those who lived the war tell its story. And as a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist should, he points out the good and bad of all sides of the war - those who strategized, those who fought, those who protested, and those who found themselves in the middle of it all. They Marched Into Sunlight deserves four stars for attempting to provide truth in such a personal way to a war that will never be completely uncovered.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful story well told
Review: On Sunday, November 2, I met David Maraniss at the Vietnam Wall in Washington. Members of the West Point class of 1956 were there to honor our classmate Don Holleder. We gave Maraniss a round of applause for capturing so well the battle where Holleder was killed and the life that Holleder lived as a great athlete, leader and friend. This book is a fair-minded treatment of a terrible and tragic event in US military history. But the book also captures with great skill other important events in the month of October, 1967.
Rating:
Summary: Five plus stars on a field of Red, White and Blue
Review: Once in a very long while comes a book that is a single amazing achievement. This book draws you into its world and vibrates in your mind like marbles in a jar as you read. David Maraniss accomplishment is totally overwhelming in it's detail and depiction of every mans perception of truth. Told with an honest tone and little noticeable bias his story sums up years of protest and war. I often mention my favorite book of all time (non-fiction) is Neil Sheehan's, A BRIGHT SHINING LIE. A book that simply explains the unexplainable reasons of Vietnam through the telling of the life of John Paul Vann. Now Maraniss expands the canvas, viewing the Vietnam experience through the eyes of a multi-character epic. Just by telling the story of the people and places all one month, October 1967. It is pitch perfect, sad, wonderful, ugly, glorious, and so wonderfully written that I defy you to turn away. I can not recommend this more highly. One of the great books defining the Vietnam era experience.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is a Prize
Review: Quite simply, this book has to win a Pulitzer. It is one of the few books in my life which I started over and read again. I hope I don't have to weep so much the next time I pick it up to read.
Rating:
Summary: A snapshot of a time and place
Review: They Marched Into Sunlight alternates between Vietnam, the University of Wisconsin, and Washington DC, tracing the events of October 1967, a key turning point in the Vietnam conflict both at home and abroad. Just months before the Tet Offensive, when only 13,000 US soldiers had been killed (a number that would rise to over 50,000), and at a moment when the domestic peace movement began to go more mainstream, the book traces a battle in Vietnam, a protest gone violent at UW, and events in the Johnson administration. I found the Wisconsin and Vietnam narratives more interesting than the LBJ section of the narrative, if only because the intensely personal nature of the former two events were new to me, while I had read plenty on the course of the war in LBJ's Washington. Not being a baby boomer, I have also long gotten tired of cultural references to the 1960's in the media by aging boomers, as well as every recent US military conflict being viewed through the prism of Vietnam. That said, I gained a much better appreciation of the events of the time through the Wisconsin narrative, and an understanding of how that indelible part of the American psyche was formed. Maraniss is a good writer, and the book is an interesting read. Would recommend it to readers with an interest in the 60's, Vietnam, or US cultural history.
Rating:
Summary: Certain to be a classic
Review: They Marched Into Sunlight deals principally with two events on consecutive days in October 1967: an ambush of American soldiers in Vietnam and a riot at the University of Wisconsin, Madison campus. The book ranges wider than these specific events. For example, at different times the author reveals secret counsels in LBJ's White House, the grand strategy of General Westmoreland, the private thoughts of a soldier in Vietnam, and the budding political consciousness of a University of Wisconsin freshman. Author Maraniss skillfully narrates the ambush of the Black Lions battalion. In the narrative leading up to the battle, the author introduces us to many of the soldiers and commanders who fought in it. Their personal stories and the little details that reveal what it was like to be in Vietnam make those who walked into the ambush very real and sympathetic. That makes the unfolding ambush terrible, but gripping, to read about. As to the University of Wisconsin riot, many students did not want Dow Chemical Company to recruit on campus because it manufactured napalm. The radical element physically blocked students from interviewing with Dow, which led to orders to disperse, which when refused led to violence. The shock of seeing police swing clubs at the heads of protesters provoked a furious, aggressive, even violent reaction from many of the on-lookers. As with the Vietnam component of the book, the author takes the reader into the lives and thoughts of various actors who had large or small roles in the melee -- students, teachers, police, administrators, even Dow personnel. They Marched Into Sunlight is an inspired book. The stories it tells unfold fluidly, and the characters the reader encounters are compelling. The book largely focuses on events in a small window of time; however, in selecting a particular time to chronicle, the author manages to illuminate continuous themes of the Vietnam conflict at home and abroad. Moreover, some of the issues raised in the book are timeless. These include: (1) the twin tensions between obedience or resistance to, and trust or distrust of, authorities, and (2) how far some members of society can go to prevent others from making what the believe to be morally dubius choices. Also timeless is a well-told story of men in combat. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened in October 1967?
Review: They Marched Into Sunlight is a book written by David Maraniss about events leading up to the fateful day of October 17th 1967. This is a true story about many individuals who experienced October 1967 from many different viewpoints. In a seamless narrative Maraniss weaves together three very different worlds of that time: the death and heroism of soldiers in Vietnam, the anger and anxiety of antiwar students back home, and the confusion and obfuscating behavior of officials in Washington. This book is an outstanding achievement in that it interconnects the three worlds of the Vietnam conflict and presents them in a dramatic unity. We meet a future mayor and a future vice-president on the campus at Madison. As readers we witness soldiers question why they are fighting and what they are fighting for in Vietnam. Why is it an important objective of the author to show the different American struggles of October 1967? What is the author's purpose in taking the reader through drastically different viewpoints related to the Vietnam War? By presenting three different perspectives of the events leading up to October 1967 we grasp a better understanding of the veracity of Vietnam in the American mindset.
As a former soldier I expected to feel more interest in the soldiers' story in Vietnam. I sympathized with their story but I was more drawn to the protesters' story at the University of Wisconsin. I did not identify with the protesters but I was curious about their story. This is what drew me to their story. I did not identify with their cause but it was like being drawn to the unknown. When something is unfamiliar to you, as the protest movement is to me, one seeks to educate oneself about it. I still do not fully understand their exact reasoning. They seemed to be protesting and rioting for the pure sake of the conflict. I was not convinced that the leaders of the anti-Dow and therefore anti-war protests really had all of their facts. Protests should not be totally emotionally driven. They appeared to have a very narrow view of the reason for the war. They seemed not to see the overall reason for the government and our troops to defend against communism. I suppose it is also definitive of the times that the soldiers in Vietnam also had a fairly narrow view of their role in the Vietnam War also. There were many personas depicted in this work of nonfiction. This was a challenging aspect of this book. I was appreciative to be introduced to many personalities and many points of view but it did hinder the overall enjoyment of the book. I realize that this is a work of nonfiction but the author's scheme and goal of the book may have been hampered by the inclusion of so many figures. This was a huge story to tell and it took many personal stories of individuals directly involved to aid in the telling and Maraniss pulled it all together as best as anyone could.
To examine a perspective from the Vietnam viewpoint I would like to look at the life and military career of Terry Allen Jr. He was the son of a decorated general from World War II. He was next to last in his graduating class at West Point. He had big shoes to fill in his father's shadow. Terry's father had married a considerably younger bride and Terry Jr. followed suit. He was 32 when he married Jean Ponder age 18. They married in 1960 and had three girls by the time Jean was twenty-two. Jean dealt with depression and alienation from her husband throughout her marriage to Terry Allen. While he was in Vietnam she became a proponent against the war and no longer wanted to be married to Terry. She had another man living with her and her daughters. Terry wished to salvage the marriage yet Jean could not see herself married to a man who was fighting and leading the fight in Vietnam. I am looking at Terry Allen from Jean's perspective because I can identify with a military spouse, as I was one for six years. The life Terry led was ingrained into him from birth. He was a soldier because that was what he was supposed to be. I feel that Jean should have been able to separate her feelings about the war from her feelings about her husband. She was not able to do that. Allen died at Operation Shenandoah II without ever reaching reconciliation with his wife. To portray a personality from the protests at the University of Wisconsin I chose to review Paul Soglin. He was a graduate student at the time. " The military was not an institution to which members of his family felt special allegiance" (pp.94) was how the author described Soglin's family influence on his views of war. Paul's grandfather deceptively avoided military service in Russia. His father served in the draft of World War II but was not sent overseas. Questioning the American government was the norm in the Soglin household. It was a "given" to Soglin that he was not going into the military. This factor helped in his choice of universities. The University of Wisconsin had reduced ROTC requirements. This appealed to Soglin. He was raised to protest. His mother even took him to a nuclear disarmament demonstration when he was four years old. To protest Dow's right to recruit on his campus because they were manufactures of napalm seemed a natural cause for Soglin. One factor I would have liked to point out to Soglin and his family would have been that they practiced their rights to protest actions of the American government at the price of American soldiers' blood. That fact seemed to have eluded them. As a college student in the present I have wondered about the need of students to protest. We are in a conflict in Iraq. Where are the protests of this day? Have students become less political? I believe they have. The energy that infused the campuses of the 60's seems to have been left in the 60's. We have important issues today but they do not seem to make their way to the campuses in the form of protests. This is a true story and yet the characterization of the campus protesters and the Madison police was fairly shallow in my opinion. The soldiers in Vietnam were more real to me. Their characterization had more depth. This book looked at the events of October 1967 from three different perspectives; one from Vietnam, one from a campus in Madison, Wisconsin, and one from the president of the United States' viewpoint. All of these viewpoints have merit and taking something away from each one helps us understand what it meant to be an American in 1967 and what it means to be an American in 2004.
As a social science major that plans to teach secondary education I have seen this course s immensely educational and meaningful. I probably would not have chosen to read this book if given the choice myself but, I am glad I have had the opportunity to read it. It has added a dimension to my understanding of the American self of the Vietnam era. The book itself encompasses a brief time frame yet it spans the consciousness of the persons depicted from The Great War to the present. The human spirit evolves and in order to understand where we are now we need to know where we come from. This book
has been a stepping-stone for me personally. I am now not afraid to read and learn more about Vietnam and its war.
I would have to argue that the author took a very challenging way of presenting his material. At first this book was not easy to read for me. I am an avid reader and I want to be drawn into a book and its characters. This is a work of nonfiction so I steeled myself to grasp the goal of the author. It took me a while but I did become hooked. The presentation of so many names and faces was a little confusing at times but it was a huge story that needed many players to show the many different angles that were present at the time. I do feel that the personas portrayed lacked the depth that I know they must have had but, in order to have provided that depth this book would have been three times as long and the overall comparison and contrast would have become lost in the lives of the characters. Why is it an important objective of the author to show the different American struggles of October 1967? What is the author's purpose in taking the reader through drastically different viewpoints related to the Vietnam War? By presenting three different perspectives of the events leading up to October 1967 we grasp a better understanding of the veracity of Vietnam in the American mindset. Did the author achieve this goal? I believe he did. My knowledge of October 1967 was of no account. I was presented with information in this book that gave me a sense of what it might have been like during that time. The author wanted to weave together the meaning and vales from many different individuals to create a true story that speaks on many levels to many different people. Being many different people and seeing events happening at the same time with different eyes and being able to express our feelings about that is what makes us Americans. Supporting our troops in their fight whether it was Vietnam or Iraq today and allowing them to perform their orders is what gives us the freedom to protest their actions. It is a cycle that cannot be disentangled. If it were not for soldiers dying to protect our freedom and the freedom of any protesters they never could have gotten their message across. I want to thank the solders that served and died in any form serving our country. If they did not do their job the protesters that I do not support would have been silent. Silence is not what makes this the greatest country on earth. One day I may find a voice that is contrary to the majority's voice and I know I will be allowed to speak because of those that protect that basic right wearing the uniform of the country that I love.
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