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Summary: FORGET THE MOVIE
Review: IF THIS BOOK CAN NOT CHANGE YOUR LIFE NOTHING CAN.
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Summary: Wonderful History Of Vietnam Battle !
Review: This is a carefully written and professionally crafted tome jointly written by two eyewitnesses and participants in the events described therein. The two authors, Harold Moore (a retired Army Lt. Col) and Joe Galloway, then a UPI reporter, met on the battlefield of Ia Drang and became lifelong friends and associates. Moore actually commanded the U. S. Army force dropped into a remote rural area of South Vietnam controlled by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in November of 1965 in what became the first recorded engagement between the U.S. Army and the NVA. Firstly, the field tactics employed by Moore's men were experimental in nature, since the was the first time Air Cavalry had attempted to systematically employ attack helicopters to quickly deploy men to and from combat. Since this tactic meant consecutive serial moves of portions of the attacking force to the forward area, it meant those dropped first were, by the very nature of the tactical strategy, left in an extremely vulnerable position in terms of their openness to enemy attack during the initial period of time, before their numbers and strength were reinforced. Of course, the NVA understood this weakness and sought to exploit it to the maximum extent possible, attempting to quickly overrun and overwhelm the sixty some soldiers already on the ground. Thus the battle was joined, and the Air Cavalry troops were quickly surrounded and portions of the force cut off from the others. Moore painstakingly describes the escalating set of circumstances that brought the force to a crisis point, and details how both they and the NVA systematically attempted to deal body blows to the opposing forces. From the beginning the casualties on both sides were considerable; in the several weeks of its duration, almost half the U.S. Army forces were either killed or seriously wounded, while on the other side, there were as many as 1,800 NVA casualties. There were literally bodies of dead enemy soldiers stacked like kindling at various points of the campaign. In the end, the superior firepower and sole control of the skies by the U. S. Forces served to balance the otherwise overwhelming numerical superiority of the NVA units in the area. Once the smoke cleared, the NVA forces had (at least temporarily) already evaporated, while the U.S. forces returned to the main staging base, leaving the battlefield deserted. This is an absorbing and interesting book to read, both because of the subject matter and because of the personal beliefs and values of the men who authored it. One comes way from the reading experience convinced these men honestly cared about the men they fought beside, and that they tried to do the best they could to win the engagement and bring everyone home safely. Of course, in war this is something no one can succeed at, yet one appreciated the sentiment and the kind of honest values and degree of integrity such sentiments represent. This is a book I can heartily recommend, as I know you will find it as intriguing and provocative ad I did. Enjoy!
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Summary: Hal Moore is not Emerson, but it'll do
Review: I admit, the book does not flow well. In fact, it reminds me slightly of Catch-22 in that is seems to jump around, even though it doesn't, even though Catch-22 did, and now I've gone cross-eyed. The point is, it reads like a report to a general. And that's probably more what it is. Hal Moore is not an author, he's a retired Lt. General. Galloway was a reporter, not a novelist. They aren't going to write a nice neat book like Tom Clancy. The reality of the battle is to me reflected in the reality of how the book was written, namely in a manner I expect from a soldier, not a writer. The book is compelling because it's real, and it's never been told this way before. A must read in my opinion for anyone curious about Vietnam.
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Summary: Great Book
Review: I'm a Vietnam Vet, and I can recommend this book strongly enough for anyone interested in this heroric battle. Our top sargent was a survivor of this action. And his recollections echo this book.
It's not a bad movie either, but my personal favorite VN flickis 84 Charlie Mopic.
This is a fast and easy read.
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Summary: General (ret.) Norman Schwarzkopf Said it All
Review: I was interested in this book because of the movie previews (I read the book first, then decided to watch the movie because of the book), but what made me buy the book was a quote from now-retired General Norman Schwarzkopf: "Anyone who wants to know what the Vietnam war (or any war) was really like should read this book." I respect his opinion even more since I read the book. I was in the Army (also, one of my brothers was in the Vietnam war, and another was in the Persian Gulf war), so I may be a little biased and I can see how this book could be a little boring or dry to some people. But, if you can get past that and really read the entire book to understand what is being described, it tells an incredible story. Much of what was written in this book, I've never heard before (possibly because I was born in 1970 and really grew up after the war) and it changed my perspective of the war. Don't get me wrong, my wife is Vietnamese and I've been to Vietnam twice in the past 3 years, so I've instinctively done a lot of research on the war and Vietnamese people. But, since everything I know about it is not from personal experience, I've always depended on what others have written, and there were many things I read in this book that I've never read before. The bottom line is that if you are Vietnamese or know any Vietnamese people, you were in the Vietnam war or anyone close to you was in it, or you were in the regular U.S. military or you're close to someone who is, this book will move you as it did me. Even if none of the above conditions applies to you, if you read this book you will have a good understanding of what the Vietnam war, people, and wars in general are truly like.
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Summary: War is hell
Review: About a week after the movie was released, I received a call from my 32 yr old son late one night. He was still having a hard time talking, after watching the move, but just wanted to call and say, " thanks dad, I never had a clue." I think this book, should be required reading for all high school students, and especially their teachers. If they "had a clue" it might have turned out different. Hate the war, not the warrior.
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Summary: The War America wants to forget...
Review: This was an exceptionally difficult book for me to read--not for the content or writing style--but for the subject covered. Vietnam was almost "my" war. I served in the Army at the onset of hostilities in 1964 , and lost many good friends there. Many other reviewers have panned the detailed style of the authors ; I view the book as highly descriptive. I am not critical of style if the content is there , and in this case it IS! If a reader wishes to be "entertained" , then this is not the right book. The movie is much more compelling on an entertainment scale. What does come through the dryly written text , however , is the belief of Hal Moore in the "duty , honor , country" aspect of military service. I felt a strong bond to him through the integrity he has displayed towards the men under his command. I , for one , would have felt honored to serve with/under him on the field of battle. There are alot of other Vietnam war books that are much more excitingly written , but none of them describe a greater triumph of the American soldier under fire than this one. If you really want to know "what happened" , this is a must read.
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Summary: Careful, factual, but not compelling...
Review: While showing great care in getting names, facts, dates and times right the authors of this book nevertheless fail miserably to draw you into the battle. This book reads like a gigantic action report intended for the higher brass. You're told things like "Seargent xxx from Middletown, Nebraska took an AK-47 shot in the shoulder that exited from the middle back. 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company was pinned down by heavy automatic weapons fire on the left." After going though half the book I just gave up. I could not generate enough enthusiasm to pick it up again. This is a rare thing for me. I hate leaving a book unfinished, and I particularly like war stories. This textbook approach is only interesting as a tool for analyzing the battle. The battle this book describes is one of the fiercest in the entire war and requires an author who can recreate that energy and horror in a way that puts you in the action. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case for me with these authors. For a much better read on Vietnam try "If I die in a combat zone" by Tim Obrien. The events are far more trivial in that book then those described here, but it is much more compelling somehow. For a book that captures the wild kinetic energy of a heavy, sustained firefight check out "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden.
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Summary: Excellent book, sad but well told story....
Review: As the son of a Vietnam Veteran, born in the 60s, I've tried to do as much reading on the subject as possible. I read this book when it first came out back in '93. This book is the best of the bunch. A vivid and harrowing account of what became America's "wake up" call that maybe we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.
Hats off to all who served and returned, and to those who didn't return.
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Summary: See the Movie
Review: Rarely does a movie shine when the book came first. Here is an exception. The prologue shows exceptional literary style and promise. The rest of the book (or as much as I suffered through) is so badly crafted that it is a wonder an editor let it through. If you are not interested in intricate details of Vietnamese generals, rapidly shifting points of view and uneven verb tenses, give this one a wide berth.
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