The Walking Dead : A Marine's Story of Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: Too much hype
Review: All this talk of the naming of the Walking Dead. Wonder if anyone can document their claims on the naming of the battalion.

From the excerpts it sounds more like fiction than truth. 1/9 was on Operation Starlight, but only played a small part. Hill 55 and the area around it are where the combat was during that period.

The action in the south(Danang) does not compare with the fights on the DMZ and the Ashau Valley. Not to say that one could not get killed in the south, but it was a different war.

I tend to agree with David Anderson's assessment of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and enlightening
Review: Col. Roberts tells his story about a patriotic kid who joined the marines to fight communism, only to learn the war was about much more. His valor won him a purple heart, [...] Don't these people have a life?
Anyway I write reviews as part of my business as a writer and for on-line networking. Craig WAS a part of this battalion
called the Walking Dead; I bet there were a lot of patrols who got that name or took it after a year or 2 with dysentary etc.
The book is as I said entertaining; it takes you to the battle, to the lonely waiting, to the terror and tortures, to the whore houses on leave; it pulls no punches. Tho it is cliche' - I laughed and I cried.
[...]

Rating:
Summary: The Walking Dead: Misrepresented
Review: Throughout the history of the United States Marine Corps, officers and enlisted alike have consistently distinguished themselves, through altruistic and heroic acts of courage on the battlefield. During America's involvement in the Vietnem War, 1st Battalion 9th Marines, Third Marine Division, nicknamed The Walking Dead, was no exception to this tradition. One Nine's roster is replete with names of men who earned numerous senior personal decorations for bravery and valor, often at the cost of their lives. Unfortunately, costs were high during the War in RVN, as evidenced by more than 440 of the Walking Dead killed in action and over 2500 wounded in action.

In their book, The Walking Dead: A Marines Story of Vietnam, Major Craig Roberts, USA ret. and former Green Beret medic, Charles W. Sasser, advance a story of the heroic exploits of Pfc. Craig Roberts. The story takes place in 1965 when Roberts was serving a tour with 3rd Battalion 9th Marines and 2nd Battalion 9th Marines, Third Marine Division. This book was written to appeal to non-Marine, non-Vietnam veterans, who are not concerned with historical accuracy and are not offended by Roberts disingenuous self aggrandizement.

Roberts betrays his lack of affiliation with The Walking Dead by refering to it as 2nd Battalion 9th Marines. One would be hard pressed to find a Marine Vietnam veteran who doesn't know that The Walking Dead is the First Battalion of the Ninth Marines and not the Second Battalion. This might seem trivial to non-Marine readers, but it would be equivalent, in the sports world, to Joe Montana, writing a book about his career and insisting that he played for the San Francisco Raiders. Roberts and Sasser also advance the non sequitor bovine scat that during his tour, Pfc. Roberts was not only a marine rifleman, but also a sniper, and recon team leader. Other than these representations, it's an interesting read that should be in the fiction section at Amazon.com.

Amazon.com has some exemplary books on the various unit participation in the Vietnam War at great prices. I would recommend to readers interested in the factual history of that war, to save their money on The Walking Dead and instead buy some of the following selections: SOG by John L. Plaster, Marine Sniper by Charles Henderson, Inside Force Recon:Recon Marines in Vietnam by Michael Lee Lanning and Ray William Stubee, and Never Without Heroes: Marine Third Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam 1965-70 by Lawrence C. Vetter.

Rating:
Summary: Clarifying the book's title
Review: To clarify the title "The Walking Dead," this was the name given to the 9th Marine Regiment in 1965, as explained in the forward of the book. By January 1966, 1st Battalion claimed it as their own nickname. 2nd Battalion later chose "Hell in a Helmet," and 3rd Battalion became "The Shadow Warriors." The name originally WAS NOT JUST 1/9 as the below reviewer states (I was there!)

Roberts does not claim to be a recon Marine, only that he led recon patrols with the ARVNs, as stated in the book. The book is factual and researched as to times, locations and events through HQMC. Also, members of Roberts' platoon were located in 1987 and interviewed.

Finally, the period Roberts was assigned to sniper duty was enough to interest him in writing about Marine and Army snipers in a later best-seller, "One Shot--One Kill: America's Combat Snipers."