Con Thien: The Hill of Angels

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Summary: A Fortress That Couldn't Shoot Back
Review: Con Thien was a bitch. During a phase of fortress thinking, McNamara/Westmoreland devised a series of strong points to be held against all opposition. For three long years the Marines held Con Thien presumably to keep the North Vietnamese Army from coming south through the DMZ.

It seems like they forgot the George Patton quotation, "Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man." So there we sat. Just to the north was the DMZ. Beyond the DMZ was the enemy artillery. The enemy could shoot at us. We couldn't shoot at them because of "political sensitivities." Sometimes you really gotta wonder.

Written by a man who was there in a marine tank company (you don't read much about tanks in Viet Nam, but they were there). So you get a personal side to the story combined with a very well researched overall picture. An excellent combination not often seen. Highly recommended.

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Summary: CON THIEN The Hill of Angels
Review: I have been waiting over thirty years for a detailed account of the battle for Con Thien on May 8,1967. I would like to give Mr. Coan a few facts, since I was the gunner in the center tank.
Sergeant Danner was replacing a crewman who was wounded the day before. I was in the gunner's seat. We took about three hits from RPG's and when the last one hit I was temporally blinded. I told the crew to get out. After they got out it took a few minutes to get my sight back. When I went to climb out there were about three or four NVA on the right side of the tank and one NVA on the left. They didn't see me and I dropped back down inside and grabbed the grease gun (45cal. submachine gun for those who don't know). I wasn't about to stay in the tank. All the hatches were open and my biggest fear was a grenade or satchel charge being thrown in. I figured I would come out the loaders hatch on the left and zap the NVA there and make it back to the trench line. When I came up he was gone and I leaped off the left side and I made it to the trench line. In the trench I found a Marine wounded in the head. I didn't want to leave him so I decided to make my stand right there. I just raised the grease gun to fire when I was hit in the back by a round. It came out my chest and took off part of my right wrist. I don't have the space to tell the whole story. I have the greatest respect for all the men who fought in that battle.

Cpl. Samuel R. Basso

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Summary: Con Thien: The Hill of Angels
Review: In his book, Con Thien: The Hill of Angels, Mr. Coan combines the where, when and how of some of the most vicious battles of the war in Vietnam with personal insights of the men who fought them. The writing is crystal clear, written in a style that I found easy to read, presented in a way that kept me from putting it down. Dramatic personal accounts compliment Mr. Coan's in-depth research resulting in a book both moving and informative. It's all here, the strategies of both sides of the conflict, the defeats, the victories and all the horrors that no one should ever have to endure. I recommend this book to students of the war in Vietnam, to anyone who is curious about "what it was like" and to those who were there and want a riveting, jolt back in time.

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Summary: Con Thien The Hill of Angels
Review: It is a great book and very well written. I bought four books to give to my Bros! It tells it like it was in those days. I know because I was there in 1967 and vividly remember the Horrors and Bloodshed. Former Marine L/Cpl Jack T. Hartzel

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Summary: It's about time!!!!!!
Review: It is about time that someone has written a story about Conthien. Who better to write the story than a Marine who was actually there? A first hand account with well documented facts based on many years of research and interviews.

Marines in Vietnam saw some of the most better fighting of the war. Conthien and its surrounding area was the seen of much of that fighting.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in what happen in Vietnam. If you served in tanks or the infantry, this book is a must read.

As one 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine grunt put it "KheSanh was hell, but Conthien was a mother%X$#@*".

Jim Coan has set the record straight about "The Hill of Angels".

Bill Carroll
Sergeant Major
USMC Retired