Rating: 
Summary: Best On My Bookshelf
Review: Mr. Kelly has produced one of the finest referrence books ever compiled about the Vietnam War. I am amazed at his depth of research. I sat with the book and challenged it by thinking of some of the most obscure places I was at in Vietnam that I believed would be overlooked by any reasearcher. He had not only located everyone of them by the nicknames given them by our troops but also gave their proper Vietnamese title!
I have worked with Vietnam Veterans for the past nineteen years primarily in securing benefits for them from the Depatment of Veterans' Affairs. This book is a godsend to anyone assiting vetrans in the VA claims process. It is a one stop reference in the art of obtaining information (locations, unit and personal military records) necessary to support a claim for benefits. It is far more valuable then Stanton's " Vietnam Order of Battle".
This is the book that every Vietnam Vietnam veteran or human service agency that provides service to Vietnam Veterans should own. I have a very large collection, over 180 lineal feet of shelving, of fiction and non-fiction books about Vietnam and the men and women who fought there. I now consider Mike Kelley's non-ficiton work the "Best on my bookshelf'.
Rating: 
Summary: A Monster Effort
Review: This compilation of facts and places is remarkable. It is also next to useless to the average reader.I guess I expected some narrative of places I was serving during the two years I spent "In-Country". Alas, that wasn't what I got in this voluminous paperback. Without a military map series, this will not be helpful to the student of the Second Vietnamese War, say in twenty years, when all or most of us who were there, who "saw the elephant" are gone.I suspect that it WILL be most helpful for those who are engaged in assisting those former soldiers, sailors, airman & Marines who need help in identifying the exact place they served for purposes of filing Veterans Administration claims for disabilities.
Rating:
Summary: A Monster Effort
Review: This compilation of facts and places is remarkable. It is also next to useless to the average reader. I guess I expected some narrative of places I was serving during the two years I spent "In-Country". Alas, that wasn't what I got in this voluminous paperback. Without a military map series, this will not be helpful to the student of the Second Vietnamese War, say in twenty years, when all or most of us who were there, who "saw the elephant" are gone.I suspect that it WILL be most helpful for those who are engaged in assisting those former soldiers, sailors, airman & Marines who need help in identifying the exact place they served for purposes of filing Veterans Administration claims for disabilities.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the money...
Review: Two stars for effort. However, for anyone who has been in the 'Nam (3 years, in my case), this book promises a good deal, but does not deliver. Although Kelley put a lot of time into compiling some basic facts, overall it is certainly not worth the money. The "lists" of combat bases, combat areas, villes, etc. are less than a thumbnail in length and the maps are of poor quality and difficult to read. It is nicely packaged, but beyond the cover there is just not much there. Maybe Kelley took on too much, going from 1945 to '75. If you want to actually LEARN something about Viet Nam and why we ended up there, I recommend Stanley Karnow's "VIETNAM, A HISTORY". Bottom line on "Where We Were...", save you money!
Rating:
Summary: A Reference Manual All Vietnam Vets Will Use For A Lifetime
Review: Vietnam had no fronts, but it sure had perimeters. Everywhere. Those perimeters defined a whole generation of soldiers. I thought most of that was lost forever. I was wrong. If you served in Vietnam, chances are that the places where you hung your web-gear on a hook are described in Mike Kelley's amazing work. Some of what he lists includes coordinates of places that were just mud berms, sandbags and fighting positions. It is obvious that Mike Kelley did more than years of detailed document research. He met hundreds of vets over the years, and enlisted their personal knowledge. The final product is a treasure of information. I can't imagine a Vietnam veteran not wanting a copy. This kind of reference material will be pulled off my personal library shelf every time the subject of Vietnam gets serious. No future article that references Vietnam will be written without a reality check through these pages. The glossary of "minutia" alone is worth the price. Bill Hunt Vietnam
1972
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