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liberrydude's review against another edition
4.0
A quick engaging read from the retired command sergeant major and his coauthor. He was a tiger in battle and a real tiger saved him from the NVA pursuing him during his escape and evasion.
The Battle of the A Shau Valley in which the SF Camp is overrun is one of those epic fights that belongs on the same level with Thermopylae. Twenty Green Berets and 400 unreliable Vietnamese irregulars take on an entire NVA division. It’s like Dien Bien Phu without a surrender. Calls for reinforcements are not heeded. Weather takes away the ability to accurately target the enemy as well as sustain the camp. Higher headquarters refuses to believe the reports from the men at the tip of the spear. Sounds like the Chosin Reservoir all over again.
This is a memoir and not a history but we learn of so many interesting accounts of valor. Lots of aircraft lost. The first MOH for an AF pilot for landing on the camp’s airfield under intense fire to pickup his downed wingman. Marine helo squadron commander put up for court martial/ investigation for giving order to shoot friendly Vietnamese troops who were swamping helos that we’re evacuating wounded. We meet the elite mercenaries of Vietnam, the Nungs, who had the American’s trust unlike the CIDG’s who engaged in what we would now call insider attacks. Also we witness the discrimination against the Montagnards.
Adkins is awarded the DSC and goes on with his life never looking back. He makes a complete break with military life and moves on. It’s sort of amazing though that he has no desire to go back to Vietnam. He is still haunted by a comrade who he had to leave on the trail while evading. Now that he has been upgraded to the MOH life is not the same. He keenly feels the responsibility of the medal. He’s a role model for sure.
The Battle of the A Shau Valley in which the SF Camp is overrun is one of those epic fights that belongs on the same level with Thermopylae. Twenty Green Berets and 400 unreliable Vietnamese irregulars take on an entire NVA division. It’s like Dien Bien Phu without a surrender. Calls for reinforcements are not heeded. Weather takes away the ability to accurately target the enemy as well as sustain the camp. Higher headquarters refuses to believe the reports from the men at the tip of the spear. Sounds like the Chosin Reservoir all over again.
This is a memoir and not a history but we learn of so many interesting accounts of valor. Lots of aircraft lost. The first MOH for an AF pilot for landing on the camp’s airfield under intense fire to pickup his downed wingman. Marine helo squadron commander put up for court martial/ investigation for giving order to shoot friendly Vietnamese troops who were swamping helos that we’re evacuating wounded. We meet the elite mercenaries of Vietnam, the Nungs, who had the American’s trust unlike the CIDG’s who engaged in what we would now call insider attacks. Also we witness the discrimination against the Montagnards.
Adkins is awarded the DSC and goes on with his life never looking back. He makes a complete break with military life and moves on. It’s sort of amazing though that he has no desire to go back to Vietnam. He is still haunted by a comrade who he had to leave on the trail while evading. Now that he has been upgraded to the MOH life is not the same. He keenly feels the responsibility of the medal. He’s a role model for sure.
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