Vietnam War Bibliography:

U.S. Soldiers on the Ground

Carl S. Adams, Remember the Alamo: A Sentry Dog Handler's View of Vietnam from the Perimeter of Phan Rang Air Base. Fort Bragg, CA: Lost Coast Press, 2003. vii, 261 pp. An Air Force sentry dog handler from March 1967 to October 1968.

Stanley J. Adams, Mokane to Mole City: A Manchu Vietnam Memoir, Bravo Co. Nov. 1968 - Nov. 1969. (Appears to be self-published), 2019. 272 pp. Adams was drafted in 1968 and sent to Vietnam the same year, assigned to B Company, 4/9 Infantry (Manchus), 25th Infantry Division. In late Decemer 1968 he participated in the defense of Patrol Base Mole City, south of Tay Ninh City in Tay Ninh province, against a heavy attack by the PAVN 272d Regiment.

Michael Adas and Joseph J. Gilch, Everyman in Vietnam: A Soldier's Journey Into the Quagmire. Oxford University Press, 2017. xiv, 264 pp. Interweaves a broad account of the war with the specific experiences of Private James Gilch (uncle of the co-author), who served in the 1/5 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, in III Corps from February 1966 until his eath in action in July. Based in part on letters written by Private Gilch.

Lee Alley, Back from War: A Quest for Life After Death. Midlothian, VA: Exceptional Publishing, 2006. 264 pp. pb Back from War: Finding Hope & Understanding In Life After Combat. Midlothian, VA: Exceptional Publishing, 2007. 264 pp. Introduction by General Tommy R. Franks. The early chapters cover Alley's service as a 1st Lieutenant in D Company, 5/60 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, approximately 1967.

Arthur J. Amchan, Killed in Action: The Life and Times of SP4 Stephen H. Warner, Draftee, Journalist, and Anti-war Activist. McLean, VA: Amchan Publications, 2003. 155 pp. Warner, an anti-war activist, was drafted out of Yale Law School in 1969, and sent to Vietnam as a public information specialist. He was killed in Quang Tri province in February 1971.

Artillery Trends ( -1968); The Field Artilleryman (1969-1972); The Field Artillery Journal (1973-1987); Field Artillery (1987- ). Fort Sill, Oklahoma: U.S. Army Field Artillery School. This journal published a considerable number of mostly short articles about the war, both while it was going on and retrospectively. For further information see Artillery Trends, The Field Artilleryman, The Field Artillery Journal, and Field Artillery in the section "Army Journals".

Stephen E. Atkins, Writing the War: My Ten Months in the Jungles, Streets and Paddies of South Vietnam, 1968. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009. 223 pp. Atkins served briefly in a combat unit, then transferred to the 19th Military History Detachment.

Robert Babcock, What Now, Lieutenant? An Infantryman in Vietnam. Marietta, GA: Deeds Publishing, 2011. 416 pp. Babcock served from mid-1966 to mid-1967 with B Company, 1/22 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division.

John C. "Doc" Bahnsen, Jr., with Wess Roberts, American Warrior. Foreword by H. Norman Schwarzkopf. Kensington, 2007. 448 pp. Bahnsen, West Point `56, eventually a brigadier general, served two tours, 1966-67 and 1968-69, with the 118th AHC, the 11th Armored Cavalry, and the 1st Armored Squadron.

Kenneth W. Baker, Alone in the Valley. Pompano Beach: Exposition Press, 1967.

Michael Stuart Baskin, 363 Days in Vietnam: A Memoir of Howitzers, Hook-ups & Screw-ups from My Tour of Duty, 1968 to 1969. Primedia eLaunch LLC, 2019. 215 pp. Spec 4 Baskin arrived in Vietnam in July 1968 and was initially assigned to the headquarters detachment, 3/16 Artillery, Americal Division, just southwest of Chu Lai.

Thomas F. Bayard, No Cats in Vietnam: The Memoir of a Straightleg Engineer. Xlibris, 2007. 266 pp. Two chapters (pp. 57-112) cover Bayard's service with the 66th Engineer Company, a cartographic unit at Long Binh, September 1967 to September 1968.

Lt. Gen. Julius W. Becton, Jr., Autobiography of Becton, a soldier and public servant. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2008. 336 pp. Becton served in the 101st Airborne Division 1967-68, first commanding the 2/17 Cavalry, then the 3d Brigade.

Douglas Beed, Chasing Understanding in the Jungles of vietnam: My Year as a "Black Scarf". Sunbury Press, 2017. Beed served with the 1/2 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, in III Corps, December 1968 to December 1969.

Joseph M. Belardo, Dustermen Vietnam: Story of the Last Great Gunfighters: Transcripts from My Vietnam Diary and Memoirs. Jacksonville, Texax: SamPat Press, 2010. 277 pp. I believe Belardo served with the 1/44 Artillery, an M42 Duster unit, August 1967 to August 1968. He was at Khe Sanh.

Charlyne Berens, Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. viii, 223 pp. There is one chapter on Hagel's 1967-68 tour with the 2/47 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, in the Mekong Delta.

Eric M. Bergerud, Red Thunder, Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam. Boulder: Westview, 1993. xix, 328 pp. Slightly more than half of this very useful work is oral history--interviews with veterans of the 25th Infantry Division.

F. Clifton Berry, Chargers. Illustrated History of the Vietnam War, no. 12. New York: Bantam, 1988. 158 pp. About the 196th Light Infantry Brigade.

Colonel Sidney B. Berry, Jr., USA, "Observations of a Brigade Commander, Part I." Military Review, January 1968 (vol. XLVIII, no. 1), pp. 3-21. Colonel Berry commanded the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam, from June 1966 to February 1967, in the area in and between War Zones C and D. "Part II." February 1968, pp. 54-66. "Part III." Military Review, March 1968 (vol. XLVIII, no. 3), pp. 31-48.

Daniel P. Bolger, Our Year of War: Two Brothers, Vietnam, and a Nation Divided. New York: Da Capo (Hachette), 2017. xv, 336 pp. Chuck and Tom Hagel served together in the same rifle platoon in Vietnam in 1968. Chuck, a future US senator, was pro-war. Tom was anti-war.

Carl W. Bradfield, The Blue Spaders--Vietnam: A Private's Account. Lakeland, FL: ASDA Publishing, 1992.

Alfred S. Bradford, Some Even Volunteered: The First Wolfhounds Pacify Vietnam. Westport: Praeger, 1994. xii, 191 pp. Bradford, now a professor of ancient history, served with the 1/27 Infantry, part of the 25th Infantry Division, September 1968 to August 1969. The main focus is on operations in Tri Tam District, south of Dau Tieng. The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Gary W. Bray, After My Lai: My Year Commanding First Platoon, Charlie Company. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010. xiii, 166 pp. Bray arrived in Vietnam in the fall of 1969.

E. R. Bridwell, Manchu Delta: A Vietnam War Story. Helena(?), Montana: E. R. Bridwell, 1986. 146 pp. Bridwell served in the 4/9 Infantry (Manchus), 25th Infantry Division.

Bobby Briscoe, The Jungle Warriors: A True Story, 2d ed.  Castroville, TX: J.T. Advertising and Graphics, 2000.  152 pp.  Briscoe became 1st Squad leader, 1st Platoon, B Company, 3/1 Infantry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, when the 11th was activated in Hawaii in 1967.  He was in Vietnam December 1967 to December 1968, based at LZ Bronco near Duc Pho.  The 11th was part of the Americal for most of this time.

Larry Brooks, Tan Tru. Auburn, CA: Brooks Company, 2014. 191 pp. Expanded edition, 2017. 238 pp. Brooks served 1968-69 in C Company, 2/60 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Firebase Tan Tru was in Long An province, upper Mekong Delta.

F.C. Brown, Delta Advisor: The War at the Rice Roots Level: Chau Doc, Vietnam, 1969-70. Merriam, 1990.

Fred Leo Brown, Vietnam War Diary, 2d ed. Palos Heights, IL: Combat Ready Publishing, 1998. 513 pp. A previous edition was published in 1973 as Call Me No Name. Brown arrived in Vietnam in November 1967, was assigned to the 198th Light Infantry Brigade (Americal Division), served until wounded by a booby trap in October 1968. For part or all of that time he was with D Company, 1/6 Infantry. Oddly written; much of it is an account in which he refers to himself in the third person.

John M.G. Brown, Rice Paddy Grunt: Unfading Memories of the Vietnam Generation. Lake Bluff, IL: Regnery, 1986. 356 pp. Brown served with the 1st Infantry Division beginning September 1967; he later joined the anti-war movement.

Courtlandt D. B. Bryan, Friendly Fire. New York: Putnam, 1976. 380 pp. The February 1970 death of Sergeant Michael Mullen, C Company, 1/6 Infantry (Norman Schwarzkopf's battalion), 198th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, through friendly artillery fire, and the efforts of his parents, Iowa farmers, to find out who was responsible. Schwarzkopf endorses the book. (See also the book by Michael Mullen's mother, Peg Mullen.)

John C. Burnam, Dog Tags of Courage: The Turmoil of War and the Rewards of Companionship.  Fort Bragg, CA: Lost Coast Press, 1999.  ix, 305 pp.  Burnam arrived in Vietnam in March 1966, and was assigned to Company B, 1/7 Cavalry.  He left Vietnam with a bad punji-stake wound  in July 1966.  In March 1967 he returned to Vietnam for a second tour, was assigned to 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, and promptly volunteered to join the 44th Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs as a dog handler.  He was there until March 1968.

John C. Burnam, A Soldier's Best Friend: Scout Dogs and Their Handlers in the Vietnam War. Carroll & Graff, (2003?). 384 pp. The description I have seen of this makes it look very similar to the item above.

Joseph W. Callaway, Jr., Mekong First Light. New York: Presidio (Ballantine), 2004. viii, 256 pp. Lt. Callaway arrived in Vietnam in December 1966 as a platoon leader in C Company, 2/60 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. After briefly serving in the Bear Cat/Long Binh area, and then in the Rung Sat, the unit was based at Tan Tru in Long An Province. In June 1967, he was sent to Thailand to become an adviser to a Thai Army unit, which was deployed to Vietnam in September. In December, Callaway joined the 5th Special Forces Group at Nha Trang; he was there until he left Vietnam in mid 1968. His story of his experiences in the years after he got out of the Army is also interesting, notably for the political atmosphere, and attitudes to the war, at Boston University.

Tom Carhart, The Offering. Pb New York: Warner, 1988. (Hb Morrow 1987?) Memoir by a 1966 West Point graduate who arrived in Vietnam at the end of 1967, and served first with the 101st Airborne, later as an advisor. Possibly fictionalized in places.

John A. Cash, John Albright, and Allan W. Sandstrum, Seven Firefights in Vietnam New York: Bantam, 1985. 191 pp. Reprint of 1970 U.S. Army publication, but this private-sector reprint has some maps and illustrations different from those that appeared in the version published by the Army. Each of the seven chapters is by one author; in the cases of chapters 1, 2, and 7, the author had been in some way involved with the action described. Chapter 1, by Cash, is on the battle at Landing Zone X-Ray, November 14-16, 1965. Chapter 2, by Albright, is about an incident of November 11, 1966, in which the VC 274th (Dong Nai) Regiment ambushed a large portion of the 1st Squadron of the 11th Armored Cavalry on Highway 1 between Long Binh and Xuan Loc. Chapter 7, by Cash, covers an action by U.S. Army helicopter gunships on the outskirts of Saigon, May 5, 1968. The text of the version the Army published has been placed on-line by the Army, with all maps and illustrations but no index.

David Christian and William Hoffer, Victor Six. hb apparently New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1991. Ads for this book say that David Christian was at one time the youngest, and later the most decorated, U.S. officer in Vietnam. He served 1968-69. He was a LRRP, and commanded a platoon of the 1st Infantry Division, and was involved in operations into Cambodia before the overt U.S. invasion of Cambodia. The books seems clearly to have been written by Hoffer, on the basis of what Christian told him; it always refers to Christian in the third person.

Tom Clancy, with Carl Stiner, Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces. New York: Putnam's, 2002. 548 pp. The bulk of the book is devoted to Special Operations Forces, but Stiner's 1967-68 Vietnam tour (pp. 176-199) was in a conventional role: as a Major, he was S-3 of the 3/12 Infantry approximately July 1967 to Jan 1968 (this unit was in the Dak To fighting of late 1967), and S-3 of the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division January to July 1968.

Peter Clark, Alpha One Sixteen: A Combat Infantryman's Year in Vietnam. Casemate, 2018. 224 pp. Clark arrived in Vietnam in late July 1966 and was assigned to A Company, 1/16 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, based at Lai Khe north of Saigon.

James E. Crum, Pigman - Vietnam 1968-1969. Canal Fulton, OH: Privately published, 1988. 186 pp.

Tyrone T. Dancy, Serving Under Adverse Conditions: Wars and the Aftermath. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2005. xvii, 84 pp. Dancy served rather briefly in 1969 (before being seriously wounded) in D Company, 2/3 Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, in III Corps.

Frederick Downs, Jr., The Killing Zone: My Life in the Vietnam War. New York: Norton, 1978. 240 pp. pb New York: Berkley, 1983. 271 pp. Paperback New York: Norton, 1993. 240 pp. Paperback with a new afterword New York: Norton, 2007. 270 pp. Account by an infantry lieutenant who served in central Vietnam (partly in populated areas near the coast--in Quang Ngai and Quang Tin provinces, I think--and partly in the highlands) with the 1/14 Infantry, 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, from September 1967 to early January of 1968. A good picture of the way average American units operated.

Frederick Downs, Jr., Aftermath. New York: Norton, 1984 (paperback Berkley, 1985). Continuation of the above: story of Downs' recovery after having his arm blown off by a booby trap January 11, 1968. Includes a few interesting facts about his previous combat service that hadn't gotten into his first book.

Tracy Derks and James G. Holland, "The Battle of Bong Trang," Vietnam Magazine, October 2007, pp. 36-39. Holland commanded 1st Platoon, Company C, 1/2 Infantry, in this battle in Binh Duong province, August 25, 1966.

Robert Driskill, That Close: A Memory of Combat in Vietnam. Self-published, 2017. 91 pp. Digital version sold by Amazon Digital Services. Driskill served in C Company, 5/12 Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, from April to December 1969 in III Corps.

Michael Duffy, From Chicago to Vietnam: A Memoir of War. Inkwater Press, 2016. 328 pp. Duffy arrived in Vietnam, a lieutenant, in January 1968, and was assigned to Battery C, 7/9 Artillery, at Xuan Loc in III Corps.

Jack Eager (pseudonym?), Better Him than Me!  A True Story of the Horror of Vietnam and One Veteran's Struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Kansas City, MO: Truman Publishing, 1999.  256 pp.  Eager claims to have served with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, beginning early in 1968, but serious questions have been raised about the authenticity of the book.

Ed [Edgar W.] Eaton, Mekong Mud Dogs: The Story of Sgt. Ed Eaton. North Charleston, SC: Edgar W. Eaton, 2014. xi, 278 pp. Eaton served with the B Company, 3/60 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, part of the Mobile Riverine Force, 1968-69.

James R. Ebert, A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam,1965-1972. Novato: Presidio, 1993. xiv, 406 pp. Based on a lot of interviews, but not a straight oral history.

Bernard Edelman, ed., Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. New York: Norton, 1985. Paperback New York: Pocket Books, 1986.

Michael A. Eggleston, Dak To and the Border Battles of Vietnam, 1967-1968. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2017. 214 pp.

E. Franklin Evans, Stand To... A Journey to Manhood. iUniverse, 2008. 276 pp. Lieutenant Evans arrived in Vietnam in August 1968 and was assigned to the 1/12 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, in the Central Highlands.

Joe Fair, Call Sign Dracula: My Tour with the Black Scarves, April 1969 to March 1970M. Mechanicsburg, PA: Sunbury Press, 2014. 220 pp. Fair served with the 1/2 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

The First Infantry Division in Vietnam: A Compilation of Special Stories and Photographs Contributed by First Infantry Division Vietnam Veterans, vol. 2. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing, 2000.

Col. David G. Fitz-Enz, Why a Soldier? A Signal Corpsman's Tour from Vietnam to the Moscow Hot Line. New York: Ballantin, 2000. 404 pp. Fitz-Enz arrived in Vietnam with the 69th Signal Battalion late in 1965, a 1st Lieutenant combat photographer, airborne qualified. He was assigned to the 173d Airborne Brigade.

Allen R. Fitzpatrick, Duster Duty, 1967: A Rhode Islander in Vietnam. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2015. 160 pp.

Lt. General Robert F. Foley, U.S. Army (Ret), Standing Tall: Leadership Lessons in the Life of a Soldier. Casemate, 2022. 240 pp. A moderate portion of this (maybe a quarter?) deals with Foley's Vietnam service. He won the Medal of Honor for his actions as commander of Company A, 2/27 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, on November 5, 1966, during Operation Attleboro.

General Tommy Franks, with Malcolm NcConnell, American Soldier. New York: Regan Books (HarperCollins), 2004. xvii, 590 pp. This mostly deals with recent events in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, but the chapter (pp. 63-109) on Franks' October 1967 to October 1968 tour in Vietnam is very interesting. An artillery 2LT, Franks served initially with the 5/60 Infantry (Mechanized) at Binh Phuoc (southern Long An province), as a forward observer attached to C Company of the 5/60. Then as XO of D Battery, 204 Artillery, a helicopter-mobile unit of M-102 105mm howitzers that fired from metal platforms that a CH-54 Skycrane could land in a swamp. Then as aerial observer in on O-1 Bird Dog. Then as the artillery liaison officer of the 5/60; it was in this job that he targeted artillery and air strikes in the Battle of the Y Bridge, on the southern approaches to Saigon during "Mini-Tet" in May 1968. Finally he served on an OH-6 Loach, the low bird in a Pink Team.

Maj. G.E. Galloway, Jr., "A Historical Study of United States Army Engineer Operations in The Republic of Vietnam, January 1965 - November 1967." Master's thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, 1968. xix, 326 pp. ADA361989. full text is available online through STINET.

General John R. Galvin, Fighting the Cold War: A Soldier's Memoir. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2015. pp. 126-57 cover Galvin's first Vietnam tour, beginning July 1966. He spent a bit more than a month as operations officer of the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, then a couple of months in a staff job in Saigon, then in December 1966 went to the 1st Cavalry Division in Binh Dinh, working in the G3 plans section. He arrived for his second tour (pp. 175-216) in November 1969, again assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, initially as the division intelligence officer, then took command the 1/8 Cavalry in early May 1970. Parts of the battalion had already crossed into Cambodia as part of the Cambodian incursion.

Thomas P. Galvin, Bong Trang, 25 August 1966: An Individual Perspective on the Beginning of the Battle. Lititz, PA: 26th Infantry Regiment Association, 1997. 19 pp. Battle in Binh Duong province.

Ltc. Albert N. Garland, ed., Infantry in Vietnam: Small Unit Actions in the Early Days, 1965-66. Nashville: Battery Press, 1967; pb New York: Jove, 1985. 298 pp.

Ltc. Albert N. Garland, ed., A Distant Challenge: The US Infantryman in Vietnam,1967-1972. Nashville: Battery Press, 1983.

Curtis P. Gay, One More Sunrise: Memoir of a Combat Infantryman in Viet Nam. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2011. xii, 141 pp. Gay arrived in Vietnam as a PFC in mid-1966 and was assigned to A Company, 2/35 Infantry, 3d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division in Pleiku province. He was promoted to sergeant while in Vietnam.

Gary Robert Geister, The Devil's Domain: A Combat Infantryman's Own Story of the Horrors of Vietnam. Trafford, 2007. 256 pp. Geister was in Vietnam 1968-69, with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

James T. Gillam, War in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, 1968-1970: An Historian's Experience. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006. viii, 331 pp. Republished as Life and Death in the Central Highlands: An American Sergeant in the Vietnam War, 1968-1970. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 2010. Gillam was drafted in 1968. He arrived in Vietnam in September 1969, and served as a sergeant in B Company, 1/22 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. The book includes Operations Putnam Wildcat, Putnam Power, Hines, and Putnam Paragon, and the Cambodian Incursion of 1970.

Roy Gleason and Wallace Wasinack with Mark Langill, Lost in the Sun: Roy Gleason's Odyssey from the Outfield to the Battlefield. Sports Publishing, 2005. 239 pp. Gleason, a professional baseball player, was drafted, arrived in Vietnam December 1967 to serve in Company A, 3/39 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.

Russell W. Glenn, Reading Athena's Dance Card: Men against Fire in Vietnam.  Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000.  xii, 214 pp.  Particular attention is devoted to the S.L.A. Marshall thesis about reluctance to fire, and to the effects of the tour system.  Glenn looked in his research especially but not exclusively at the 1st Cavalry Division.

Robert J. Gouge, "These Are My Credentials": The 199th Light Infantry Brigade in the Republic of Vietnam, 1966-1970. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2004. xiv, 155 pp. Based to a large extent on interviews with veterans.

Robert J. Gouge, They Fought Together: A Photographic Tribute to Redcatchers of the 199th LIB. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2005. 128 pp.

Robert J. Gouge, Raiding The Sanctuary: Redcatchers in Cambodia, May 12th - June 25th, 1970. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse, 2006. 208 pp. Deals with the 5/12 Infantry and attached units (D Battery, 2/40 Artillery; Fireball Aviation; Company M, 75th Infantry [Ranger]; and the 76th Combat Tracker Team).

Robert J. Graham, "Vietnam: An Infantryman's View of Our Failure." Military Affairs, 48:3 (July 1984), pp. 133-139. Graham served in the 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highlands, 1969-1970, as a squad leader and then platoon sergeant. Quite interesting on a number of issues, including free fire zones. If you browse the Internet through an institution that has subscribed to JSTOR, you can access the text directly or go through the JSTOR Military Affairs/Journal of Military History browse page.

Col. David H. Hackworth and Julie Sherman, About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989. 875 pp. (A condensed edition has been published under the title Brave Men. New York: Pocket Books, 1993.) A memoir by a man who, according to the dust-jacket, was the youngest full colonel in Vietnam and America's most decorated living soldier. Among other things, he was given command of the 4/39 Infantry, a very bad battalion in the 9th Infantry Division, early in 1969. He left the Army in 1971 after publicly denouncing American policy in Vietnam.

David H. Hackworth and Eilhys England, Steel My Soldiers' Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, United States Army, Vietnam. New York: Rugged Land, 2002. 441 pp. [On the dust jacket, the subtitle is The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam.] pb New York: Touchstone, 2002. xiv, 444 pp. Hackworth commanded the 4/39 (9th Infantry Division) in the Mekong Delta, 1969.

Captain Ed. Y. Hall, Valley of the Shadow (Spartanburg, SC: Honoribus Press,1986). Hall served as an advisor to the ARVN in III Corps and the Rung Sat, 1966-1967.

Roger Hayes, On Point: A Rifleman's Year in the Boonies: Vietnam, 1967-1968.  Novato, CA: Presidio, 2000. pb New York: St. Martin's, 2001. xxii, 248 pp. Hayes served with C Company, 1/5 Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division. The Presidio edition is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Glyn Haynie, When I Turned Nineteen: A Vietnam War Memoir. Self-published, 2017. 260 pp. Haynie served in A Company, 3/1 Infantry, 11th Briade, 23rd Infantry Division, approximately 1969.

Jack Head, Selective Memories of Vietnam, 1969-1970. 1stBooks. Head, a draftee, was rushed through training to be sent to Vietnam approximately January 1969, and assigned to the 11th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division.

David Hearne, June 17, 1967: Battle of Xom Bo II. lumberton, TX: Subterfuge Publishing, 2016. 386 pp. 1/16 and 2/28 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, against elements of the VC 271st Regiment, near the point in III Corps where Binh Long, Phuoc Long, and Binh Duong provinces come together.

Robert Hemphill, Platoon: Bravo Company. Fredericksburg, VA: Sergeant Kirkland's Press, 1999. 252 pp. Reprinted Pittsburgh: RoseDog Books, 2006. xv, 186 pp. Hemphill commanded (late 1967 to early 1968) Company B, 3/22 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, the company portrayed in the movie "Platoon."

Charles P. Hensler, There It Is...It Don't Mean Nothin': A Vietnam War Memoir. Independently published, 2018. 289 pp. Hensler served April 1968 to April 1969 with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

Lt. Col. Anthony Herbert, Soldier. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973. 497 pp. Memoir by a pretty competent officer who didn't get along with his superiors, and got canned.

Gerald Herter, Farewell, Ham Tan Arty: An Artilleryman's Journal During the Vietnam War Drawdown. Leeananshee Press (self-published?), 2022. 206 pp. Herter was commissioned through ROTC in 1970. He arrived in Vietnam in September 1970, and was assigned to the 5/42 Artillery in III Corps, which had several batteries scattered across southeastern III Corps. He was shifted from place to place fairly often. Initially the battalion was supporting the US 1st Cavalry Division; early in 1971 it shifted to supporting ARVN units.

Phil Hirsch, ed., Vietnam Combat: Brutal stories of men fighting a dirty war. New York: Pyramid, 1967. 173 pp. Articles originally published in Man's Magazine 1963-66.

Frank G. Hoffman, Mars Adapting: Military Change during War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021. 368 pp. The US Army's adaptation to the nature of ground combat in Vietnam is one of the four case studies considered.

Richard Hogue, We Were the Third Herd. Morrison, Colorado: Richlyn Publishing, 2003. Hogue served in the 25th Infantry Division northwest of Cu Chi, from July 1969 until he was seriously wounded in January 1970.

David Holdorf, "Interview with David Holdorf." Oral history interview, conducted by Stephen Maxner, March 28, 2001. 39 pp. Holdorf was drafted in 1967, became a vehicle mechanic, and served with a battery of 8-inch self-propelled howitzers in II Corps. He arrived in Vietnam in April 1968. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

David S. Holland, Vietnam, a Memoir: Mekong Mud Soldier. New York and Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2006. xxv, 253 pp. Covers Holland's service as a staff officer, March to August 1968 (interesting for his comments on how little real work there was for him as battalion S-2 in the 173d Airborne Brigade, pp. 18- ), and in the Mekong Delta November 1968 to March 1969, with MAT-104, in Kien Phong province, advising the 64th RF Battalion.

Jerry S. Horton, The Shake 'n Bake Sergeant: True Story of Infantry Sergeants in Vietnam. Trafford. 321 pp. Horton served 1968-69 with A Company, 1/8 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division.

Michael J. Horton, DEROS: A Year in Vietnam. 1996. An electronic publication, available at the author's web site. Horton served March 1967 to March 1968 as a pay clerk for the 14th Engineer Battalion (Combat) at Dong Ba Thin, close to Cam Ranh.

Swanson N. Hudson, "Deadly Struggle in the Eagle's Claw." Vietnam Magazine, June 2000, pp. 38-44. A big battle--107 US personnel were killed--in the Kim Son Valley, southwest of Bong Son during Operation Masher/White Wing, February 1966. The author was wounded serving in A Company, 1/5 Cavalry ("Black Knights").

James F. Humphries, Through the Valley: Vietnam, 1967-1968. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1999. xii, 335 pp. Humphries was a company commander and operations officer in the 3/21 Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade in I Corps, but this is not just a memoir; it apparently reflects extensive research.

Edward Hymoff, Fourth Infantry Division: Vietnam. New York: Lads.

William Ingalls, Snakes, Rain and the Tet Offensive: War Stories with Photos. Atascadero, CA: War of Words, 2014. v, 271 pp. Heavily illustrated. Ingalls served August 1967 to July 1968 with the 362d Engineer Company in Tay Ninh province.

Colonel Jack Jacobs (Ret.) and Douglas Century, If Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need. New York: Berkley (Penguin), 2008. 292 pp. Lt. Jacobs served 1967-68 as an adviser to the 2/16 Infantry, ARVN 9th Division, in IV Corps. He won the Medal of Honor for an action in March 1968. From the brief glance I have taken at this book, it looks extremely good.

L.D. James, Unfortunate Sons: A True Story of Young Men and War. Washington, Delaware: Cambridge Dent, 2005. 288 pp. A battle at Hoc Man, March 2, 1968, in which C Company, 4/9 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, suffered very heavy casualties.

Philip Keith, Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, An Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the vietnam Battle America Forgot. pb New York: St. Martin Griffin, 2013. xviii, 331 pp. Alpha Troop, 1/11 Armored Cavalry, went to the rescue of an American company that had gotten in bad trouble in War Zone C on March 26, 1970.

Richard E. Killblane, Circle the Wagons: The History of US Army Convoy Security. Global War on Terrorism Occasional Paper 13. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press, (2006?). iv, 89 pp. Most of this is on Vietnam.

William R. Kimball, Vietnam: The Other Side of Glory. pb Ballantine. Kimball served briefly as a mortarman with the 1st Air Cavalry in 1968. He is now a minister, works with Vietnam vets. This is not his story, but the stories of 14 other vets. One of these, David Shaffer, was dropped from later editions of the book after his account had been found to have been falsified (see Stolen Valor, by B.G. Burkett and Glenna Whitley, for details).

Dennis Kitchin, War in Aquarius: Memoir of an American Infantryman in Action Along the Cambodian Border During the Vietnam War. ix, 206 pp. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994. Kitchin served with 2/27 Infantry (Wolfhounds), 25th Infantry Division, probably Dec 68 to Dec 69. Returned disillusioned.

Robert Carson Krause, War and Living with PTSD: Vietnam 1969-1970 and the Cambodian incurseion in 1970. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009. 140 pp. Krause was a radio telephone operator (RTO) in D Company, 2/14 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division.

Tom Lacombe, Light Ruck: Vietnam 1969. Fort Valley, VA: Loft Press, 2002. x, 230 pp. Lacombe served January to December 1969, with B Company, 3/12 Infantry, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, in the Highlands mostly not too far from Pleiku. Looks good.

Michael Lee Lanning, The Only War We Had. New York: Ivy Books, 1987. 293 pp.  Reprinted Texas A&M University Press, 2007. 304 pp. Account by a lieutenant who commanded a platoon of C Company, 2/3 Infantry, 199th Light Infantry Brigade, April-October 1969, in III Corps.

Michael Lee Lanning, Vietnam, 1969-1970: A Company Commander's Journal. New York: Ivy Books, 1988.  311 pp.  Lanning commanded B Company, 2/3 Infantry, October 1969 to January 1970.  Stayed with the 2/3 as a training officer until he left Vietnam in April 1970.

Michael Lee Lanning, Inside the Crosshairs: Snipers in Vietnam. New York: Ivy, 1998. viii, 278 pp.

G. J. Lau, SitRep Negative: A Year in Vietnam. CreateSpace/Windroot Press, 2011. 124 pp. Lau was drafted in April 1968 and served with the 1st Infantry Division.

A.T. Lawrence, Crucible Vietnam: Memoir of an Infantry Lieutenant. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009. vii, 247 pp. Lawrence was in Vietnam September 1967 to September 1968. Mostly he was a platoon leader in B Company, 2/8 Infantry, 2d Brigade, Fourth Infantry Division, in the Central Highlands. But for a while he commanded the mortars at the division's base camp, and for six weeks at the end he was the S-3 Air for the 2/8 Infantry. In 2011 or 2012, McFarland brought out a slightly modified reprint of this book, in which Appendix C, "Hostile (Combat) Deaths in Vietnam" was expanded to become "Hostile (Combat) and Non-Hostile Deaths in Vietnam."

Jack Leninger, Time Heals No Wounds. New York: Ivy, 1993. xviii, 317 pp. Leninger served with the 1/12 Infantry Battalion, in the 4th Infantry Division, September 1968 to August 1969.

Lest We Should Forget: 8th Battalion, 4th Field Artillery. Oklahoma City, OK: Ace Book Bindery, 2004. 178 pp.

Kyle Longley, Grunts: The American Combat Soldier in Vietnam. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008. xxii, 243 pp.

Bill Lord, 50 Years After vietnam: Lessons and Letters from the War I Hated Fighting. 2018. 222 pp. Most of the book deals with Lord's service as a young infantry sergeant in Vietnam, 1967-68. It includes excerpts from letters he wrote home during that period.

John Maberry, Waiting for Westmoreland. Alexandria, VA: Eagle Peak Press, 2007. 243 pp. Covers Maberry's whole life, not just his Vietnam service with the 7/9 Artillery, based at Bear Cat. He turned against the war and became a Buddhist after returning to the U.S.

David William McCormick, A Walk on the Sidewalk. Authorhouse, 2003. 244 pp. McCormick was a radio operator with B Company, 1/27 Infantry ("Wolfhounds," 25th Infantry Division, III Corps).

Walter F. McDermott, Firebase Tan Tru: Memoir of an Artilleryman in the Mekong Delta, 1969-1970. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018. viii, 210 pp. Firebase Tan Tru was in Long An province.

Cherokee Paul McDonald, Into the Green: A Reconnaissance by Fire. New York: Plume (Penguin), 2001. xii, 255 pp. McDonald, a 2d lieutenant, arrived in Vietnam early in 1968, served in II Corps as an artillery forward observer for almost a year, then was evacuated to Japan with malaria. His parent unit was Battery A, 3/6 Artillery, but he spent his time in the field, attached to various units of the 173d Airborne Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, 3d ARVN Armored, and Special Forces. Most names have been altered.

Anthony A. McIntire, "The American Soldier in Vietnam." Ph.D. dissertation, History, University of Kentucky, 1996. 404 pp. DA 9630696. Argues that the failure of morale was not caused by lack of small-unit cohesion.

John C. McManus, The 7th Infantry Regiment: Combat in an Age of Terror: The Korean War Through the Present. Tom Doherty Associates, 2008. 416 pp. One chapter (pp. 95-166) covers the service of the 3/7 Infantry ("Cottonbalers") with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam, December 1966 to October 1970.

Donald McNamara, Which the Days Never Know: A year in Vietnam by the numbers. Springfield, NJ: Elephant's Bookshelf Press, 2017. 258 pp. McNamara served in the 1st Infantry Division January 1967 to January 1968.

Steve Maguire, Jungle in Black. New York: Bantam, 1992. 288 pp. Maguire commanded a recon platoon in the 9th Infantry Division until blinded by a mine, Mekong Delta, November 1969. Book is mainly about the aftermath; only a little on his actual period in combat.

John L. Mansfield, Twenty Days in May: Vietnam 1968. PublishAmerica, 2008. 170 pp. Alpha Company (especially its 1st Platoon), 4/31 Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, in I Corps, I think probably in the area between Hue and Dong Ha.

David Maraniss, They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003. xiv, 560 pp. This book juxtaposes two incidents: the battle of Ong Thanh, October 17, 1967, in which the 2/28 Infantry (Black Lions) of the 1st Infantry Division had heavy losses in an ambush about 20 km north of Lai Khe, west of Route 13 in the Long Nguyen Secret Zone, and the anti-war demonstration (a protest against on-campus recruiting by the Dow Chemical Corporation) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, that turned into a riot on October 18, 1967.

S[amuel] L[yman] A[twood] Marshall, Battles in the Monsoon. New York: William Morrow, 1967. Also Nashville: Battery Press, 1967. Three battles in the Central Highlands, summer 1966.

S.L.A. Marshall, Ambush and Bird. Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, n.d. A book club publication combining what were originally two books: Ambush (Nashville: Battery Press, 1969) dealing with the Battle of Dau Tieng in November 1966, and Bird (Nashville: Battery Press, 1968) dealing with an action on Christmas Day 1966.

S.L.A. Marshall, West to Cambodia and The Fields of Bamboo. Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, n.d. A book club publication combining what were originally two books: West to Cambodia (Nashville: Battery Press, 1968) and The Fields of Bamboo (New York: Doubleday, 1971).

Eric Mawson, Oil and Vinegar: A Conscripted Soldier in the Vietnam War. iUniverse, 2006. 52 pp. Mawson served as a personnel specialist in a unit that apparently had discipline problems.

Stephen (Shorty) Menendez, Battle at Straight Edge Woods. CreateSpace, 2013. 128 pp. A battle fought by C Company, 3/22 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, April 7, 1970, in Tay Ninh province south of Tay Ninh City, very close to the Cambodian border.

Mike Mercer, "Interview with Mike Mercer." Oral history interview, conducted by Kim Sawyer, January 12, 2001. 58 pp. Mercer arrived in Vietnam in March 1967 and was assigned to the 557th Light Equipment Company, 168th Combat Engineer Battalion; the company war running a rock crushing facility at Di An, in III Corps. The text is copyright by, and has been placed on-line by, the Vietnam Project at Texas Tech University.

William E. Merritt, Where the Rivers Ran Backward. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1989 (pb New York: Doubleday, 1990). The author arrived in Vietnam August 1968, and served with the 25th Infantry Division near Cu Chi. A brief glance suggests the possibility the book may be somewhat fictionalized.

James W. Milliken, Enter and Die. Xlibris, 2009. 278 pp. Milliken served 1968-69 in D Company, 2/60 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division.

Randy Mills and Roxanne Mills, Summer Wind: A Soldier's Road from Indiana to Vietnam. Indianapolis, IN: Cardinal, 2017. 304 pp. The story of Richard Wolfe, killed in action January 6, 1968, while serving in A Company, 2/18 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Based to a large extent on, and I presume (I have not actually seen the book) including extended excerpts from, letters Wolfe wrote home.

George Montgomery, Till We All Die. New York: Carlton, 1991. 124 pp. Montgomery served in the 1/35 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, 10/68 to 10/69.

Paul B. Morgan, K-9 Soldiers: Vietnam and After. Central Point, OR: Hellgate, 1999. Morgan served with a Ranger unit in early 1965, was commanding B Company, 716th MP Battalion in Saigon by early 1966, and was with Rangers in Tay Ninh province early in 1970. The book describes his use of dogs in those jobs, and in the US in various jobs after the war.

MSG Gregory H. Murry, Content with My Wages: A Sergeant's Story, Book I, Vietnam. Austin, TX: No End To Publishing Company, 2015. 382 pp. Murry served in Vietnam 1966-67 with the 1/16 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. He participated in operations Attleboro, Cedar Falls, Junction City, and Billings. He also discusses the battles at Bong Trang (August 1966, shortly before his arrival in Vietnam) and Ong Thanh (October 1967, shortly after his departure).

Keith W. Nolan, Death Valley: The Summer Offensive, I Corps, August 1969. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1987. New York: Dell, 1988. xiv, 381 pp.

Keith W. Nolan, House to House: Playing the Enemy's Game in Saigon, May 1968. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith (MBI Publishing), 2006. 368 pp.

Keith W. Nolan, Into Cambodia: Spring Campaign, Summer Offensive, 1970. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1990. pb New York: Dell, 1991. xxii, 566 pp.

Keith W. Nolan, Into Laos: The Story of Dewey Canyon II/Lam Son 719; Laos 1971. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1986. The ARVN effort to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail by an invasion of the Laotian panhandle in 1971, and the U.S. operation in the northwest corner of South Vietnam that supported the ARVN effort.

Keith W. Nolan, The Magnificent Bastards: The Joint Army-Marine Defense of Dong Ha, 1968. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1994. xii, 380 pp. 2/4 Marines and 3/21 Infantry against 320th PAVN Division, April-May 1968.

Keith W. Nolan, Sappers in the Wire: The Life and Death of Firebase Mary Ann. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1996, xiv, 289 pp. The 1/46 Infantry (Americal), night of March 27, 1971, Quang Tin province.

Sgt. John E. O'Donnell, None Came Home: The War Dogs of Vietnam. 1stBooks Library, 2001. 182 pp.

Howard Olsen, Issues of the Heart: Memoirs of an Artilleryman in Vietnam. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1990. 335 pp.

Lt. Gen. William Pagonis, with Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1992. A few pages of this memoir discuss Pagonis' two tours in Vietnam: riverine war in the Mekong Delta 1967-68, and with the 101st Airborne 1970-71.

Vic Pakis, Immigrant Soldier: From the Baltics to Vietnam.  Central Point, OR: Hellgate, 1999.  Pakis, from Latvia, served two tours in Vietnam.

Charlie Palek, Tattletale: A Two-Tour Vietnam Veteran's Combat Experiences on the Ground and in the Air. Lightning Source, 2001. 303 pp.

J. Dennis Papp, Fear Was My Only Weapon. Createspace, 2013. 240 pp. The cover blurb reads, "Can a personnel clerk maintain his sanity and survive Vietnam when he's forbidden to have any bullets for his M16?"

Stephen L. Park, Boots: An Unvarnished Memoir of Vietnam. Writers Amuse Me Publishing, 2012. Lieutenant Park arrived in Vietnam in February 1968 and served in D Company, 1/18 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Some names and some chronology have been altered.

Mack W. Payne, Vietnam Veteran Memoirs: A Book of Miracles: The Adventures of a Florida Flatlander in Vietnam. Lake Placid, Florida: Hog Jown Press, 2013. Payne served two tours in Vietnam: October 1967 to October 1968 with the Fourth Infantry Division, and June 1970 to June 1971 with the 101st Airborne Division.

Robert Peterson, Rites of Passage: Odyssey of a Grunt. Oregon, WI: Badger Books, 1997. 396 pp. pb, with an index added, New York: Ballantine, 2001. viii, 564 pp. Peterson served in the 1/14 Battalion, part of the 25th Infantry Division but serving in the Central Highlands, from October 1966 until he was seriously wounded by fire from a fixed-wing gunship in August 1967. He died in 1994; it is not clear to what extent the manuscript may have been posthumously edited.

Ray Pezzoli, Jr., A Year in Hell: Memoir of an Army Foot Soldier Turned Reporter in Vietnam, 1965-1966. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2006. viii, 255 pp. Pezzoli was in Vietnam July 1965 to June 1966 with B Company, 1/18 Infantry, 2d Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. Initially at Cam Ranh Bay, later in III corps. He is sometimes wrong about historical facts that can easily be checked; one hopes he is more accurate when describing his personal experiences. Names have been changed.

Colonel Lloyd J. Picon, USA, "Artillery Support for the Airmobile Division" Military Review, October 1968 (vol. XLVIII, no. 10), pp. 3-12.

Thomas Pozdol, Tam Ky: The Battle for Nui Yon Hill. A May 1969 battle. Pozdol was a squad leader in C Company, 3/21 Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, 23d Infantry Division. The battle was begun by the 1/1 Cavalry; the 3/21 Infantry was sent is as reinforcement.

Ivan Prashker, Duty, Honor, Vietnam: Twelve Men of West Point Tell Their Stories. New York: Arbor House (William Morrow), 1988. 428 pp. Pb New York: Warner, 1990, 358 pp.

David Puckett, Memories. New York: Vantage, 1987. xii, 145 pp. Sergeant Puckett served in the 1/26 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, 1966-67 (this book does not deal with a later 1969-70 tour in Vietnam).

George Ragsdale, Ben Hai: 211 Alpha. Orlando, Florida: UnKnownTruths.com, 2005. 400 pp. An Army warrant officer working as a radar repairman along the DMZ, 1969-70. Apparently a lot about indiscipline, command incompetence.

Franklin D. Rast, Don's Nam. Universal Publishers, 1999. 399 pp. Rast served with the "Orient Express" (7th Transportation Battalion) in III Corps, 1969-1970.

David Reed, Upfront in Vietnam. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1967. By a journalist working for Reader's Digest.

Dale Everett Reich, Rockets Like Rain: A Year in Vietnam. Central Point, OR: Hellgate Press, 2001. xii, 142 pp. Reich, a draftee, arrived in Vietnam in June 1968, and was initially assigned to D Company, 4/3 Infantry, 11th Brigade, Americal (23d) Division. For the later part of his tour he was in the Public Information Office of the 11th Brigade.

George Reischling, Courage on the Mountain: A Captivating True Story. Amazon Digital Servicesw LLC, 2013. 346 pp. (published in Kindle format). Reischling served with the 3/22 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. His first real combat was in Operation Cliffdweller, an effort in January 1970 to clear enemy forces from the slopes of Nui Ba Den, in Tay Ninh Province.

Lawrence Rock, The Tooth and the Tail: An Oral History of Support Troops in Vietnam. CreateSpace, 2012. 390 pp.

Christopher Ronnau, Blood Trails: The Combat Diary of a Foot Soldier in Vietnam. New York: Presidio (Ballantine [Random House]), 2006. 304 pp. Ronnau arrived in Vietnam in January 1967 and was assigned to C Company, 2/28 Infantry (Black Lions), 1st Infantry Division, based at Lai Khe, north of Saigon in III Corps. He was evacuated after having been seriously wounded in a pretty bloody battle near Phu Loi in April 1967. Some names have been changed.

Norman L. Russell, Suicide Charlie: A Vietnam War Story. Westport: Praeger, 1993. 216 pp. Russell was a mortarman in C Company, 4/9, 25th Infantry Division, late 1968 to late 1969. The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Bernard Rustad, Not to Reason Why: A Daily Diary of an Experience in Vietnam. Privately printed, 1986. Author was an Army enlisted man in Quang Tri province, January to December 1971.

John Sack, "Oh My God! We Hit a Little Girl." Esquire, October 1966. Follows one company from training at Fort Dix into combat in III Corps (I think with either the 1st or 25th Infantry Division). Expanded to become the following item.

John Sack, M. New York: New American Library, 1967. 199 pp. Follows M Company from training at Fort Dix into combat in III Corps (I think with either the 1st or 25th Infantry Division).

Troy J. Sacquety, "Battle Without Bullets: The 41st Civil Affairs Company in Vietnam - Part 1: 1965-1967." VERITAS: Journal of Army Special Operations History 5 (2009), pp. 1-15.

Dennis Scheer, Vietnam: An Infantry and Cavalry Platoon Leader's Story. iUniverse, 2013. 115 pp. Lieutenant Scheer arrived in Vietnam in August 1970 and was assigned initially to C Company, 1/52 Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division.

Ches Schneider, From Classrooms to Claymores: A Teacher at War in Vietnam. New York: Ivy, 1999. 276 pp. Schneider, a teacher until drafted in mid 1969, arrived in Vietnam in December 1969, and joined Company D, 2/16 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. About the beginning of March 1970, he was transferred to B Company, 1/8 Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. He later got a REMF job, and returned to the US in November 1970.

Robert G. Scholten, Reflections on a Journey to War: Finding Hope Despite Yesterday's Shadow. Green Olive Tree, 2005. 160 pp. Illustrated. Scholten served ten months as a gunner on an M-42 Duster with the 4th AS/SP Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, with Peter Petrie, It Doesn't Take a Hero. New York: Bantam, 1992. Several chapters deal with Schwarzkopf's service in Vietnam, as an advisor to the ARVN Airborne Brigade (a very good unit) 1965-66; and then as commander of the 1/6 Battalion, 198th Infantry Brigade, 23d Infantry (Americal) Division, a very bad battalion that Schwarzkopf was able to improve a lot but not make really good, 1969-70, serving near Chu Lai and in the Batangan Peninsula.

Peter R. Senich, The Long-Range War: Sniping in Vietnam. Boulder: Paladin, 1994. Apparently quite technical, heavily illustrated.

John T. Senka, Wounded Body - Healing Spirit: An Arkport Soldier's Inspirational Journey as a Vietnam Combat Veteran. Binghamton, NY: Brundage, 2004. 281 pp. After OCS, Senka served 1968-69 with the 4/9 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. He was badly wouded and ended up with PTSD.

Arthur G. Sharp, The Siege of LZ Kate: The Battle for an American Firebase in Vietnam. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2014. 288 pp. There were several landing zones named Kate in various areas of Vietnam; I believe this was the one manned by CIDG troops and elements of the 1/92 Artillery, near Bu Prang, in Quang Duc province close to Cambdia, abandoned under heavy PAVN pressure in late 1969. See also under Albracht in U.S. Army Special Forces.

Brig. Gen. James E. Shelton, USA (Ret.), The Beast Was Out There: The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh, Vietnam, October 1967. Chicago: Cantigny First Division Foundation, 2002. xxiv, 356 pp. Shelton was operations officer of the 2/28 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, which fought the VC 271st Regiment 10/17/1967, at Ong Thanh in the Long Nguyen Secret Zone on the border between Binh Duong and Binh Long provinces.

Robert H. Sholly, Colonel, USA (Ret.), Young Soldiers, Amazing Warriors: Inside One of the Most Highly Decorated Battalions of Vietnam. Pearland, TX: Stonywood Publications, 2014. The 1/8 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, 1966-67. Sholly commanded Company B, 1/8 Infantry, for part or all of the period covered.

Larry Siegel, Tears of the Dragon: The Other Vietnam War. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009. Siegel, a draftee, arrived in Vietnam in June 1969, and served with 2nd Civil Affairs Company, based at Xuan Loc east of Saigon.

Lanny H. Starr, vietnam Diary: A Memoir for My Posterity. CreateSpace, 2018. 185 pp. I can't tell from the listing on Amazon.com exactly when or where Starr served; probably 1968-69.

Carsten Stroud, Iron Bravo: Hearts, Minds and Sergeants in the U.S. Army. New York: Bantam, 1995. 326 pp. The story of Dee Crane, who was with the 1st Infantry Divison in Vietnam. Only a small part of the book deals with Vietnam.

Evelyn Sweet-Hurd, His Name Was Donn: My Brother's Letters from Vietnam. Denver: Outskirts Press, 2008. 239 pp. Lieutenant Donn Sweet served in the 1/40 Artillery in northern I Corps from September 1967 until he was killed in action in July 1968.

Leroy TeCube, Year in Nam: A Native American Soldier's Story. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. xix, 261 pp. TeCube, a Jicarilla Apache, was in Vietnam from January 1968 to January 1969, with B Company, 4/3 Infantry, 11th Brigade, Americal Division. As part of Task Force Barker, this company was a blocking force the day of the My Lai massacre.

Robert Tonsetic, Warriors: An Infantryman's Memoir of Vietnam. New York: Presidio (Ballantine), 2004. x, 198 pp. Tonsetic was in Vietnam October 1967 to October 1968, a captain assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade (Redcatchers). He was initially assigned to the S-3 staff. Interesting description of an operation by a mediocre ARVN Ranger battalion that he accompanied as an observer (pp. 19-27). Then briefly ran a camp to train RF companies. Then at the beginning of January 1968, took command of C Company, 4/12 Infantry (Warriors) at FSB Nashua north of Bien Hoa. The battalion had suffered serious casualties the previous month. The bulk of the book covers his company command, which lasted until late June, by which time he was badly overstressed, in very bad psychological condition. Includes Tet and the May Offensive. There is very little about his year in Thailand with the Special Forces, just before his tour in Vietnam; about his months as battalion S-3 Air, July-October 1968; or about his later tour, 1970-71, as an adviser to ARVN units first in IV, later III Corps.

Robert L. Tonsetic, Days of Valor: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War. Philadephia: Casemate, 2007. xvi, 288 pp. A more detailed account of the events covered in the preceding item.

CSM Glenn H. Towe [Ret'd], Tour of Duty: Action in WWII, Korea & Vietnam. Plainville, CT: Woodstock Books, 2004. 214 pp. Towe's Vietnam tour June 1968 to June 1969 as Command Sergeant Major of 3d Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, is covered in pp. 173-192.

Nathaniel Tripp, Father, Soldier, Son: Memoir of a Platoon Leader in Vietnam.  South Royalton, VT: Steerforth, 1996.  261 pp. Hanover, NH: Steerforth, 2006. 266 pp. Tripp was with the 1st Infantry Division, 1968-69.

Turner Publishing Company Staff, 1st Infantry Division: Vietnam.  Turner Publishing Company, 1993.  184 pp.

Samuel Vance, The Courageous and the Proud. New York: Norton, 1970. 166 pp. Subtitle on the dust jacket but not the title page: "a black man in the white man's army". Vance arrived in Vietnam in October 1965 as a sergeant in the 2/2 Infantry (1st Infantry Division). He soon became a platoon leader, and was in the Battle of Bau Bang.

Bill VandenBush, If Morning Never Comes: A Near-Death Experience in Vietnam. Old One Hundred and One Press. 238 pp. VandenBush, serving in the Americal Division, was very badly wounded in a friendly fire incident April 17, 1969.

John Wager, Quiet Year at War. Lanham, MD: Hamilton Books (Rowman & Littlefield), 2008. viii, 113 pp. Wager, a sergeant in an Army infantry unit, refused to participate in the Cambodian incursion of 1970. He was convicted by court martial, but given a light sentence.

J. Richard Watkins, Vietnam: No Regrets: One Soldier's Tour of Duty. Bay State Publishing. 244 pp. Watkins served 1969-70 in A Company, 1/27 Infantry, 25th Division.

James Scott Wheeler, The Big Red One: America's Legendary 1st Infantry Division from World War I to Desert Storm. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2007. xiv, 594 pp. Three chapters (pp. 412-508) deal with the division's service in Vietnam. Rev. ed.: The Big Red One: America's Legendary 1st Infantry Division: Centennial Edition, 1917-2017. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2017. xx, 682 pp.

Joseph J. White, Ebony and White: The Story of the K-9 Corps. Wilsonville, OR: Doral, 1996. xiv, 168 pp. Despite the subtitle, this appears primarily to be a memoir of White's service in Vietnam; Ebony was his dog.

Andrew Wiest, The Boys of '67: Charlie Company's War in Vietnam. Osprey, 2012. 376 pp. A study of the experiences of C Company, 4/47 Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, during 1967. This unit was part of the Mobile Riverine Force in the Mekong Delta.

Andrew Wiest, Vietnam: A View from the Front Lines. Oxford: Osprey, 2013. 304 pp.

Steve Wilken, Why Didn't You Have to Go to Vietnam, Daddy? Outskirts Press. 142 pp. Wilken served around 1970 at Central Finance in Long Binh.

Warren K. Wilkins, Nine Days in May: The Battles of the 4th Infantry Division on the Cambodian Border, 1967. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017. xiv, 412 pp. Heavy fighting May 18-26, 1967, in the western part of Pleiku province.

George C. Wilson, Mud Soldiers: Life Inside the New American Army. New York: Scribner's, 1989. 276 pp. Mostly about the Army of the 1980s, but one chapter describes a battle fought in April 1966 by units of the 1st Infantry Division, as comparison.

James R. Wilson, Landing Zones: Southern Veterans Remember Vietnam. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990. svi, 267 pp. On oral history.

Dave Wright, Not Enough Tears. AuthorHouse, 2004. 251 pp. Wright served in Company A, 1/26 Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

Thomas R. Yarborough, A Shau Valor: American Combat Operations in the Valley of Death, 1963-1971. Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2016. 311 pp.

 

Army Unit Documents

Most though not all of the following items are in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University, which has placed online a huge quantity of U.S. Military documents. A small sample of those relating to the activities of regular U.S. Army ground combat and support units in South Vietnam are listed here. Please note that unit reports from early 1968 are listed under Tet and the Battle of Khe Sanh

 

Armor, Armored Cavalry, and Mechanized Infantry

Armor Magazine

Army Concept Team in Vietnam (ACTIV), Armor Organization for Counterinsurgency Operations in Vietnam. JRATA Project No. 1B-156.0. 9 February 1966. ix, 59 pp., plus appendices paginated separately.

Dwight W. Birdwell and Keith William Nolan, A Hundred Miles of Bad Road: An Armored Cavalryman in Vietnam 1967-68. Novato: Presidio Press, 1997. Birdwell, a Cherokee, served on an M48 tank in the 3/4 Cavalry, 25th Division, beginning Sept. 1967; includes Tet Offensive in Saigon.

Toby L. Brant, Journal of a Combat Tanker: Vietnam, 1969. New York: Vantage Press, 1988. 134 pp.

John M. Carland, "Armor Goes to War: The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and the Vietnam War, December 1965 to Decwember 1966," Army History 99 (Spring 2016), pp. 6-24.

Charles R. Carr, Two One Pony: An American Soldier's Year in Vietnam, 1969. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2012. viii, 179 pp. Carr served from May 1969 to April 1970 in the 2/47 Infantry (Mechanized), in the northern Mekong Delta.

Maj. Edward J. Chesney, USA, "The 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam, January 1969 through June 1970." Masters thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Levenworth, Kansas, 2002. viii, 106 pp. The text has been placed on-line in the Virtual Vietnam Archive of the Vietnam Project, at Texas Tech University.

Simon Dunstan, Vietnam Tracks: Armor in Battle, 1945-75. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1982 (also Osprey, 1982). 191 pp. Covers use of armor by all forces involved, not just U.S.

Kenneth W. Estes, Marines under Armor: The Marine Corps and the Armored Fighting Vehicle, 1916-2000. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. xvi, 267 pp.

Oscar Gilbert, Marine Corps Tank Battles in Vietnam. Casemate, 2007. 304 pp.

Col. William C. Haponski, One Hell of a Ride: Inside an Armored Cavalry Task Force in Vietnam. BookSurge, 2009. 560 pp. The main part of the book deals with Haponski's time commanding the 1/4 Cavalry Task Force, 1st Infantry Division, 1968-69 north of Saigon. But there is considerable background information on the French war in that area back to the late 1940s.

Col. William C. Haponski, Danger's Dragoons: The Armored Cavalry Task Force of the Big Red One in Vietnam, 1969. Wheaton, IL: First Division Museum at Cantigny Park, 2014. 334 pp. I don't know whether this is significantly different from, or just retitled from, the above item.

Howard Hayden, A Soldier's Story: Tracks, Tunnels and the Tet Offensive. Eau Claire, Wisconsin: WI Heins Publications, 1999. 117 pp. Hayden, a draftee, was repeatedly wounded serving in the 25th Infantry Division.

Larry Haworth, Tales of Thunder Run: The convoys, the noise, the ambushes... stories of QL 13, the Route 66 of Viet Nam. Eugene, Oregon: ACW Press, 2004. 190 pp. Haworth served two tours as a chaplain in Vietnam. This book says relatively little about the first, 1967-68, at Soc Trang with the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion. Mostly it is about his 1969-70 tour at the rank of Captain with the 11th Armored Cavalry (Blackhorse) in III Corps.

Philip Keith, Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot. New York: St. Martin's, 2012. A Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry, going to the rescue of an embattled infantry unit in War Zone C, March 26, 1970.

Philip Keith, Fire Base Illingworth: An Epic True Story of Remarkable Courage Against Staggering Odds. New York: St, Martin's, 2013. xxvi, 291 pp. On April 1, 1970, just days after the action described in the item immediately above, some of the American troops who had been invoved in that action were hit by a heavy PAVN attack at FSB Illingworth, about 35 km northwest of Tay Ninh.

Len Maffioli, with Bruce H. Norton, Grown Gray in War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1996. pb New York: Ivy, 1997. Master Gunnery Sergeant Maffioli served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam (1967-68, with the 1st Tank Battalion near Danang).

Michael D. Mahler, Ringed in Steel: Armored Cavalry, Vietnam 1967-68. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1986. Major Mahler arrived in Vietnam August 1967 and became a staff officer for the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. In December he was transferred to the 3/5 Armored Cavalry Squadron, part of the 9th Infantry Division (though Mahler is maddeningly coy about all the above unit identities). The squadron was sent north to I Corps in February 1968 and attached to the 1st Cav.

Gary McKay and Graeme Nicholas, Jungle Tracks: Australian Armour in Viet Nam. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2001. xx, 325 pp.

Keith W. Nolan, Search and Destroy: The Story of an Armored Cavalry Squadron in Viet Nam: 1/1 Cav, 1967-1968. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press (MBI Publishing), 2010. The 1/1 Cavalry, formerly part of the 1st Armored Division, was sent to Vietnam in August 1967. It served in I Corps, first in Task Force Oregon, then in the 23d Infantry Division (Americal). The book starts with the preparation for deployment to Vietnam, and goes up to the end of 1968.

Andy [Col. Andrew P.] O'Meara, Jr., Accidental Warrior: The Forging of an American Soldier. Oakland, Oregon: Elderberry Press, 2003. 294 pp. O'Meara was an adviser to the ARVN 1st Cavalry Regiment, and served with the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry. I have not actually seen the book; I learned of it from a letter to the editor he wrote in the Washington Times, April 5, 2003. The letter was inaccurate enough to leave me wondering how accurate the book will turn out to be.

Andy [Col. Andrew P.] O'Meara, Jr., Only the Dead Came Home: Vietnam's Hidden Casualties. Oakland, Oregon: Elderberry Press, 2003. 184 pp. Discusses his PTSD, and may have further detail on his Vietnam service, beyond what appeared in the previous volume.

Robert E. Peavey, Praying for Slack: A Marine Corps Tank Commander in Vietnam. St. Paul, Minnesota: Zenith Press (MBI Publishing), 2004. 304 pp. Peavey served a February 1968 to March 1969 tour with B Company, 5th Tank Battalion. He arrived by sea aboard the Thomaston. Part of the time he was with the 1st Marine Division, and part of the time with the 3rd Marine Division.

Jim Ross, Outside the Wire: Riding with the "Triple Deuce" in Vietnam, 1970. Stackpole Books, 2013. 320 pp. Ross arrived in Vietnam in February 1970 and served initially as an infantryman with an APC unit, the 2/22 Infantry (Mechanized), 3d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. In November he was transferred to the 1st Cavalry Division, where he served with the 1/8 Cavalry.

Lewis Sorley, ed., Press On! Selected Works of General Donn A. Strarry. 2 vols. Leavenworth, KS: Combined Studies Institute Press, 2009. xxiii, 1341 pp. The Vietnam War section is pp. 947-78,but there is considerable discussion of Vietnam elsewhere in the volumes. Volume I and Volume II are both available online.

Bill Squires, Find the Bastards . . . Then Pile On.  Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Co., 1997.  224 pp.  Squires was Regimental Sergeant Major of the 11th Armored Cavalry (Blackhorse) 1968-69, but this is not a memoir; it is a history of the service of the 11th in Vietnam, 1966 to 1972.

General Donn A. Starry, Armored Combat in Vietnam. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1980. xii, 250 pp.  Starry had commanded the 11th Armored Cavalry in Vietnam 1969-70.

Robert Sweatmon, Five Four Whiskey: A Memory of War. Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2014. 228 pp. Sweatmon was drafted in 1969 and served in C Company, 1/5 Infantry (Mechanized), 25th Infantry Division.

Paul D. Walker, Jungle Dragoon: The Memoir of an Armored Cav Platoon Leader in Vietnam. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1999. xiii, 230 pp.  Walker commanded a mixed platoon of tanks and ACAVs in the 1/4 Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, 1966-67. The full text is available online to paid subscribers of Questia.

Peter L. Walter, ed., The Blackhorse Regiment in Vietnam, 1966-1972. Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Publishing Co. and 11th Armored Cavalry Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia, 1997. xii, 402 pp. Most of the volume is accounts by men who served in the unit.

Derrick Wolf, Boys for Men: A Vietnam War Memoir, with Excerpts from an 1876 Indian War Journal. Big Guy Wolf Press, 2015. Wolf served in a tank crew in northern I Corps, beginning early in 1970.

First Sergeant Christopher P. Worick, "The Battle of Suoi Tre: Viet Cong Infantry Attack on a Firebase Ends in Slaughter When Armor Arrives", Armor, May-June 2000, pp. 23-28, reprinted in Armor, special issue on counterinsurgency, vol. CXVII, no. 5 (September-October 2008), pp. 65-70. Elements of the 3/22 Infantry and the 2/77 Artillery, established Fire Support Base Gold, near the village of Suoi Tre, Tay Ninh province, on March 19, 1967, during Operation Junction City. The 272d VC Regiment launched a heavy attack on the morning of March 21. Elements of the 2/34 Armor played a crucial role in the rescue.

Ralph Zumbro, foreword by James F. Walker, Tank Sergeant. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1986. pb New York: Pocket Books, 1988, 253 pp. Zumbro joined the Army in 1957, left it, and re-enlisted to serve in Vietnam, with Company A, 1/69 Armor. At the time he arrived, the 1/69 was part of the 25th Infantry Division, but on loan to the 4th Infantry Division. The battalion served with various units while he was in it, ending June 1968.
 

Documents: Army Armored Cavalry, Marine 1st Tank Battalion

The Virtual Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University has placed online a considerable variety of reports from armor and armored cavalry units. The listing that follows is probably incomplete:


 

Military Police

Latrell Bellard, Fear & Reality! A Vietnam War Diary. iUniverse, 2004. 172 pp. Bellard served as a military policeman with the 101st Airborne and the 1st Cavalry Division, 1966-1967, Central Highlands.

Robert C. Bogison, Up Close & Personal: In Country, Chieu Hoi, Vietnam, 1969-1970. Independently published, 2019. xviii, 486 pp. Bogison served in the 720th Military Police Battalion, but a lot of the time the unit functioned more like combat infantry than like military police.

Loren W. Christensen, Policing Saigon. CreateSpace, 2017. 362 pp. Christensen served with B Company, 716th Military Police.

Kenton J. Falerios, "Give Me Something I Can't Do": The History of the 82nd Military Police Company from WWI to the Iraq War. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007. ix, 179 pp. Vietnam is pp. 71-86.

Lee Halverson, with Ed Nielsen, Cong Catchers: A Soldier's Memories of Vietnam. Meadville, PA: Christian Faith Publishing, 2017. Halverson served as a military police dog handler in Vietnam. This seems to have been in 1970, but the chronology in the publisher's blurb does not make sense.

David S. Holland, Vietnam, a Memoir: Saigon Cop. New York and Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2005. xi, 225 pp. Lt. Holland (see also under Airborne and Airmobile for his time in the 173d Airborne Brigade) served in Saigon in A Company, 716th Military Police Battalion, from August 1966 to September 1967.

Dean Ellis Kohler, with Susan VanHecke Rock 'n' Roll Soldier: A Memoir. New York: HarperTeen (HarperCollins), 2009. Kohler was drafted. He arrived in Vietnam in January 1967 with the 127th Military Police Company, stationed in Qui Nhon. He formed a rock band while there, with the approval of his company commander. Written for young adults.

Randy Mixter, Letters from Long Binh: Memoirs of a Military Policeman in Vietnam. CreateSpace, 2011. 158 pp. Mixter was in Vietnam in 1967.

Jim Stewart, The Ghosts of Vietnam: A Memoir of Growing Up, Going to War, and Healing. iUniverse, 2005. 197 pp. Stewart served in the military police (1966-68?) in Saigon, Long Binh, and vicinity. Participated in Operation Cedar Falls in early 1967. Later returned as a civilian working in the PX in Saigon, to be with a Vietnamese woman who was pregnant with his daughter.

Rick Young, Combat Police: U.S. Army Military Police in Vietnam. Farmingdale, NJ: Sendraak's Writings, 1997 (copyright 1994). 259 pp. Young arrived in Vietnam July 1968, and served in the military police first as a dog handler in III Corps and then riverine in the Qui Nhon area, but much of this book is based on archival research. Extensive appendices.

 

Some other relevant books can be found under The Big War, 1964-1972.

U.S. Army Publications

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Copyright © 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, Edwin E. Moise. This document may be reproduced only by permission. Revised January 9, 2023.