JGL
Member
Are you interested in more of an overall history, strategic level analysis, operational chronicle, or a tactical memoir? There are plenty either way, but if I know what you're looking for I could review something that would be of immediate interest. Here's "We Were Soldier's Once...and Young". It cuts back and forth between the operational level and the individual soldiers, making it a pretty great account of the actual battle without sacrificing any of the individual stories. In doing so it severs as sort of a jack of all types, which is why I picked it to go after first.
"We We're Soldiers Once...and Young" is one of the best accounts I've read of a specific battle, bar none. It covers the battle of the Ia Drang, which was the first major toe-to-toe engagement the US fought against the NVA. The writing shows Galloway's influence (he was a journalist) and the book is the better for it. Most combat memoirs or battle histories suffer from poor writing (either the professional academic writing it sucks or the soldier who is recounting his exploits was obviously meant to do something other than put pen to paper) but between Galloway's writing ability and Moore's military knowledge the two of them manage to put together a straight forward and elegantly written work of military non-fiction.
Taking place in 1965, the book does a good job of showing the way the US Military was before Vietnam gutted the NCO Corps and when the draftees that made up most of the enlisted ranks still believed in what they were doing. In this way it's unique among most, if not all, of the Vietnam books I've ever read. Overall, I'd say if you're looking for a place to start getting your hands dirty, this would be the place to begin.
"We We're Soldiers Once...and Young" is one of the best accounts I've read of a specific battle, bar none. It covers the battle of the Ia Drang, which was the first major toe-to-toe engagement the US fought against the NVA. The writing shows Galloway's influence (he was a journalist) and the book is the better for it. Most combat memoirs or battle histories suffer from poor writing (either the professional academic writing it sucks or the soldier who is recounting his exploits was obviously meant to do something other than put pen to paper) but between Galloway's writing ability and Moore's military knowledge the two of them manage to put together a straight forward and elegantly written work of military non-fiction.
Taking place in 1965, the book does a good job of showing the way the US Military was before Vietnam gutted the NCO Corps and when the draftees that made up most of the enlisted ranks still believed in what they were doing. In this way it's unique among most, if not all, of the Vietnam books I've ever read. Overall, I'd say if you're looking for a place to start getting your hands dirty, this would be the place to begin.
