"I've never read a better account of a battle," said Stephen Ambrose about Keith W. Nolan's just published book, Ripcord. There are many perceptions of the Vietnam War and probably even more misperceptions. Nolan gives it to you straight. After writing nine books about the Vietnam War, Nolan said, "I have never encountered a Vietnam battle as dramatic, tragic, convoluted, and bewildering as Ripcord." Over a three year period of intense research, Nolan conducted hundreds of interviews via mail, email, telephone and in person. Thousands of doucments were checked in the National Archives.

As the brigade commander during the seige of Ripcord, Keith and I had dozens of interchanges. It is common knowledge that retired general officers can recall with precise clarity the details of events that never happened. Nolan's rule that "facts" must be verified by at least three sources probably explains why some of my input to an early draft did not make the final publication. My long-winded point is that you do not have the "whole story" of Ripcord, but what you do have in this superb book is true and accurate.

What gives me the most genuine gratification with this book is Keith Nolan's telling the individual stories of 356 real soldiers! Shocking, heartbreaking, inspiring; these stories help you to understand the outrage of General Eisenhower when he blasted a war correspondent saying, "I get so eternally tired of the lack of understanding of what the infantry soldier endures.....I get so fighting mad because of the general lack of appreciation of real Heroism which is the uncomplaining acceptance of unendurable conditions...."

This book is not about the Vietnam War. It is about but one battle of four and a half months in a ten year war by one brigade of the twenty four American brigades who fought in Vietnam. It is about conventional, not guerilla-conterinsurgency war. The enemy at Ripcord were uniformed regulars from North Vietnam that outnumbered us at least six to one; well supported with heavy mortars, heavy machine guns, recoiless rifles and rocket propelled grenades.

You will be saddened by this book, as was I. But you will also be filled with absolute and total pride in the young Americans who answered their country's call to duty and fought and bled and some died, but most persevered in the finest traditions of the American military forces.

As a former member of the 101st Airborne stationed in the northern province of Vietnam (I Corps) in 1970-1971, I read Mr. Nolan's account with extreme interest. The July 1970 siege at Firebase Ripcord was indeed the last great battle of the Vietnam War for American forces and one of the bloodiest of the entire conflict. The author spares no one in his quest for the truth concerning this event, but lets the reader ultimately decide as to who was truly responsible for this full-fledged military disaster. Yet even through the manic chaos of this bitter struggle, Nolan goes out of his way to recognize the astounding bravery and heroism demonstrated by the "Screaming Eagles" under the most dire circumstances. The Vietnam War is usually glossed over in little more than half a page in today's high school and college history books. For anyone who desires further knowledge of the war, Mr. Nolan's well-researched work would be a great place to start. His eyewitness resources not only gives readers a thorough understanding of the horrors of war, but nearly places them in the line of fire. Hopefully, this book will also put to rest the common view that nothing of any consequence happened in Vietnam after 1969. Because of Mr. Nolan's efforts, the epic and memorable battle that was "Ripcord" will be remembered.

This book is an excellent study of the siege at Ripcord. Mr. Nolan lets the participants tell the story without the intrusions that so often interfere with the accuracy of historical monographs. In the future, when scholars have the knowledge, insight, and emotional distance to start writing comprehensive histories of the Vietnam Conflict, Mr. Nolan's works will be in every bibliography.

The book debunks many of the myths surrounding the final years of the war. First, he demonstrates that the troops on the ground were not shirkers, but fought with bravery and purpose - even though every KIA knew, at the moment of his death, that the battle and the war would not be won. Second, he demonstrates that the military leadership had lost all direction by 1970. After years of complaining that the enemy would not stand and fight, they got their chance for a pitched battle at Ripcord. Ultimately they ran away - bowing to outside pressures -leaving the enemy to hold the field and wasting the lives of many brave soldiers.

Mr. Nolan is also surprisingly frank in describing the assessments that the participants made of each other. Even the battalion commander, who received the Medal of Honor, is portrayed as a complex figure with strengths and weakness, and not as some sort of comic book hero.

If you don't have time to read the whole book, read "Part Seven: The Storm". It is the author's best prose and tells the story of the most poignant part of a very poignant event.

For thirty years I have been waiting for this book. At the time of the battle, I knew that Ripcord was a big deal. Since then, I've read books and watched documentaries on Vietnam. Only the "The Thirteenth Valley" even vaguely addressed this battle. I want to thank Mr. Nolan for resurrecting this nearly forgotten tragedy.

The only piece now missing from the Ripcord saga is the prespective of the NVA. Hopefully, that information will be forthcoming before the last Ripcord survivor dies.

I enjoyed the book and it was great reading about some of my old friends at CCS. Ernie has told it like it was,the stand downs from missions, and the missions themselves. Each of us had are own way of handling things between missions, to his credit Ernie has openly shared his.

Only three things counted in those days, did the man pull his missions, was he any good in the woods, and would you go to the bush with him. These standards, once meet, formed a bond among us that will last a life time. Ernie met these standards long ago in Cambodia.

Ernie has expressed himself well, has given credit to those he served with and has share his personal emotions and actions with the readers. Honesty is the truth, this man has shared it with the world. Not everyone will agree with all he has written, he has however earn the right to tell his story. I respect him for it, its too his credit that he made no effort to make himself out to be anything but a SOG Recon Team member. He proved himself years ago, I am proud of him for sharing his experiences so openly with his readers, I am not sure I have that kind of courage.

Great Job my Friend

RT Plane CCS

This book was recommended to me, by a friend, who knows that I am interested in factual, down-to-earth experiences of the young people who fought in Vietnam. This book is extremely down-to-earth. Mr. Acre was one of those young people. I believe that's what makes it such easy reading. It not only portrays how those young men laid down their lives in combat, but also, their everyday experiences in a country they had never known. I was a 14 year old girl working on getting the dress code in my school changed, while Mr. Acre was fighting for lives in Vietnam. My mission seemed unimportant in comparison. My brother had just come home from Khe Sanh and didn't want to cause pain by sharing his experiences. I respected that. As I have gotten older, I want to try to understand or at least know what our brothers, friends and loved ones experienced, in most cases, at such an early age. So, I have tried to learn as much as I can concerning the real life experiences of such courageous men and women. This book will certainly peak your interest and leave you wanting to know more when you reach the end. I strongly encourage everyone to read this inspiring account of one young man's courage who could easily be one of your loved ones.

Mr Acre: I hope you see this. This is my 2nd review since last summer! After twice reading your book, you are and will always be my hero. I was between 10 and 12 at the time you were in SE ASIA. I cant tell you how proud and honored I am to know that there were "once" real men like you that so cared about giving of yourself for America. And the sacrifices endured by all SOG men. I wish I could be half the man you are. This book is tops with John Plasters Sog books! a must read many times over! Please write more books Mr Acre.I wish the men I know and work with were "true men", men that always worked together as a team"SOG" and cared so much so that I may be here and well today in a free and democratic society.Your my hero always! MR. ACRE. You, and all the brave warriors of SOG Sincerely, Tony Pache, Jr.

The problem is real: Shay is a psychologist, and the only Vietnam vets he knows are the men whom he counseled in the Boston area. So don't read this book for an understanding of Vietnam vets, except for the small minority who suffered combat fatigue (nostalgia, shell shock, Post Traumatic Stress, whatever).

In fact, I don't know that it would be of much value even to those who had to cope with PTSD.

What it is: a non-soldier's attempt to understand combat, and very interesting on that account. Shay takes the Illiad and compares the emotions of the Greeks (as Homer wrote about them) with those of the Vietnam vets he met in counseling. I was fascinated by the book. It is very much worth reading, but don't buy it as a layman's guide to the Vietnam vet or the Vietnam war.

....

First, .... Many of my friends went to Vietnam. Of those whose names didn't end up on the wall, many returned but were never the same. This book explained to me what happened to them, and and why. I have always sensed their pain, but the explanation was simply beyond them to express, and beyond me to understand.

Second, as a survivor of traumatic stress in an entirely different environment, this book was spooky in the number of parallels I discovered between Shay's recounting of veterans' experience, and my experiences growing up in a religious cult. Shay's contention is that violation of "what's right" by those in positions of authority makes the effects of taumatic stress much worse, whether it be loss of abilitiy to trust, generalized alienation, "authority issues" resulting in an inability to stay employed, hyperalertness, or many other patterns of behavior. My own experience tends to bear Shay's contention out in some remarkable ways. ...

I also took great courage from the last chapter where Shay discusses prospects for recovery. One is never the same after traumatic stress, so going back is simply not possible; some survivors recover more than others for unknown reasons; and some survivors learn to live lives full of meaning and value to themselves and their associates. This was realistic good news indeed to one who has stared the black hole full in the face.

I found the book to be full of compassion and understanding. Shay has done a great service to all traumatic stress survivors.

As a Vietnam combat veteran, I was imbued with the belief that my war was "special," a unique experience in the world's military history. In reading Dr. Shay's book, I had to re-think that thesis and am now struck with the obvious conclusion that all combat, be it with Alexander the Great or Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf, inflicts psychological damage that can last a lifetime. Only geography changes.

Realizing that and reading the vast parallels between The Iliad and Vietnam PTSD symptomology, I was able to understand my own emotional scars and through that self-realization, truly begin to heal those scars. I referred my therapist to the book and she told me it offered her more insight into the cause and treatment of PTSD among Vietnam veterans than any of the seminars or textbooks she'd ever encountered. This is a must read for Vietnam vets and those who care about them.

For most Americans, the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975 marked the end of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War at the price of over 58,000 dead servicemen and women. For a few hundred sailors, airmen, and Marines however, it ended two weeks later, with 41 more men giving their lives during heavy fighting not with North Vietnamese soldiers, but with Cambodian Khmer Rouge.

In The Last Battle, author Ray Wetterhahn tells the story of the seizing of the U.S. merchant ship S.S. Mayaguez in international waters off the coast of Cambodia by Khmer Rouge forces, and the U.S. military operation conducted to rescue the 40 civilian crew members. This operation was hailed as a victory for the presidential administration, a victory by the Khmer Rouge, a failure by troops in the action, and a debacle in leadership and command and control by military officers who participated.

As the story of this rescue operation unfolds, Wetterhahn describes in startling detail the mindset of President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, operational commanders, pilots and crews, Marines on Koh Tang Island, the crew of the Mayaguez, and the Khmer Rouge soldiers. A retired officer and Vietnam veteran with service in both the Navy and Air Force, he begins the story on the beaches of Koh Tang, where U.S. military members of Joint Task Force - Full Accounting (JTF-FA) are searching for the remains of 18 men killed during the rescue operation over twenty years before. While researching a story on JTF-FA and their recovery efforts, Wetterhahn discovers that three Marines may have been left alive on Koh Tang during the operation. Over the next five years, Wetterhahn's travels take him from the jungles of Koh Tang and Cambodia to the backwoods of West Virginia, where he tracks down the commanders, the troops, the politicians, and even the Khmer Rouge commander on Koh Tang. Shockingly, he confirms the worst fears of the Marine Commanders in 1975: a three-man machine gun team was left alive on Koh Tang, captured, imprisoned, and subsequently executed.

With the ending of America's involvement in the Vietnam War falling during the Ford presidential administration, a resounding victory and show of force was needed to prove to Americans that the administration was well equipped to handle any crisis. The Johnson administration failed to act when a similar event happened in 1968 as the North Koreans seized the USS Pueblo, and were criticized by the American media during the eleven months of the crew's captivity, and interrogation, prior to their release. President Ford would not let this happen on his watch.

The advanced communications capabilities available in 1975 allowed President Ford, with Secretary Kissinger close at hand, to control nearly the entire operation from the comfort of the Oval Office. Breaking every rule of leadership and command and control, and him being a former Naval Officer, Ford and his staff began directing naval and air forces, and U.S. Marines toward Cambodia and Thailand. Not to be surpassed in poor leadership decisions, the Marine Corps chose as its ground combat element 2d Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, a newly reported unit to Okinawa, instead of 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, which was nearing completion of a one-year rotation and was fully trained and acclimatized to the South Pacific. Extension of a unit past its 12-month mark required extensive administrative efforts, and would not be approved by Headquarers, Marine Corps.

In the 48 hours following the seizure of the Mayaguez, reports from pilots, imagery analysis, and diplomatic information began pouring in to Ford. Critical information was summarized ad reduced to little value and a key item was lost in the shuffle: a pilot saw numerous Caucasian men being transported to the Cambodian mainland in a trawler from Koh Tang Island.

Wetterhahn's interviews of military commanders and soldiers reveal that the Marines received no imagery of Koh Tang island prior to the mission, radio frequencies were not exchanged between air and naval forces, and the mission commander attempted to direct the entire mission, to include forward air control, on one tactical radio frequency. When the Air Force helicopters attempted to land the first Marines on the beaches, they landed directly in the line of fire of entrenched machine guns and within rocket range. Three helicopters were shot down in the first 40 minutes.

Just three hours after the first Marines hit the beach of Koh Tang, Cambodia released the Mayaguez crew from where they were held on the mainland. As the celebration and press conferences begin in Washington, Ford orders the cessation of operations in Cambodia. The battle raged on for nine more hours before the Marines could be extracted. Two hours later, it was determined three Marines were unaccounted for. When Wetterhahn asked former President Ford if he was ever told that three Marines were left behind, he replied, "Not to my best recollection."

Wetterhahn's investigative reporting is unparalleled, as he doggedly sought to find the truth behind the missing three Marines and what really happened on Koh Tang. Previous books have been written regarding the Mayaguez Incident, but The Last Battle encapsulates all aspects of the operation and lets the reader see the chaos of war and the results of poor leadership, at every level. While this story is titled The Last Battle, only through respect for the men who gave their lives attacking an island with no value and no prisoners, should it not be named The Last Blunder.

Surely the real Last Battle was the personal struggle Major Wetterhahn faced in getting to the facts, including some horrible truths, so long hidden behind the Mayaguez incident.

As a Vietnam-era veteran, I never would have thought I could read about the Khmer Rouge's role in the war without the bile rising in my throat, but Wetterhahn has done a masterful job of rising above the politics and loyalties of the day to show soldiers of both sides mired in the literal and figurative muck of battle, and particularly the political muck of the Vietnam War that this book so adeptly summarizes.

Expertly edited, I have only one beef with The Last Battle. In his closing comments, Wetterhahn contrasts the efforts expended on behalf of the ficitional Private Ryan (Saving Private Ryan) to the fact that no one went back for our abandonded Marines. That's not true, Ralph. You went back and back and dug and dug until you found them. Thank you!

Colonel Wetterhahn has done a valuable service for the families of all those Americans, civilian and military, who went missing in Cambodia. The nitty-gritty battle details will naturally cause argument among those who had the honor of participating in the battle, but the description of the battle just sets the stage for the final act, the withdrawal without all hands accounted for and the strangely unexplained failure to cordon the isolated island until the fate of those left behind could be established without doubt. That live Marine prisoners could possibly have been allowed to be moved off the island seems shocking. Much of the information in "The Last Battle" will come as a surprise even to those Americans who thought they understood the Mayaguez "incident" and the action on Koh Tang. These same waters off the Cambodian coast claimed American lives several times during the Khmer Rouge era. The newly-published book "The Eagle Mutiny" by Linnett and Loiederman tells the story of mutiny aboard an American munitions ship during 1970 which culminated in the death of one of the mutineers (Clyde McKay) and another US Army deserter (Larry Humphrey) at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge naval forces under the command of Meah Muth, the son-in-law of Ta Mok, went on to capture four Americans (James William Clark, Lance Macnamara, Michael Scott Deeds, and Christopher Delance) and five other Westerners off the Cambodian coast during 1978 and sent them to be tortured and executed at the infamous Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. Meah Muth and Ta Mok as well as KR executioner-in-chief Duch (who has admitted killing the Americans at Tuol Sleng and claims to have disposed of the bodies on the personal order of Nuon Chea) have just this week been named as top candidates for an international tribunal on other crimes against humanity. Perhaps then these stories, like the aftermath of most wars, never really come to a full conclusion. What is certain is that Colonel Wetterhahn has once again performed beyond the call of duty. His efforts should serve as an example to all those involved in what the nation proclaims to be the search for "the fullest possible accounting", and hopefully those that disagree with the author's conclusions on the fate of the lost machinegun team will be motivated to travel to Cambodia and investigate for themselves. Action trumps argument.

I've read a number of autobiographies of Vietnam POWs and "Glory Denied" is certainly the most disturbing one. Army Col. Jim Thompson's story reminded me of the biblical story of Job, except in the end, unlike Job, Thompson loses even his faith and is left simply with his stubborn sense of personal survival.

If there was ever a man who never got a break in his life, it was Jim Thompson. Raised by a domineering and abusive father, drafted into the Army he at first hates military life but then comes to love it. But even in the military things do not come easily for Thompson. Commissioned through OCS, he does not volunteer for Special Forces but is ordered into it when the Army, at JFK's directive, rapidly expands the Green Berets. Sent to Vietnam, Thompson and his team are sent to one the most remote and potentially dangerous outposts the Army has and he and his team find themselves very quickly in over their heads.

An interesting aspect of the book is that most of it is not about Thompson's actual experiences as a POW but rather deals with is pre- and post-Vietnam life. His saga as a POW for nearly 9 years is a brutal one---isolation, malnutrition, torture. It is not until he has been a prisoner over 4 yrs that he finally meets other Americans, a group of soldiers and civilian personnel captures at Hue during the Tet Offensive. By this point Thompson is reduced to about 100 lbs and looks to the other POWs to be in his 70s when he's actually in his mid 30s.
His story after his return is even more brutal---betrayal by his wife, divorce, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder, career problems, totally dysfunctional children, attempted suicide, psychiatric hospitalization, struggling with his sexual identity, his son convicted of murder, suffering a stroke which handicaps him and finally a loss of faith in God.

Unlike other POW stories, I found nothing in this book to be uplifting. The Thompson family is literally destroyed by the Vietnam War and there are almost no survivors. The book is well-presented as an oral history of the Thompsons although his wife Alyce does come across as a villainess in the story. And despite her attempts to paint herself in a better light, her own behavior is just inexcusable.

"Glory Denied" chronicles the tortured experiences of Col. Floyd ("Jim") Thompson, whose life and family were rent asunder by the Vietnam War and its aftermath.

Thompson spent nine arduous years in captivity, including five long years held in solitary by the Viet Cong. Thompson is the longest-held prisoner of war in American history, although for a variety of reasons (mainly his familiy's insistence on privacy), Navy pilot Everrett Alvarez is often accorded that distinction.

Unlike the heroic Navy and Air Force pilots shot down over North Vietnam, Thompson was deprived of the physical and emotional support of fellow Americans who were enduring the same harrowing ordeal. (Thompson did not even lay eyes on another American for more than four years.) Instead, he found succor from his faith in God, country, and the wife and family that he thought awaited him.

However, these three pillars of faith would prove illusory. Upon finally achieving freedom, Thompson is unable to recognize the country and family to which he returned, and as the tragedies continued to mount, he soon renounces his religious convictions.

Despite being presented with evidence (a voice recording) of her husband's captivity fairly early on, Thompson's wife Alyce had wasted little time merging her young family with another man's, "for the sake of the children." Attempts to restore a normal family life prove disatrous, and Thompson ends up divorced twice, estranged from his children and involuntarily retired from the Army at age 47 due to a stroke.

The persistent problems (culminating in a murder conviction)of his youngest child and only son -- born the day after Thompson's capture -- is the lightning rod for a family reconcilation. Jim even dropped his deep-seated enmity for Alyce. But the rapprochement proved to be short-lived, and by the story's end, Thompson is once again an embittered, isolated man.

Too few Americans know the Col. Jim Thompson story. This story deserves to find the widest possible audience.

Colonel Jim Thompson's story is one of the most harrowing and powerful books I have read in recent years, and its themes are is so tragic and complex that it reminds me of a non-fiction rendition of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy." The appearance of this remarkable work comes at a time when we have been inundated by McWar books and sentimentalized combat movies that trivialize the sheer horror and devastation of war. "Glory Denied" has the opposite effect in that it re-creates the agony of the Vietnam War in absorbing and faithful detail, and enables a generation that was not alive in the decades of the 1960's and 1970's to understand how the war was played out, not only on the battlefield but in the living rooms, classrooms, and bedrooms of millions of homes across the nation. While the book succeeds as both a biography and as a uniquely original work of history, it is first and foremost a tribute to Colonel Jim Thompson, who, despite his many frailties and very human flaws, comes across as one of our bravest and most exemplary American war heroes. It is hard to imagine many other American soldiers who could have endured the same tortures experienced by Thompson over nine years of captivity. Despite treatment that rivalled the worst barbarity of the Nazi concentration camps, Thompson survived, his spirit unbroken and his patriotic love of America intact. Not only did Thompson survive, but he attempted to escape from his North Vietnamese guards and torturers no less than five times. I find it surprising that given such unprecedented valor, that Colonel Thompson has not been already awarded the Medal of Honor, and one can only hope that one of the positive results of the publication of "Glory Denied" will be that the military will reconsider its criteria and award Thompson this medal. The book is not without its controversies, the first being its unusual structure. This is not a third-person biography, and the oral history style may take some readers time (for some, up to 50 pages) to get used to. Some critics will no doubt suggest that Philpott should have resorted to a more conventional third-person style, which was used in the excerpt in "The New Yorker," but anyone who sticks with the story for a few chapters will become easily accustomed to the style and find it, as if watching a soap opera, quite dramatic throughout. Perhaps more controversial than the style is the depiction of Thompson's first wife, Alyce, who, in contrast to Odysseus's heroically faithful Penelope, chose to live with another man while Thompson was in captivity. Many readers and reviewers have already attacked Alyce for her behavior and the fact that she did not "stick by her man." Her behavior, particularly her decision not to tell her children that they had a father who had been imprisoned in Vietnam, is deplorable, but to cast her as the villain of the story is far too easy and simplistic. The book would never soar to the power it does without Alyce's own saga, which Philpott conveys with great empathy (and in doing so makes this book appealing to more female readers). Colonel Thompson remains extraordinarily bitter that his wife moved in with another man and that the Pentagon chose to name another prisoner as the longest held POW in Vietnam. His anger is warranted, but the military was all too eager to designate another man, a far more "appropriate" poster boy, as the longest-held POW, and the military shares as much of the blame as Alyce (the way Alyce was abandoned by other military wives following Thompson's capture was particularly appalling). As the years have passed, Alyce becomes an especially easy target, but the fact is that she was a woman alone in her twenties who felt that she could not possibly cope on her own. Moreover, it is clear from the start that Thompson was not an ideal husband or father -- he was not present at any of the childbirths of this children, for example -- and his actions following his release in 1973 suggest that infidelity was just one component of a shaky marriage that was destined to fail. The fact that Alyce's behavior is, in fact, so controversial makes "Glory Denied" a book that will be debated for many years to come, and Philpott should be lauded, not censured, for his accurate portrayal of Alyce's own private trauma. As much as "Glory Denied" is the story of one extraordinarily brave soldier, it is on a grander scale the story of America at war with itself. Through the eyes of Philpott, the Thompsons, despite all their human frailties, become America's family, their stuggles reflective of an agonizing civil war that threatened to destroy the nation for much of two decades. For us to look down on anyone of them is to look down on ourselves, and we should be all inspired by Colonel Thompson's unbelievably heroic story. I hope that Colonel Thompson will one day be able to sit down with his four children before it is too late, for the grave will be a barrier to all amends and all redress. Above all, "Glory Denied" will have a power to move you like few other books and will establish for Colonel Thompson a place in American military history that he so clearly has earned.

An excellent book. Wars are not fought by presidents, generals or weapon systems. They are fought by everyday people who are given a uniform and placed in harm's way.

What I found most compelling about this story is that for many of the sailors on the USS Forrestal, this was supposed to be a safe trip. As the author recounts, many of the young men on this ship had volunteered for the navy specifically to avoid the danger of being drafted and sent to the ground war in Vietnam. As such, you might think these men were cowards, or timid, or at least unpatriotic. But you would be wrong.

When it counts the most, these young Americans do their best. They do their duty, and they serve with honor.

An excellent story told in a compelling style.

I enjoyed this book because it answered many questions for me as to what happened that fateful day. I sailed on FORRESTAL for three months prior to her deployment to Vietnam. I lost seven friends/squadron mates in that fire. I left the Navy in May 1967. My squadron and ship went on to Vietnam. I was shocked on July 29, 1967. This book was written so that anyone who has a love for ships, planes and the military will appreciate. This is a story that needed to be told. It is a tragic event in Naval history. The writer has done a excellent job of telling the story. The ship will become a museum in Baltimore, MD. Read the book and then visit the ship. She where history was made and innocent lives were lost helping defend our country.

The tragic fire aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Forrestal, which claimed the lives of 134 U.S. servicemen and horribly wounded many more, was very much overshadowed by The Vietnam War, which the ship was then fighting. At a time when there were more casualties each week in the ground war and America's cities were erupting into racial and anti-war violence, the disaster quickly faded from the news. Now, author Gergory A Freeman has done a terrific service to both the victims and survivors with his fair, well-balanced and highly readable account.

Give Freeman credit right off the bat for not attempting to cash in on the celebrity interest potential of then-navy pilot John McCain's narrow escape by unjustly playing up McCain's involvement. In Freeman's story, McCain is just one more survivor, and one who made it out with only minor injuries. The real story is one of a preventable trajedy, and Freeman does not shy away from the laying the blame for the disaster where it belongs, on the political leadership of the time and on the navy bureaucracy.

Freeman's account of the fire itself and resulting ordinance explosions as seen through the eyes of the survivors is absolute riveting. He strikes just the right tone, relaying the horrible events without sensationalizing them. The book's title come from a particularly poignant moment in which three trapped sailors uncomplainingly performed a final vital duty for their shipmates even as they knew they were about to die. Theirs is just one of the many incredible stories that Freeman has unearthed.

Overall, "Sailors to the End" is an expertly written work of military history that should appeal to both military buffs as well as to general readers.

Having served time in the Military, I understand pretty much everything that the author is talking about. It is exciting as you turn each page, you can actually see the author grow as as the story progresses. It isn't difficult to finish this book in one sitting. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves this type of adventure/Military Story. Belive me, It's just a fun book to read!

Read this true story of one of Americas real heroes from the Vietnam war. The author served in the Studies & Observation Group, or SOG. It was one of the most secretive units and performed the hairiest missions all over Southeast Asia. A great read telling the tales of a few men in the enemies backyard. I collect special operations books and I highly recommend this story of courage, honor and duty to our country.

15 Months is the type of book that makes you not want to stop at the next chapter. Its really enjoyable to see what will happen in the next short story. I like how it was laid out, a collection of short stories that really helps you to appreciate all the different aspects of that difficult time in our history. The people the author associated with, the tough decisions he had to make all end up finishing with a strong point. A very good book..... I am glad to see a book like this on the shelves.

This book is more popular in left-of-center, Oliver Stone, conspiracy circles. Colonel Prouty (the guy who inspired Mr. X, the deep-throat of Oliver Stone's JFK) is no doubt an amiable, patriotic and honorable man. Though, I just cannot come to swallow this book- hook, line and sinker... because its more speculation than anything. It is often speculated that had Kennedy lived, than the U.S. would never have sunk so deep into the quagmire of Vietnam. I find this book interesting, but it is a puzzle that isn't put together. Prouty doesn't produce a mountain of evidence showing who assassinated Kennedy. He basically asks the question of whose interest was it in Kennedy being assassinated. His insights on foreign policy and intelligence are intriguing. Nonetheless, the fact that he was out of the country during the assassination kind of lends creedence to those who debunk him. Though, his defense-intelligence background obviously gives him a great deal of insight. Prouty also downplays ideology (e.g. communism and capitalism) as the motivator for conflict in the world during the cold war... but instead chalks it up to imperialism- This kind of left-wing historical analysis shows why Stone jumped on Prouty's ideas. The book is a page-turner and hard to put down at times... I just take it with a grain of salt, because there is so little tangible evidence produced, but a great deal of speculation mixed with political intrigue.

I want those readers who have not read this book to read my opinions below.

First, this is a great book simply because Prouty has provided more inside ammunition for researchers to mine the depths of our secret government. This is the government of men who controlled the secret programs of assassination, the secret slush funds of counterintelligence, the operatives who dilligently carried out their secret orders,their programs of stealth, quasi-law breaking, and other publically inaccessible information. Prouty's book quite correctly points the finger at Dulles, Lansdale, and others in CIA, who were paranoid about communism and Castro. They viewed Kennedy as a traitor and he stood in the way of the war machine they were operating, both overtly, but especially covertly. The termination of raids to Cuba, the failure of follow-up air support at the Bay of Pigs, the promise not to invade Cuba after the Cuban missile crisis, were all blamed on Kennedy. The firing of Dulles, Cabell, and Bissell contributed to the intelligence community wanting JFK removed from command. It is astonishing that so few have commented on the contrast between now and then: in 1963 we were fed lies depicting Oswald as a crazed nut, a loner, and defector. These days we have mountains of evidence he was much more than these pictures of him. He associated with Clay Shaw, David Ferrie, anti-castro cubans, and others. He returned to the US without a hitch, but in those days a defector would have been hounded and closely watched. If this were true,then why wasn't the FBI catching all his associations and illegal activities? Prouty has produced the superstructure of the conspiracy by showing the history, and context of the cold war and the CIA.

If one can view a supposed loser like Oswald pulling off this assassination as being totally ridiculous, then one can entertain other possibilities. Why was Lyndon Johnson reversing NSAMs so quickly concerning Vietnam? Why did Johnson appoint Warren, Dulles, Ford, et al? Why wasn't the Dulles appointment perceived as a conflict of interest? Here is the fired subordinate investigating the dead boss! Dulles definitely kept information from the panel, especially about the assassination plots being orchestrated by the CIA, with the Mafia as the gunmen. In this connection, another book of importance should be read and that is by Peter Dale Scott: Deep Politics and the Death of JFK. It is a difficult book because he describes a quasi government,over-and-above government institutions, which controlled the plot and the outcome. This corresponds to some observations about Prouty's book, which fails to name names. But that isn't quite correct. Prouty does name many persons who were in command positions and had the power to orchestrate the assassination.Two prominent persons were Dulles and Lansdale. Any clever and alert reader who watched Stone's movie JFK will see a very short (about 2 second)sequence in the movie where General X is making the call to the network to carry out the plot and kill JFK. On his desk is a nameplate which clearly says "Lansdale".

The Prouty book establishes that Kennedy "was getting Americans out of Vietnam, he confirmed that he was moving away from the pattern of Cold War confrontation in favor of detente.He asked congress to cut the defense budget.Major programs were being phased out. As a result, pressure from several fronts began to to build against the young President.The pressure came from those most affected by cuts in the military budget, in the NASA space program, and in the enormous potential cost-and profit-of the Vietnam War."

It is very ironic that his enemies in government brought about detente with the Soviet Union. The notion that Oswald was a lone killer is preposterous and if it were true, why would the full truth be kept from us so long after the collapse of communism? This was the facile justification for locking up the evidence until 2025: that our outrage against a communist conspiracy would demand a war against the communists. The real truth was to control the information to the American public, so as to cover their tracks, and establish a legend to the JFK killing.

Everyone should read this book. I heartily recommend this book to anyone seeking insight into the question about insiders being involved in the killing.

Prouty gives us the point of view of both an ace historian and an insider taking us from the origins of the cold war up through the assassination of President Kennedy, and then on up through tomorrow night's evening news. It's haunting how the power elite's patterns of military strategies and propaganda tactics of that era correlate with many of today's current events. Just the other day somebody on TV was screaming, "Why wasn't there an objective in Desert Fox?!" while at the same time I'm reading the answer in Prouty's book, yet the book was written 6 or 7 years ago.

This isn't a book only on the Kennedy assassination, but Kennedy's bold decisions which led to his death and the forces behind it all. He explains clearly the post-H-bomb military strategy of aiding both sides of the fence in Vietnam to win the REAL war - big business. We get an inside look at the Dulles brothers and their direct line to the "High Cabal" which overrules even the White House.

I once heard Col. Prouty say in an interview that he's never read a page of the Warren Commission's 26 volumes of hearings on the assassination. He said he didn't have to because he knew who did it. I thought that was a bit odd, but after reading this book I understand what he means. Prouty had worked with these guys! These are the same forces that overthrew the Philipines, Greece, Iran, Bulgaria and Guatemala (to name just a few).

Out of all the books written about the Kennedy assassination this is easily one of the best. Check out his website!

After finding this book quite by accident while browsing through the wonderful Concord bookstore the other day, I was astounded to find how relevant and interesting a story author Daniel Ellsberg manages to conjure up after all this time regarding his legendary experience leading up to and including the leaking, release and publication of the infamous "Pentagon Papers' by the New York Times. As he explains early in the long yet fascinating monologue, he fully expected to be sentenced to a long prison sentence for having secreted a copy of the highly classified Department of Defense's official history of the American Government's policy and involvement in Vietnam. The report was a damning confirmation of the worst fears of the anti-war movement, and provided overwhelming evidence of the cynical, manipulative, and deceitful character of our government and its deceit to its own people regarding its involvement.

What surprised Ellsberg most in all of this swirling excitement and activity was his own growing celebrity, and while he spent years fearing the worst for his own admitted culpability in defying criminal statues by stealing and leaking official government secrets, eventually the charges against him were dropped based, among other things, on the revelations of the Nixon's plumber's unit's illegal break-in at Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. Ellsberg was an unlikely hero, a graduate of the Harvard University economics doctoral program, a former marine officer turned defense issue intellectual, a frequent visitor to Vietnam who was rankled by the distinct difference between what he was seeing and experiencing during his visits, on the one hand, and what the official American government position regarding what the situation was on the ground on the other.

Based on this growing dissatisfaction and the discovery of the so-called Pentagon papers, a treasure trove of more than 7,000 pages of carefully documented details about the U.S. Government's involvement in Vietnam and its motives, considerations, and actions, Ellsberg tried to enlist the support of a number of Senators and Congressmen in an effort to use the evidence in the Pentagon Papers to undercut the Government's position and thereby end the war itself. Failing to do so, he finally surrendered the documents to the New York Times, which agreed to publish them through a series of daily excerpts (and also later in an abridged best-selling paperback version). The Government tried to stop publication, but was denied the right to do so by the Supreme Court. Of course, with the publication came an increase in public opposition to the war and a recognition of the degree to which the Executive branch and the military had intentionally misled the public regarding the conduct of the war and the situation on the ground for the moiré than 500,000 troops then stationed in-country. Still, it took more than five more years before the American involvement in Vietnam ended.

This is a wonderful book to experience, and in reading it one comes to recognize the formidable skills Ellsberg brings to bear in terms of his amazing recall, eye for details, and ability to successfully juggle a variety of interacting considerations at the same time. This guy is smarter than the average teddy bear, and it is easy to see how difficult a task it would have been for the Department of Defense and the nitwits over in the White House to try to outmaneuver him. I was a bit surprised at some of the personal revelations in the book, and while it is obvious that Mr. Ellsberg has a healthy ego, he manages for the most part to keep it at bay in retelling a story that could have easily have devolved in a retelling of the David against Goliath epic, but which he keeps objective and factual enough to keep the story rolling along as a recounting of the gripping events that transpired more than thirty years ago and helped to turn the tide of public opinion toward the war in Vietnam. I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in 20th century American history. Enjoy!

Like many others I was sucked into the Vietnam war against
my will. I paid for what I thought was LBJ's war with my
blood and sanity. What "SECRETS" does is to fill in the
blanks with the background of the political agendas of a
number of presidential administrations. "SECRETS" validates suspicions some of us have had for more than thirty years. "SECRETS" is the memoir of one person, Daniel
Ellsberg, who took a stand on the side of humanity and
morality in an effort to end the Vietnam war and topple
the corrupt and insatiable desire for ultimate power that
would have been Richard M. Nixon's had it not been for
the release of the Pentagon Papers.

"SECRETS" is a story of patriotism at its finest, where
one man risked everything in an effort to disclose the
truth about power and war conducted by the United States Government. Reading "SECRETS" exposes war for what it
really is, a manipulative tool of big business and
government order.

If more Americans would read this book they would become
aware enough to argue whether or not we should ever
engage in the brutality and ignorance of war again.

"SECRETS" should be required reading for anyone in
America who believes him/herself to be a patriot.

Bob Algie

I watched Mr. Ellsberg debate Mr. Cristol on C-Span about two months ago and had to have this book to see what all the fuss was about. Now I know. Secrets is about a guy that was in the loop and suddenly saw the loop as it really was. A fabrication of lies to the American people in order to follow an idiological agenda that would lead American into a war that we did not need nor want. 54,000 dead Americans later the war grinded to a halt mainly because of one man showing enough courage to uncover the lie. His name is Daniel Ellsberg and this is his story. With the lies of WMD, American soldiers dying everyday, corporations with close ties to the Bush Administration getting billion dollar no bid government contracts to rebuild Iraq, and the secrecy surrounding Bush's regime we need someone to step forward and tell the truth. This is a must read and whether you agree or disagree this book has the history and facts to keep you wondering about our government for a long time.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. Wolff is a gifted writer, but it doesn't seem like he's got a whole lot to talk about when it comes to his time in Vietnam. Wolf portrays himself as an inept soldier, someone who got his officer's commission by an idiotic stroke of luck. He even gives examples to back it up. A great example is a practice parachute insertion, when he mistakes a garbage dump for his intended drop zone and orders his team to jump.

The more I read, the more I began to dislike Wolff. After reading the combat memoirs of men like Frank Miller (Reflections of a Warrior), Robert Mason (Chickenhawk), Bruce Norton (Force Recon Diary), and others, it's hard to feel otherwise. He comes off as an extremely self-centered individual-not only in 'Nam, but in every aspect of his life.

On a side note, the book ends with a truly bizzare paragraph explaining the type used to print the book and a brief biographical note about the type's creator. I have no idea what purpose this paragraph serves, but I mention it here because it is, by accident or design, one of the books most memorable parts.

After reading "This Boy's Life", I had to read "In Pharoah's Army", even though I have no interest in the Vietnam War.

The nice thing about this book is that even with a subject that I don't care for, it is told from an individual's perspective which can make or break any situation if told in the right way.

Wolff comes through with this book too, by being very honest with his readers. He seems to be holding back a little more with this book than he did with his earlier memoir, but that appears to be more of a function of space and time considerations than of concealing information.

Although there were things about his character that disappointed me, that made me like the book all the more due to it frankness.

I hope that Mr. Wolff is working on a third memoir over the next phase of his life. I can't wait to read it.

This book continues where THIS BOY'S LIFE left off, following Tobias Wolff into the Army and Vietnam. Wolff is very funny and very insightful, and he pulls you into the story right away. You get to know his friends, the "Army types", the Vietnamese people, his (pathetic) dog, and his Stateside circle of intimates. These characters are all fully-drawn, especially his best Army buddy.

This is not a humor collection of amusing wartime anecdotes; war is ugly, and nobody gets out unhurt. Wolff includes all of this, but he has a sense of irony about events, and a sense of compassion toward people. Also, each chapter can stand alone as a fully-realized short essay.

I've read his short fiction and his memoirs, and I think Tobias Wolff is one of the most gifted American writers of this generation.