However, as a jumpy eighteen-year-old who had spent three months seeing his buddies slaughtered in booby trap after booby trap, having their heads blown off by snipers you never see or get to track, Army trucks full of draftees decimated by grenades thrown by smiling elderly villagers and children, I really don't know how much I would have given a damn for any village anywhere in that country.

Yes, the massacre was wrong, and thank God for men like Thompson, but if anybody is going to judge My Lai or any other total breakdown of discipline and artificially-sustained morality, it should be men and women who have served in extreme combat environments, not bourgeois middle-class Liberals who have never had to get their hands dirty.

Vietnam was a filthy war, and because it never had a distinct purpose or Win Scenario driving it, it was a pointless war. Ironically, one of the things that triggered My Lai was the very fear and frustration generated by the VC's own tactics, including the mutilation of American corpses and the constant goading and provocation that GI's had to endure.

This was the same Enemy that massacred French garrisons and lined the approach roads with the severed heads of the defenders to demoralize the relief columns. The same Enemy that even booby trapped live babies in order to kill American soldiers and shock them into a state of psychological collapse.

Read the book, by all means, and be outraged. Yet while the massacre can never be justified, with the kind of background, only some of which I have just outlined, it can perhaps be understood - above all, as others have rightly said, in the absence of strong leadership and the stability provided by having a good sprinkling of experienced Vets throughout the Company.

No, it should never have happened, but then, neither should the War.

I'm glad Mr. Carlock took the time to write this book, as it will serve to teach future generations about the Viet Nam experience. Aviation entusiasts, history buffs, and particularly PC flight simulator pilots will really enjoy this accounting of a modern air-mobile infantry unit.

It's interesting that the only negative review of this book comes from the only person who failed to give their name - but claimed to be a "Force Recon Marine who was in Vietnam in 1969". I suggest two likely possibilities: (1) this person is not what he or she claimed to be, and / or (2) they have some serious personal problems or agenda that leads them to criticize what is a first hand account of some of the most courageous and skillful Marines in the history of the Vietnam War. If this person can refute the basic accuracy of Bill Peters' book, let's see their book with verifiable facts.

Was I there to verify the facts recounted in "Sunrise at Midnight"? No. But the Recon Marines covered in this book can do so. How do I know this? As a lawyer for one the nation's leading companies, I report to General Counsel Lynn Lowder, who is highlighted in this book and is a recipient of the Purple Heart, Silver Star and Bronze Star.

Lynn tells me that Bill Peters told it just the way it was. Given Lynn's integrity in the legal and corporate battlefield - I have no doubt that "Sunrise at Midnight" is a credible and accurate retelling of events.

The First Force Recon Marines described in this book have continued to achieve at high levels during the past 30 years. They don't seek egocentric praise for their contributions; quite the opposite. This fine book is clearly written with humility, as a tribute of remembrance to the team - collectively. Hopefully, as time continues to pass, posterity will take note of their extraordinary courage in the face of terrifying adversity, faithfully responding to their nation's call. This book helps us remember and remain grateful.

Duiker makes a cogent case for Ho as a genuine revolutionary bent essentially on the independence of Vietnam. His contention that Ho was not simply a nationalist pragmatically using Marxist-Leninism is persuasive. Yet, it also appears tragically clear that Ho was willing to put his enormous influence behind a rapprochment with the U.S. in the late 40's. An opportunity to avoid the subsequent catastrophe for both sides was lost.

Perhaps the strongest portions of the book deal with Duiker's explication of Ho's extraordinary ability to perceive the consequences of the global political scene; his ability to divine both the long-term and short-term consequences to Vietnam of the actions of the major powers. Additionally, Duiker's book is very insightful regarding Ho's position within his own party. He was essentially a moderate who had to negotiate with radical hard-liner's. One could see him as a victim of the success of his own party.

If the book has a failing, that failing cannot be laid at the feet of the author. In reading about Ho, one cannot help but feel that an enormous amount of information will never be available--either because it no longer exists, because it does not serve the purposes of those with the information to release it or that, in the case of China for instance, it will never allow access to significant archival material. Consequently, in reading about Ho I had the sense that I would never know his complete story. (Virtually nothing exists apparently about his personal life in this book. I am sure that is partially related to the fact that Ho's life was the movement he created, but some of it is undoubtedly because that part of his life was intentionally kept out of view). Nonetheless, the book is painstakingly annotated and detailed, and Duiker undoubtedly knows his subject.

The final quibble I have with the book is that it seemed oddly sanitized of violence. After all, Ho's actions led to conflicts over 30 years leading to millions of deaths. No doubt the book could not dwell on the destructiveness of the two Indochinese wars. Nonetheless, the book should have given more time to the consequences of the sacrifices Ho seemed to eternally preach. (Coincidentally, on the evening I finished the book, I read an article in the New Yorker regarding the longest held American POW. It was a good reminder of the horror of the conflict.)

This book deserves the highest compliment: it raises so many more fascinating questions about Ho and Vietnam, not because they were not adequately addressed, but rather because a great subject well-documented is endlessly fascinating. Its too bad Mr. Duiker is not available for Q & A.

Jane Hamilton-Merritt has done a superb job in documenting the struggles of the Hmong people. By living with the Hmong, she sees through the eyes of the Hmong people. Her views are not those of an outsider, but the views of a Hmong. From the beginning of the Secret War to the settling of the Hmong in America, she documents everything that happens to the Hmong people. Tragic Mountains shows her dedication and love of the Hmong people

Swain writes evocatively and his book should serve as a handy introduction to Indochina and its travails for foreigners little in the know. But there's this, too, to say about "River of Time": rather than a panorama of scenes and events, Swain provides several vignettes of them (from Saigon at war to Phnom Penh at its fall to the Khmer Rouge and to Bangkok at peace from it all). And that's my gripe about "River of Time." Without clear guiding narrative strings and conclusions, it reads like several touched-up newspaper articles blended together and joined by only one unifying theme: Swain himself. Too bad, because the book is chock-full of revealing anecdotes, thanks to Swain's well-honed eye and prodigious memory (as well as contemporary diary notes). The stories about Vietnamese boat people's suffering at the hands of Thai fishermen-turned-pirates are perhaps the best in the whole book.

But don't let me put you off an interesting, if somewhat lacking read. For all its flaws, "River of Time" is worth your money and time -- if only in whetting your appetite for other books about this hauntingly beautiful but deeply troubled land.

Swain began to win me over right away. He begins the book with much the same sentiment as I expressed above. The author himself wonders what he can add to what's been written before.

The answer is: A lot.

Swain's style fits the subject: factual, but with humanity; horrified without being overwhelmed. The author's self-professed love for Indo-China is evident. The depth of his feelings enabled me to see and feel the end of Indo-China as it had been.

The highlight of the book is the description of the fall of Phnom Penh and the immediate aftermath. I have read several accounts of these events, written by Cambodians and Westerners, and I have seen "The Killing Fields". None of those tellings hold a candle to Swain's description. The misery, chaos, horror, insanity, and inhumanity comes to life in his words.

Swain's work takes it's place among the best of the field.