Diana Dell is an amazing story teller! I find my self getting lost in her memories so easily. This book isnt your typical "Vietnam" book where all that is talked about is the destruction of young boys lifes and the damage that was done to so many different people. All though these thing definately happened, Diana took a different approach to writing about "The Nam". I Love the way that most of the stories that are told are done so thru humor. This is a side of Vietnam that most people have no idea about. A lot of good memories have come from Vietnam and the author wants the reader to know of them as well. Take a look at this amazing piece of work. It's a great book and one that will raise many questions in the readers mind. This book will give you an opportunity to start questioning why this "War" really did happen. Who was behind it and why was everyone "back home" kept in the dark about what really went on? I definately recommend this book and also look forward to reading it again in the future.

I served in Vietnam in the rear with the beer and the gear for 13 1/2 months, 1966-1967. No better book has been written about that Saigon experience than Dell's "A Saigon Party." If a reader is curious about what kind of tour of duty most had who served in the military during the American war in the beautiful country of South Vietnam, Dell's fine book is the place to start. "A Saigon Party" is a book of great wit and compassion, and Dell is brave, resourceful, and successful in her use of the many voices of the Vietnam War. Dell gives Robert Olen Butler's Vietnamese voices in "A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain" a run for their money. I am now a librarian who spent much time in libraries in Vietnam (both for the books and the air conditioning) so I especially enjoyed Dell's story "The Library Card." I also loved the Ken and Barbie stories and wish there was a entire book of them. The "CIA Wife" story is a great story and very funny. The CIA deservedly gets rough and witty treatment. For those of you still wondering why we lost our war in SE Asia, these stories provide the reasons.

Sincerely, David A. Willson, author of REMF Diary, The REMF Returns and In the Army Now.

If Dorothy Parker had been in Vietnam during the war, she would have written a collection of short stories similar to "A Saigon Party." Dell's witty book should be read by everyone who loves great satire. Sincerely, Maryann Hurley

Dan Kelly has provided us with an extremely well written autobiography of his life with as a Seawolf. The book is articulate, very well thought out, contains sadness, empathy, glory, and pain. As a work it reads like fiction, easy to understand with an excellant storyline. His story of the Seawolves, as seen from the point of view of a 20 year old Crew Chief/Gunner is exceptionally factual and accurate. I know, I too was a Seawolf

I read Seawolves and I loved it, but I really what to find Daniel E. Kelly. If you know him or flew with him I would like to know. The book cracked me up while I read it, the part that really cracked me up was when he said they were drunk and had to scamble and everyone was in thier underwear, then he said that when he was shooting a hot brass casing fell down his pants then there was the part about the speakers and Jimmy Hendrix and so on.

This book is one of the best there is on Helicopter warfare in Vietnam. Even though I am a 35 year old woman and don't have much military history to lean on, this book was easy to read, exciting and hard to put down.

I recommend this book to anyone who flew in gunships, is a true Vietnam Veteran, or who is just interested in helicopters in Vietnam.

Dan Kelly's experience with the Navy's Sea Wolves in Vietnam is more than what most people can handle in a lifetime. Suffering two painful injuries and serving two tours of duty and flying as door gunner through some of the most horrendous circumstances is the stuff heros are made of.

The fact that he stresses going to Vietnam was *his choice*, and choosing the Sea Wolves was *his choice* shows you just what kind of man Dan Kelly is. It also shows you what kind of men flew with the Sea Wolves: The men you want to rescue you when you are in deep trouble.

The men of the Sea Wolves were the kind of men you knew you could count on when you needed them. I'd be proud to fly with them anyday.

Buy this book if you have the guts to fly along. You will re-learn what you may have forgotten about honor and heroism.

"The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty : A United States Marine Corps, Khe Sanh,Vietnam ,1968" is my new favorite "My Name Is America" book! I couldn't put it down! This book shows how boys entered the Vietnam War, but either died, or went home as men. If you're learning about this war, or just want an excellent read, then you must get this book! I recommend.

The golden days, where the days when he was playing football. Before he went to war. This book is the best book of this kind. It will make you wounder whats going to happen next. It iis a sad but thrilling book. Dont forget to read the epilogue.

The book was one of the best books I have ever read. It seemed so real, almost like I was there. The book was the fictional journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty, a U.S. Marine serving in Veitnam. The book dealed with the aspects of war and everything that went along with it. My opinion as I said before, it is one of the best books I have ever read. It is one of the few books I have ever finished. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in war.

I read this book and gave 1 star to Ken Miller for serving in Vietnam, but.... Anyone familiar with the "true history of Vietnam" knows that after the Tet 1968 Offensive that the NVA and VC were nearly destroyed. It took a full four to five years for the enemy forces to rebuild. The way Ken Miller and others write there were NVA behind every tree in the bush every time they went out. Phantom NVA troops for phony medals, maybe? I found this book to be a perfect demonstration with jarring clarity that ordinary individuals could be induced to act destructively even in the absence of physical coercion and human need not to innately evil or aberrant to act in ways that are reprehensible and inhumane. Take page 170 of this book. The new company commander (C.O.) takes charge and wants these men to get into military shape and get ready for patrolling. The new C.O. tells these men that they are (and I quote from the book); "He wasted no time letting the Lurps know that he considered them undisciplined, slovenly, unmanly, shirkers, and phonies." This is the very same picture I got from reading this book and their later actions speak for themselves when they planned, organized, and carried out the Toe-Popper incident and blew off Captain Shepard's foot. No statue of limitations of this act, Miller. The story really goes off into the twilight light zone on page 220. The national archive records report that a team found an empty base camp and some weapons - PERIOD. But, Ken Miller creates his deception of what he thought and wrote a 6-man team followed an NVA company on the trail, watch them eat, and then charge into the enemy killing 151 NVA soldiers!!! That's more than the unit had as its official body count (68 total) for the entire time it was in Vietnam, Miller!!! The lies, falsehoods start on page ten and this book is written more for the 14 and 16 year-old males who don't know any better. Shame on this book for it's stretching the bonds of the Ranger Creed and confusing loyalty with disrespect for authority over peer pressure to conform in order to avoid field duty. That could get you killed if you didn't have good leadership. They should have listened to Captain Shepard with his earlier illustrations of what he thought they were; and thus they remained leaderless and bound to failure. It would have been much better for this unit to continue to stay on Kitchen Police and guard duty as it did for the first six months it was in Vietnam.

It's too late now to recommend this book to my student who wanted to write his final term paper a few months ago about the view from inside the Vietnam War. He's written his paper already and graduated from high school, but had he read this book he would have known much more intimately what it was to "be there." Mr. Miller's captivating style would have sufficed to propell him page to page, but the bravery, the humor, and the soul unraveled in the stories themselves are what make the book great. The events and people Mr. Miller depicts would have haunted his memory for years to come (and probably would have helped to pump a bit more inspiration into his term paper).

...

If your curiosity has taken you to this remote corner of Amazon.com, I urge you venture further, deeper into the Vietnam War by way of Kenn Miller's book and it's companion by Rey Martinez.

The LRRPS did. Time and time again the long-range-reconnaissance-patrols went out to "see" and not be "seen", and sadly, some individuals wouldn't return home.

This is fantastic series of books covering the history and evolution of the LRRPS/LRPS/RANGERS during the Vietnam War.

Rey Martinez, Kenn Miller, and Gary Linderer interviewed a great number of the surviving members of the LRRPS/Rangers to bring their history alive. While some members were able to tap in their memories, others wouldn't touch the pain from long ago. The authors did a terrific job bringing the histories together for a strong narrative.

If anything, I found myself wanting to know more! What were they thinking? What were you feeling? I'm sure much ended up on the "editing room floor".

The "SIX SILENT MEN" books are a very honest account if the units actions. Their packed with adventure and daring. While reading their books, I was filled with tension and dread, other times I had to laugh aloud, and a few times I became misty-eyed. You feel for the teams as they "will" themselves to become invisible while on patrol.

... A great number of books on the Vietnam War are written very honestly, and the publishers do "Fact Checking" before publishing these books. ... If these books were embellished tales, then Vietnam Vets who served in the LRRPS/Rangers wouldn't hesitate to post a review here and let the truths be known. As you see this isn't the case.

I have never met a veteran who has panned these books. Never.

If you enjoyed this series, I would also recommend Jim Morris' WAR STORY, John Plasters' SOG, James Rowe's FIVE YEARS TO FREEDOM, Larry Chambers RECONDO, and Leigh Wade's TAN PHU.

...

Read the books. You won't be disappointed! God Bless and Attack life!

This is a gem of a book with many qualities that have obviously endeared it to the other reviewers here. It's a good read for most readers, even if it suffers from several flaws.

The writing is mostly good, if somewhat artificial at times, especially when the author seemed to overreach in trying to be too lyrical. Behind the words, the story struggles to be told, even though one has probably guessed what it would be after the first two chapters. The historical background seems of uncertain authenticity and could have benefited from better research.

Somehow I wish that the author had not yielded to his editors and done things like reversing the traditional order of Vietnamese names, or making them easier to pronounce in English but unrecognizable in Vietnamese. After all, how would Americans feel if they were to read a Vietnamese book where George Bush is referred to as Bush George?

this book is rich in it's magnitude and beautiful to read. the story is compelling and the characters are so real. as the story unfolds and the locations, history and people literally exude authenticity. it is a book that will take you into a world you might not know existed otherwise, and the story both fascinates and moves readers.

I have read many books written in English about Vietnam, but found only a few that clearly reflect the soul and spirit of the Vietnamese: "The tapestries" is one of them.

The story took place between 1916 and 1932 in a small village near Hue, the Imperial City of Vietnam. This is a book about commoners, middle class people and royalty. It deals with a wicked magistrate and his granddaughter Mai but also a heroine Ven, who at age 15 was given in marriage to then seven year-old Dan. There are also a minister, a eunuch, the queen's lady-in-waiting, and a time-teller (similar to Quasimodo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame).

The story then moved to Hue and we are given a glimpse of the slowly fading monarchy. There were plots, murders, injustice, hate, love, and redemption throughout of the book. The plots were as thick as the tropical jungle (like any Vietnamese story) with a twist at every corner. The author kept us guessing (wrong most of the time) and held us in suspense until the next chapter.

I found the novel remarkable and I am certain the reader will appreciate and thank the author for bringing something exotic to the American public.

An all to brief account of a "lifer" navy seal and special warfare operator. From Vietnam to Lebanon and from Panama to Central America, Walsh was there. Big gaps in the time line and only one "war story" per deployment. Very opionnated and not afraid to tell it lke it was. For all his time in the service of Uncle Sam, I'm sure the book could have been two or three times longer on the page count. Mr. Walsh, if you read this, please begin work on Vol. 2. A good companion book to D. Young's THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE, Navy Seal's in Vietnam

The only thing wrong with this is that it is Mr. Walsh's only book. It is one of the better books I've read on Viet Nam. It is one of the few Spec Ops books that continues on to the near-present. I've given away most of the war story books after reading them. This is one I've kept and read several times. I highly recomend this book.

This is a story tellers book. Mr. Walsh has 26 years of incredible experiences to tell. He has been to hell and back, but at all times he succeeds in keeping his feet on the ground. Not even a book so honest and to-the-point as this can tell the real warriors story. The experience of combat and war can not be described in words. But Michael Walsh does it anyway. And very well, too. We read about his life during 26 years of naval special warfare - the life of a man who took his job very, very seriously. The North Vietnamese had a ransom on him, but if they had known who they were dealing with it would have been multiplied several times. Mr. Walsh covers the 26 years with a good personal pen, not afraid to be emotional. He does not need bravado to tell his story. It comes with little words that hang in there for you to think about. And the humor which is so important for spec warriors. After reading his book, I think I understand the tremendous sacrifices he gave - the risk, the dedication, the hardship, the loyalty to buddies and unit. I am truly impressed. I know that Mr. Walsh has skipped many good stories from his years as a SEAL. Some of them you can find in Greg Walkers "In the Hurricane's Eye" where he describes some of Mr. Walsh's rock solid personality in some very amusing and well-told stories. As another reader said: If you read this, Michael Walsh, please start volume 2. There's room for a lot more of this kind. Jan Holm

If you don't know much about how American efforts regarding POWs were handled in Vietnam, you'll sure know a lot after reading this book. The most dramatic takeaway from this book is the level of bureacracy that kept more lives from being saved. Excellent research, but many times the writing was weak. Frequently, instead of a carefully drawn out tale of a particular POW episode, the author would right away "reveal the punchline." Before even reading the next few pages, then, you knew the outcome, which kind of ruined it. But very well researched.

Ethicists have debated since time immemorial the question: how many lives is one life worth? Rather than a simple mathematical problem (1=1), this is the question which dogged the men tasked with rescuing U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict.

There has been the nasty suspicion lingering for years that the U.S. government decided that the math didn't quite work out and so left our POWs in Southeast Asia to meet their fates alone. Congressional hearings have been held, various recovery missions have been launched, and a cottage industry in conspiracy theory has sprung up in the decades since Operation Homecoming in 1973.

George Veith blows the lid off much of the secrecy surrounding U.S. efforts to recover POWs in Vietnam and thus evaporates much of the conspiracy theories with "Codename: Bright Light." Despite assertions to the contrary, U.S. special forces made substantial and repeated efforts to free POWs during the war. The main obstacles to repatriation were: the constant relocation of prisoners, the intransigence of the North Vietnamese and their American supporters, the failure of intelligence on POW matters, bureaucratic snafus, and the extremely difficult terrain and climate which made escape a dicey proposition at best. As a result, the Bright Light operation failed to rescue a single American POW during its entire course.

Despite these failures, the men supporting Bright Light gave their all to bring our men home and had a substantive impact upon repatriation. Yet most of the surviving members of these teams believe to this day that men were left behind---specifically, those captured in Laos, none of whom returned at Homecoming.

Veith has done a great service in writing this book, which likely will earn him derision in conspiracy circles. Despite the demonization of the military brass, Veith portrays the men of Bright Light and their superiors as doing their best to pull men out of the maw of hell despite wrestling constantly with the fundamental question: how many men is one man's life worth?

"Code Name Bright Light" is an extremely well-researched and documented story about the efforts (failures! ) of the United States to rescue its' POWs during the Vietnam War. Just count the footnotes in each chapter! There can be no doubt that the story you will read is authentic. And that is a problem because most Americans will be saddened to learn that the blame cannot be heaped upon a cruel and intransigent enemy but with our own political. military and especially diplomatic leaders. Inter-service rivalry, intra-service rivalry, poor planning and just plain Vietnam-style bad luck all played a large part in the story. But there is so simple "sin-loi" here. Ambassador to Laos William Sullivan and Ambassador to South Vietnam Bunker wholeheartedly emphasized politics over POW rescues. One must ask even now whose side was Mr. Sullivan on? And where was the Johnson White House? Where was Robert McNamara? All very disturbing. There are many better "Vietnam" books but for those interested in the POW story, this is the Bible. I have read 4 other books on POWs, including Ms. Stephenson's "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" and seen the tape "We Can Keep You Forever", but "Code Name Bright Light" tells it all the best. A serious, disturbing but excellent job!

I found so much interesting firsthand information about Mongolia, China, and VietNam in this interesting book and for that I am grateful to the author.

I did feel, not far into the book, that she was rather impetuous in her decision to take this 5,000 mile journey and was not very well-prepared at all. Right away, trying to cross the border into Mongolia was an issue for her and something that I thought she should have found out about beforehand. She also made some serious safety mistakes, as when she was accosted by the two young men on horseback in Mongolia. She could have easily lost her life.

Her writing beautifully captures the natural beauty of the lands through which she traveled and also the basic goodness of the people whom she encountered during her journey.

A good reading experience.

Erika's story is inspiring. The amazing people she met all along her trip, the problems she encountered all make for fascinating reading. She so wonderfully puts into words an amazing experience. Regardless of if you like to travel to foreign countries, bike long distances, or just to read a great book, you'll love this one. I found myself just stopping to think, "Wow" so many times. Absolutely wonderful!

The author did a wonderful job of describing the people, places, and different foods that she encountered on her trip into Mongolia, China, and Vietnan. After reading this book, I became slightly envious of the author having the guts to make such a trip. I wish I had it in me to pack up my things and venture out on a bicycle into the far-off regions of the Far East. If you like positive roadtrip stories, check this one out. You won't be disapppointed!

This book is indeed what most critics say that it is: an ambitious, sprawling saga, paralleling the life and history of one family with the history of Vietnam in the last 130 years. And it does make fascinating reading. However, one other critic rightly made the point that this history is limited to the upper-middle-class, with very little on the rest - the farmers, the urban working class, the fighting soldiers, the intelligentsia. To which I will add: the view Mai Elliott gives of the sweeping events her family lived through was in fact rather comprehensive as long as it took place in the North, where she was born. Once the family moved South to Saigon, they pretty much kept to themselves and were out of the loop as far as decision-making was concerned (whereas ther father had been Governor of Haiphong and right there in the thick of things in the North). Being myself a Southerner Vietnamese, I do admit that, in general, the refugees from the North were not made warmly welcome. But some did reach out and eventually made friends, which the Duong family does not seem to have done. When they were still high officials in the North, the Duongs were influential and knew almost every aspect of what was going on. Once in the South, they were pretty much out of the loop, and Mai falls back on sweeping generalizations based on prejudices and hearsay, like "the Southern landowners were absently landlords who lived it up in Saigon, leaving their lands to caretakers". Being myself from a landowning family, I can vouch that that was far from true. Same thing about the South Vietnamese armed forces and the contempt in which they were supposedly held by their American allies. Would Tiger Woods' father have named him after a South Vietnamese Ranger if he despised him and his companions as cowards? She also fails to note that, very often, a South Vietnamese military operation would fail because Americans would not listen to their SVN counterparts, thinking they knew better. And Mai was so busy interviewing VC prisoners of war and trying to understand them that she never took the time to find out what the South Vietnamese working class, farmers, and fighting men, were like. Or why they stuck with a "corrupt" and "tyrannical" government, not to mention nasty imperialist Americans without rising up and going to the other side. Her account of the fall of Saigon and its aftermath is told solely from the point of view of her relatives who stayed there, or other former Northern refugees, and from a strictly "bleeding-heart liberal" perspective. General Loan is stigmatized when he shot a VC in public (he had heard that very day that the VCs had massacred a whole bunch of his relatives), but widespread cases of the so-called Liberation Army summarily shooting thieves in the street is related without so much as a metaphorically raised eybrow. There is no mention whatsoever of the South Vietnamese underground resistance that went on for over 10 years after Saigon fell, and only a grudging, one-sentence acknowledgement of "acts of heroism" by the South Vietnamese army and people. Her extensive bibliography is limited to North Vietnamese and American books, magazines and papers when she could have gained a different insight from books or articles by South Vietnamese or French writers and journalists, among others "The Vietnamese Gulag" by a South Vietnamese who stayed on after the "liberation" to help rebuild the country. I still recommend the book as an interesting work, giving a perspective that Americans in general have not seen - the "Vietnam War" viewed from the point of view of a Vietnamese family. But for that, Le Ly Hayslip's "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places" was closer to the people - and Mai Elliott's point of view is only that of a small part of Vietnam. But do read it anyway. You will still gain facts and insights you did not get before.

The Sacred Willow is a beautifully detailed view of the Vietnamese twentieth century -- not from the perspective of Americans involved in the war years 1965-75, but from the perspective of one Vietnamese family. Duong Van Mai Elliott's family included mandarins and leaders of Vietnamese society -- as well as members of the Viet Minh. The memoir is poignant and dramatic, exploring the widely diverging experiences of the author, her relatives and friends between the 1940s and the end of 20th century. The reader who wants to "understand Vietnam" will not find a better book, or a more readable and absorbing one.

After having recently started to work in Vietnam, I wanted to get a feel of the Vietnamese history spanning this century. Not interested in a text-book style carricature, I purchased this book to get an overview of the events that shaped the emergence of modern Vietnam. Mai Duong's narrative is comprehensive, successfully covering the macro events of the colonialism, subsequent communist revolution, and its ultimate collapse, and the emergence of the modern Vietnam. The book succeeds in giving an impression of the circumstances that normal households went through, allowing the reader to feel and be part of the true-life story within. Must-read for people wanting to get an overview on the current Vietnamese history - with a social angle.

This is my 1st William Diehl book. I didn't think I would like it at all as it revolved around the Vietnam war in the beginning (I thought it was a war story) but I got so wrapped up with the character Hatch, that I had to know why he was where he was and how on earth he would get out of Los Boxes! Hatch became our hero and if Cody was alive we knew Hatch would find him and do the right thing no matter what Sloan had planned for maybe both? I can see an excellent action/thriller movie out of this story the plot is twisting and turning and you wonder why the author is introducing new characters (or old)and how is all comes together (brilliantly) at the end. We could fell Hatch's pain with Daphne but I won't give the story away. All I can say is read the book. I am looking forward to reading more of William Diehl.

As you read this story you will find that Christian hatcher is a man that was pulled from his prision cell to complete his role in the middle of a large and complex puzzle of spies thieves and drug lords. This story moves like a well written movie, all the splendor of the orient are displayed here. William Diehl one of the best modern writers outdoes himself, he creates a world that captures the imagination and takes the reader beyond excitement. The book is a must read for lovers of action hero types. Christian hatcher can match wits with Sherlok Holmes, has the finesse of James Bond and the destructive indifferent side of the terminator, three traits that are very difficult to mesh together in a single story or character. To william Diehl, thank you for writing such a captivating book, Outstanding writing, keep up the good work.

With the whispering assassin, Diehl has created a verysatisfying hero. Christian Hatcher is the strong, silent type who is also a gentle, caring lover. He's a fairly simple - even gullible - character, driven for most of his life by other people's ambitions and machinations, but finally starting to realise his own value to himself.

Nonetheless, he is set on an adventure by the one person he really wants to see either dead, or in jail: the self-same man who framed nhim and sent him to Lops Boxes.

But who is manipulating whom? The plot thickens. There's a man-eating tiger, there are scenes of insane barbarity and passages of tender intimacy.

One note: you'll have to put yourself firmly into the '80s, when the action happens.

The plot, as I said, is convoluted, although based on a simple premise: Hatcher, a man wronged, is asked by his betrayer to find an old friend, the son of a respected, dying General.

Great stuff. Another book I've stopped lending out...

First among equals? Yes. I've enjoyed all William Diehl's books - but this is his best, by a short whisker. Buy it. It's a great read.