A personal diary and history from the parade fields of West Point to the 101st Airborne Division and the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam. This book is not only a very personal story it is also a unit history and a selective history of the Vietnam war from the first deployment of U.S. troops to the end. The author’s own experiences are presented in context with other historical battles and events that shaped the war, with most of those battles and events involving West Point classmates and friends. It’s all here: a time-capsule history, the battles, the tactics, the emotions, the pride, the pain, the comradeship, the songs, the letters, the girl back home.
I've been told, one of the things every man should do in life is write a book. This book is dedicated to those who didn't survive to write their own.
The author graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1964. The author served with the 101st Airborne Division initially at Fort Campbell in 1965, and later in Vietnam in 1968. Between those tours he served with the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Special Action Force Asia. He resigned from the Army as a captain after serving 6 years. Work on the manuscript began in 1986. The “first edition” of the manuscript was completed in 1988 and has been shared with other members of the 2/17th Cavalry and friends since then.