Just Another Day in Vietnam

ISBN: 1612007856

Author: Nightingale (Ret), Col Keith M.

Condition: New

Living and Breathing is a graphic, blow-by-blow, non-fictional account of the Vietnam war from all sides.Keith Nightingales accomplishments in both military and civilian life largely contribute to the excellence of Just Another Day in Vietnam as a memoir of unusual depth as well as breadth.Uniquely adopting a third-person omniscient point of view, Nightingale eschews the I of memoir in favor of multiple perspectives and a larger historical vision that afford equal time and weight to ally and enemy alike. Examples of the many perspectives based on real-life characters include: Hu, a VC informant whose false information led the Rangers straight into the jaws of a ferocious ambush; General Tanh, the COSVN commander; Major Nguyen Hiep, the 52d Ranger Commander; and Ranger POWs later returned by the North.Nightingale moreover offers the point of view of an American advisor to elite Vietnamese troops, a vital perspective regrettably underrepresented in the literature of Vietnam, including Burns documentary. Added to this are well-informed conjecture of enemy psychology; insight into the dedication and often misunderstood role of the elite Vietnamese Ranger forces; the intelligence acquired from debriefing captured Rangers, whose captors had told them that the entire battle had been a carefully staged attack planned by COSVN as part of a larger Total War strategy developed by the leadership of the North Vietnamese Army; and an eyewitness account by a gifted author who is a rare survivor of one of the most vicious-and heretofore forgotten-battles of the war.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionThe GroundThe InitiationThe BeginningThe InterrogationThe PlanChoicesThe Ranger BattalionThe CommanderThe AssemblyA Proper RegimentThe 175 Artillery BatteryThe Mortar GunnersMovement to ContactThe Pickup ZoneAirborneThe MovementThe DecisionClosureAid to BrothersDivision of ResponsibilityThe Black LinesThe BugCommand DecisionThe SpotThe SpookyThe AmbushThe RainThe FogReinforcementSoftly in the NightThe PlanThe Shoal of FishFire SupportInfantry and AirAir StrikesBomb BurstBien Hoa ControlLightThe VC PrisonerThe Ranger PrisonersThe Arc LightThe B-52 Strike-AirThe B-52 Strike-GroundThe ReturnReconstitutionThe General ReturnsTo The Work