Vietnam War Biography

In this intimate and exclusive remembrance of the Fall of Saigon, celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett tells the story of his role covering the controversial Vietnam War for the Associated Press from 1962 to its end on April 30, 1975. Arnett's clear-eyed coverage displeased President Lyndon Johnson and officials on all sides of the conflict. Writing candidly and vividly about his risks and triumphs, Arnett also shares his fears and fights in reporting against the backdrop of war.

What's it take to be a Vietnam helicopter pilot and what happens when Vietnam veteran combat helicopter pilots return to Vietnam? The 61st AHC goes back to Vietnam in 2009 and builds a library learning center in Bong Son near LZ English, by joining up with the Library of Vietnam Project. And some members go back every year! A "feel good" story about the Vietnam War and a unique perspective on that experience.

The top Billboard Hot 100 single of 1966 wasn't The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" or the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" - it was "The Ballad of the Green Berets", a hyper-patriotic tribute to the men of the Special Forces by Vietnam veteran, US Army Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler. But Sadler's clean-cut, all-American image hid a darker side, a Hunter Thompson-esque life of booze, girls, and guns. Unable to score another hit song, he settled in Central America, ran guns, and allegedly trained guerrillas.

Return to Eden is an exploration of one man's and one country's journey from the devastation of war through recovery and healing, then to creativity. Smallwood's reflections on his military and film experiences have appeared in magazines, but this is the first recorded collection of essays.

Mike lived by the marine sniper mantra: One shot, one kill. During his time in the jungles of Vietnam, Mike was confronted with having to hunt and kill the enemy and being hunted in return. Now, for the first time, Marine veteran and debut author, Phil Lenser, guides listeners through Mike’s extraordinary final mission.

When the US Army went to war in South Vietnam in 1965, the general consensus was that counterinsurgency was an infantryman's war; if there were any role at all for armored forces, it would be strictly to support the infantry. However, from the time the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment arrived in country in September 1966, troopers of the Blackhorse Regiment demonstrated the fallacy of this assumption.

The true story of Captain Sounthone Ratanakone is simply incredible. He was born into royalty in Laos and was a war hero and a CIA operative in the Secret War in Laos during the Vietnam War. The captain barely survived being a POW in a communist concentration camp (which the communists to this day deny ever existed), made a death-defying escape, had to escape the communist regime again once he had settled back home, and lived in a refugee camp. Til the Last is a story of heroism, patriotism, and self-sacrifice at the highest and most dramatic levels.

Idealistic and eager to get into combat, Sam Walker, a young pilot, arrives for his tour of duty in Vietnam. But on his first top secret mission, Walker confronts the gruesome reality of war and the horror its impact leaves on its servicemen. No one survives war - they simply escape. Some through death, others through drink or drugs.

In May 1962, Naval Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle flew to Saigon to establish a new armed forces radio station. Next to follow were his wife and three boys, Leslie among them. Saigon Kids is the candid, recondite slice of 14-year-old military brat Les Arbuckle's experience at the American Community School during the critical months of the Vietnam War when events would, quite literally, ignite in downtown Saigon.

On November 25, 1950, during one of the toughest battles of the Korean War, the US Eighth Army Ranger Company seized and held the strategically important Hill 205 overlooking the Chongchon River. Separated by more than a mile from the nearest friendly unit, 51 soldiers fought several hundred Chinese attackers. Their commander, Lieutenant Ralph Puckett, was wounded three times before he was evacuated. For his actions, he received the country's second-highest award for courage on the battlefield and resumed active duty later that year as a living legend.

The Gunner and the Grunt is written in the voices of two soldiers who fought in the same battles as members of the same recon unit but from different angles. Michael Kelley, the "Gunner," was flying in an armed helicopter above the jungle providing suppressive fire support, while Peter Burbank, the "Grunt," was down in the jungle on foot patrol involved in fire fights with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army troops. The book follows these two Boston boys from army training through deployment to the war zone and the shock of first combat missions.

A collection of short stories of people and events about my time in the service, and the year serving my country in Vietnam.

This is an intimate look at life in the bush during the Vietnam War in 1968. You will experience the daily struggles, battles, and funny things that happen to a USMC grunt living in the bush for 13 months. You’ll see firsthand through the battles, what marines ate and drank, where they slept, and their existence that ranged from unmitigated terror to utter boredom, hot and dry to wet and cold, rested and ready to frazzled and wired.

Hal Moore, one of the most admired American combat leaders of the last 50 years, has until now been best known to the public for being portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie We Were Soldiers. In this biography, we finally learn the full story of one of America's true military heroes. A 1945 graduate of West Point, Moore's first combats occurred during the Korean War, where he fought in the battles of Old Baldy, T-Bone, and Pork Chop Hill.

"Kids like me didn't go to Vietnam", writes Jack McLean in his must-listen memoir. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, but decided to put college on hold. After graduation in the spring of 1966, faced with the mandatory military draft, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for a two-year stint. "Vietnam at the time was a country, and not yet a war", he writes. It didn't remain that way for long.

Vets and Pets tells fifteen emotional and entertaining stories of the incredible bonds between wounded warriors, veterans, and other service members and their service and companion animals. Whether these special relationships are with dogs, cats, horses, pigs, or even birds of prey, readers will discover how these remarkable animals help veterans return to civilian life and live independently while simultaneously bringing joy and confidence into their lives.

This is the story of Curtis "Colt" Terry, one of the original Green Berets. The information for this story came primarily from Colt's personal recollections documented in taped interviews. Many facts were confirmed with fellow paratroopers, military historians, and Special Forces NCOs and officers who served with him.

Army First Lieutenant Jack Jacobs was serving as an advisor to the South Vietnamese when he and his men came under devastating attack. Severely wounded, Jacobs took command and withdrew the unit, returning again and again to the site of the attack to rescue more men, saving the lives of a U.S advisor and thirteen Allied soldiers. Colonel Jacobs received the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor.

An inside account of the South Vietnamese elites who strove to carry on the war against the Communists during the US Army’s withdrawal. The book is a personal memoir of the author’s service as a US Army advisor during the end stages of America’s involvement in Vietnam. During the period 1970–71, the US was beginning to draw down its combat forces, and the new watchword was “Vietnamization.”

I have waited for over 45 years to tell this story, initially because I just wanted to forget the war and get on with making a living and raising a family. The other reason is that, 45 years ago, the American fighting man was not held in very high esteem. No one was ready to hear anything good about the Vietnam War or about the men who fought and died there. This book is less about me and more about the sacrifice, incredible hardships, and heroic actions displayed by the Marine grunts that I had the privilege to treat during battles on the demilitarized zone.