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Military Book Reviews

Break in the Chain-Intelligence Ignored by W.R. Baker

Break in the Chain-Intelligence Ignored by W.R. Baker

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W.R. "Bob" Baker's "Break in the Chain — Intelligence Ignored: Military Intelligence in Vietnam and Why the Easter Offensive Should Have Turned Out Differently" is both a war story and an indictment. It's part memoir from the cramped intel bunkers of I Corps in 1972, and part after-action review of how a major enemy offensive can roar through a command system convinced that it "can't happen here." Break in the Chain shows how one analyst made a difference Baker isn't an armchair critic parachuting into history decades later. He graduated first in the Army's inaugural Intelligence (Order of Battle) Analyst course at Fort Huachuca in 1971 and was sent straight to Da Nang, where he became the sole trained intelligence analyst in the 571st Military Intelligence Detachment/525th MI Group, effectively the only U.S. intelligence unit still operating in I Corps at the time of the Easter Offensive.  After Vietnam, he worked as a forward-area watch analyst and electronic order of battle...

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Capturing Skunk Alpha By Raúl Herrera

Capturing Skunk Alpha By Raúl Herrera

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In "Capturing Skunk Alpha: A Barrio Sailor's Journey in Vietnam," author Raúl Herrera does something a lot of Vietnam books promise but very few deliver: he keeps you at "deck level" the whole time and still shows you the bigger war. Capturing Skunk Alpha Brings the War Down to Deck Level On the surface, it's the story of one mission: the July 1967 hunt for a North Vietnamese resupply trawler, codenamed "Skunk Alpha," and the small Swift Boat, PCF-79, that helped stop it cold off the coast of Quang Ngai. A Navy patrol plane spots a "suspicious trawler" heading toward a shoreline with no port as a four-ship task force forms inside the 12-mile limit. When warnings are ignored, PCF-79 is ordered to open fire, leading to a nighttime ship-to-ship brawl that ends with the trawler forced aground at the mouth of the Sa Ky River, more than 90 tons of ammunition and supplies denied to VC and NVA forces. That alone would justify a book; it's the kind of compact, kinetic action story that...

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Together We Served by Bill Sheehan

Together We Served by Bill Sheehan

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Bill Sheehan has led a fascinating career, working in film and television in New York and Hollywood since 1978. He worked on the film crews for movies like Steven Seagal’s 1990 action hit, “Hard to Kill” and 1984’s “Romancing the Stone.” Sheehan is most proud of his years working for actor-director Michael Landon, in which he not only served on the crew for television staples like “Highway to Heaven” but also often as the first aid medic.  Sheehan’s Vietnam Memories in Together We Served First aid might be an unusual skill for your average cinematographer, but not for Bill Sheehan. Before his turn on movie and TV sets, he was a Navy hospital Corpsman, and he had Marines to take care of. Between 1968 and 1969, he was a combat Corpsman with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. After leaving the Republic of Vietnam, Sheehan has said he tried to forget his experiences there. He eventually re-examined his reasoning, deciding not only to revisit his time in the jungles, but also asking other...

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Rainy Street Stories by John William Davis

Rainy Street Stories by John William Davis

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"Rainy Street Stories" isn't a single tale so much as a map of scars. Author John William Davis is a retired U.S. Army counterintelligence officer, a seasoned veteran of the shadow trades. In this book, he takes readers around the world as he threads together short vignettes, essays, and memory-shards about espionage, terrorism, and the people who live between those crosshairs.   Rainy Street Stories Beyond the Headlines Unfold If you're expecting a Tom Clancy showstopper with satellite uplinks and a missile budget, stand down. Davis brings something much different: thoughtful reflections that the author clearly wrote at different times in his life. Each chapter displays the depth of Davis' consideration for his subjects. "Rainy Street Stories" isn't a book for learning the ins and outs of the intelligence world, nor is it a manual for spycraft. But readers won't be disappointed to find real thoughts and emotions from someone who works in the counterintelligence world, and...

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A Fox In Winter by J. Logan Nicholson

A Fox In Winter by J. Logan Nicholson

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Every now and then, a book slips past any convention of war stories, battlefield memoirs, and action-packed retellings of America's greatest hits and instead says, "Hey, sit down, grab a drink, and think about how you got here." J. Logan Nicholson's A Fox In Winter is one of those books.  A Fox In Winter — Beyond the Usual War Stories Don't let the woodland critter on the cover fool you. This isn't a Disney flick. It's a sharp, witty meditation on life's stages, told through the instincts of a fox that's a little too clever to just chase rabbits all day. Nicholson takes the reader through the four seasons of life, literally. Spring, summer, autumn, winter, and each section gives the fox a new mask to wear, a new trick to play. In spring, he's a young kit bounding into the world, paw-first and nose-down. Think boot camp hijinks, where nobody knows anything but everybody's sure they do. The fox in spring is curious, fearless, and dumb in a way that makes him bulletproof — at least...

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Who Brings an Accordion to Vietnam? by V. E. Flango

Who Brings an Accordion to Vietnam? by V. E. Flango

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Army veteran Dr. Victor Eugene Flango usually writes about court reform. He has authored more than 100 publications and articles (and even a web video) on the topic. His 2024 book, “Who Brings an Accordion to Vietnam?: A Lighthearted Look at the War,” is a standout, not only because it’s not about court reform, but it’s also not a combat memoir, because Flango didn’t serve in a combat role.

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Fallen Comrade (A Story of the Korean War) by Walter Howell

Fallen Comrade (A Story of the Korean War) by Walter Howell

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There’s nothing wrong with writing a book that chronicles some of the most defining moments of one’s life or generation. American military veterans often write gripping books from their own perspectives. What’s really interesting about “Fallen Comrade: A Story of the Korean War” is that author Walter Howell chronicles the intertwined lives of three childhood friends from Clinton, Mississippi – Waller King, Joe Albritton, and Homer Ainsworth – who all enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and serve together in Korea. And at some point, uses their own words to do so.

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Just Dust: An Improbable Marine’s Vietnam Story by Wes Choc

Just Dust: An Improbable Marine’s Vietnam Story by Wes Choc

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By their very nature, books on war deal with death, near-death experiences, injuries and all the unpleasant but inevitable aspects of war, like homesickness, bad food, substandard leadership, impossible missions and seeing friends die but above all, is the fear; fear of being killed, fear of losing body parts, fear of not living up to the challenge, fear of fear itself. Just Dust: An Improbable Marine's Vietnam Story has all of that but focuses more on the author's contemplation of the experience.  A Journey from Restlessness to the USMC Like any good book - and this one is brilliant - Choc follows a logical progression beginning with his dissatisfaction with college; his inability to feel important; his decision to join the Marines and his difficulty in boot camp; the challenges of Vietnam and his ultimate and surprising dissatisfaction of Marine life that did not include combat. But what makes this book stand out is how he processed all this and how he closely analyzed his...

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The Mailman Went UA (A Vietnam Memoir) by David W. Mulldune

The Mailman Went UA (A Vietnam Memoir) by David W. Mulldune

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The year 2025 will see a lot of retrospective looks at the Vietnam War, as the United States’ involvement began in 1965 (or 1955, depending on who you ask) and officially ended with the 1975 Fall of Saigon. The best retrospectives anyone could possibly read are the no-holds-barred accounts of the war from those who were there, on the ground, doing the job. And few Vietnam memoirs are as poignant and honest as David Mulldune’s “The Mailman Went UA.”

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Valentine’s Day by Charles A. Van Bibber

Valentine’s Day by Charles A. Van Bibber

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In the late nineteen sixties, the author made a life-altering journey that led him out of Texas and into the U.S. Marine Corps and eventually into the jungles of Vietnam as a machine gunner during the tumultuous year 1968.   'Valentine's Day' (so named because Van Bidder's unit, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, departed Camp Pendleton for Vietnam on February 14, 1968) is a very excellent read.  What makes it so is the straightforward accounting by the author on the horror, boredom, camaraderie, humor, heroism he witnessed. He also is brutally honest about his own discomfort with war in general. However, this is not just an account of Marines in combat; it's also looks at changes in participants affected by war. This is true of every war that has ever been waged. For the warriors of old and those veterans of Vietnam and the Middle East, the war touched their lives forever, leaving an indelible mark in their hearts and minds. Van Bibber's book reflects this reality...

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Last In, First Out A Desert Storm Diary by Ed “Tuna” Fisher

Last In, First Out A Desert Storm Diary by Ed “Tuna” Fisher

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These days, Ed Fisher (callsign: “Tuna”) is twice-retired and living with his wife on Washington State’s Whidbey Island. His second career was as a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, from which he retired in 2021. His first career was much more exciting. As Lt. Col. Fisher, he was a U.S. Air Force Wild Weasel Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO), who performed this duty during Operation Desert Storm. “Last In, First Out” is his diary from his days fighting combat missions there.

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