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Military Book Reviews

Budapest to Vietnam by Nicholas J Hun

Budapest to Vietnam by Nicholas J Hun

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Today, an estimated 200,000 U.S. military members are not actually citizens of the United States. They join for many reasons; a pathway to citizenship, learning new skills, or just being part of the camaraderie of their respective services. It's nothing new; foreigners have been joining the armed forces since the birth of the nation.  Times were no different during the Vietnam War. Many noncitizens joined to fight, and fight they did. One of those came from an unlikely place: Hungary. From the end of World War II until 1989, Hungary was part of the Warsaw Pact, a country dominated by the communist Soviet Union. But just because the country was under Communist control doesn't mean the Hungarian people were all for it.  About the Author of Budapest to Vietnam One of those Hungarians was Nicholas J. Hun. Hun's family moved from Hungary to the United States in search of a better life and a better future. He was Hungarian by birth but was raised on the streets of Cleveland,...

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Doc! The Adventures of a Hospital Corpsman by Hugh Sullivan

Doc! The Adventures of a Hospital Corpsman by Hugh Sullivan

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Hugh Sullivan served in the Navy for 39 years. Enlisting in 1961, he spent the first 16 of those years as a hospital corpsman. He would serve two tours in Vietnam, deploy to Operation Desert Storm, and rack up an impressive number of campaign and service ribbons and medals before retiring in 2000 as a Captain.  Doc! a Valuable Read for Anyone Interested in the Vietnam It's safe to say he probably has some really good stories to tell. It's fortunate for the rest of us that he's written a memoir about the lifetime of service he gave his country. "Doc! The Adventures of a Navy Hospital Corpsman" is that memoir.  "Doc," as many Marines and Corpsmen know, is a term of affection the Marines have for some of their battlefield medics. Grunts and Corpsmen alike will really enjoy Capt. Sullivan's reflections on his tours in Vietnam and his early deployments in Asia. But the book isn't just a memoir; there's something for military personnel and military medical troops in the...

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The Good Soldier by Paul C. Steffy

The Good Soldier by Paul C. Steffy

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The second novel by Army veteran Paul C. Steffy, The Good Soldier is a story of a young volunteer who suffers deeply as a result of his service. Alcoholism, multiple failed marriages, and recurring nightmares: Brad Thomas is in a pit of regrets with no recourse. None, that is, except confronting his trauma and returning to Vietnam to deal with the consequences of breaking a promise which he’d exchanged for an unexpected gift. Despite its dark subject matter, The Good Soldier is a tale of hope in the face of horrors. Reader Responses on The Good Soldier Told with the kind of attention to detail that's only possible from a guy who ‘was there.’ The author's moving tale of the mingling of cultures and traditions in the midst of political hatred and bloodshed is remarkable in its insights into those unexpected things that can both divide and unite us. Bravo, Good Soldier.” ~ S.L. Burge “Especially moving was the harrowing account of the death of a close friend, from being shot in the head...

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Rucksack Grunt by Robert Kuhn

Rucksack Grunt by Robert Kuhn

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Rucksack Grunt author Robert Kuhn served in the US Army between 1970 and 1972 in the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry. He ventured out of the suburbs of Pennsylvania into the dangerous jungles and mountains of Vietnam’s Central Highlands. In his book, Kuhn details the traumatic and even disturbing encounters he experienced as a ‘rucksack-carrying grunt’ on his tour of duty. Vietnam vets and those who love them alike have found common ground and insight in Kuhn’s writing.  Kuhn was just a naive high school kid when he proposed to his high school sweetheart. His decision to seek out the means of obtaining an education and a job capable of supporting his fiancee would send him across the world and shape his life for decades to come. Rucksack Grunt is the result of a lifetime reckoning with that decision and its consequences. Reader Responses to Rucksack Grunt “Excellent! I went through it page by page, read the whole thing and loved it. Your story means a lot to me personally because...

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We Don’t Want YOU, Uncle Sam by Matthew Weiss

We Don’t Want YOU, Uncle Sam by Matthew Weiss

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We Don't Want YOU, Uncle Sam by Matthew Weiss The military's recruiting crisis is at an all-time high in 2023. The U.S. Army, the military's largest branch, is expected to fall short by 15,000 recruits this year. Most of the younger generations the military can get are those who are children of someone who served -- but even that source is threatened.  Other branches are seeing shortfalls, too. The Navy is going to miss its goal by 10,000 recruits; the Air Force will be short 3,000. Only the Marine Corps, the smallest branch, is expected to make its goal. News reports of substandard housing and food shortages don't help, nor do the decades of war, followed by an epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder and veteran suicide.  All branches are in a quandary about what they can do to make military life more appealing and make Gen-Z consider the military in their future plans. One Marine Corps intelligence officer believes he has the answers and compiled them into a new book, "We Don't...

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Five Years to Freedom: The True Story of a Vietnam POW by James N. Rowe

Five Years to Freedom: The True Story of a Vietnam POW by James N. Rowe

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When Green Beret Lieutenant James N. Rowe was captured in 1963 in Vietnam, his life became an intensely grueling endeavor that few could have survived. Rowe had been in Vietnam for only three months when he was captured. Imprisoned in a Viet Cong POW camp in an area known as the Forest of Darkness, Rowe endured beri-beri, dysentery, and tropical fungus diseases. He suffered demoralizing psychological and physical torment. He experienced the loneliness and frustration of watching his friends die. And he struggled every day to maintain faith in himself as a soldier and in his country as it appeared to be turning against him. However, he cunningly obfuscated his true status as an intelligence officer from the enemy, claiming to be a draftee engineer responsible for building schools and civic works projects. His training at West Point enabled him to keep up this pretense, until the Viet Cong learned of the deception by obtaining a American list of high-value POWs in which he was listed....

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Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

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In August 1944, the War Ministry in Tokyo had issued a directive to the commandants of various POW camps, outlining a policy for what it called the 'final disposition' of prisoners. A copy of this document, which came to be known as the 'August 1 Kill-All Order,' would surface in the war crimes investigations in Tokyo.  The document read in part that POWs are to be destroyed individually or in groups and whether it is accomplished by means of mass bombing, poisonous smoke, poisons, drowning, or decapitation, dispose of them as the situation dictates and not to leave a single POW alive. Already aware that the Japanese would kill all POWs, a rescue plan had already been developed and went in action on January 28, 1945, when 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by...

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Call Sign Chaos by Jim Mattis

Call Sign Chaos by Jim Mattis

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Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis's storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the lessons he has learned about the nature of warfighting and peacemaking, the importance of allies, and the strategic dilemmas - and short-sighted thinking - now facing our nation. He makes it clear why America must return to a strategic footing so as not to continue winning battles but fighting inconclusive wars. Mattis divides his book into three parts: Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. In the first part, Mattis recalls his early experiences leading Marines into battle, when he knew his troops as well as his own brothers. In the second part, he explores what it means to command thousands of troops and how to adapt your leadership style to ensure your intent is understood by...

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Colors of War & Peace by Dan Thompson

Colors of War & Peace by Dan Thompson

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The years between 1968 and 1970 were some of the most tumultuous for the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – better known as MACV. 1968 kicked off with the now-famous Tet Offensive, a massive, coordinated campaign that struck cities, villages, and military bases all across South Vietnam. The Process of Vietnamization By 1969, President Richard Nixon began the process of Vietnamization, building up the Army of South Vietnam to take over the defense of their own country. As more conventional U.S. troops began to leave Vietnam, it put more pressure on the U.S. Army's covert Studies and Observation Group (SOG).  Dan Thompson was a member of the Special Forces in Vietnam between these turbulent years of the war. SOG members began taking the initiative on the ground, and not just in Vietnam. They undertook secret missions in Laos, Cambodia, and in North Vietnam, taking the fighting to the enemy. Dan Thompson did two tours there.  About the Colors of War & Peace In his 2018 book...

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Run Through the Jungle By Larry Musson

Run Through the Jungle By Larry Musson

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Run Through the Jungle is a first-hand account of the combat in South Vietnam, as experienced by Larry Musson and other members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. A riveting tale, this book is narrated by an equally compelling man. A man who found joy in writing at a young age and used said joy to give us a detailed page-turner in Run Through the Jungle. Larry Musson, no doubt a hero in the minds of many, was born in Shelbyville, Illinois. He grew up in Elwood and was a member of the class of '67 of Joliet East High School. A couple of years later, after a year of junior college, the author volunteered for airborne training and finished Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia. This is where he received his orders for the 173rd Airborne Brigade to serve in the Republic of South Vietnam - the place that would ultimately provide the inspiration for this captivating book. The stories from Run Through the Jungle are true accounts of what Larry and other members of his Airborne company went...

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Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dang Thuy Tram

Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Dang Thuy Tram

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At the age of twenty-four, Dang Thuy Tram volunteered to serve as a doctor in a National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) battlefield hospital in the Quang Ngai Province. Two years later, she was killed by American forces not far from where she worked. Written between 1968 and 1970, her diary speaks poignantly of her devotion to family and friends, the horrors of war, her yearning for her high school sweetheart, and her struggle to prove her loyalty to her country. At times raw, at times lyrical and youthfully sentimental, her voice transcends cultures to speak of her dignity and compassion and her challenges in the face of the war's ceaseless fury. The American officer who discovered the diary soon after Dr. Tram's death was under standing orders to destroy all documents without military value. As he was about to toss it into the flames, his Vietnamese translator said to him, "Don't burn this one. It has fire in it already." Against regulations, the officer preserved the diary and kept...

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Operation Torch Then And Now by Jean Paul Pallud

Operation Torch Then And Now by Jean Paul Pallud

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The Allied invasion of North Africa is a convoluted tale of politics, diplomacy, grand strategy, and a military campaign. Operation Torch introduced the Americans to the swings and roundabouts of land combat against the Axis Powers and showed up some of the military inconsistencies of their allies - the British. The great partnership was underway on the rocky road to total victory in 1945. The invasion pitted Frenchman against Frenchman and culminated in the total defeat of Germany and Italy on the continent of Africa. Victory buoyed the Allies, setting them on course for the invasion of Italy. None of this satisfied Stalin, of course, but we’re too far down the road to get entangled in debating the rights and wrongs of the Allied strategy. There was a victory at the end of the campaign, and this is what mattered more than anything else. The team at After the Battle continues its mission to cover the legacy of the Second World War with this predictably efficient look at Operation...

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