Looking for books about the Vietnam War..

D

DB731

Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
8,955
..from the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese perspectives, especially the fighting man's. I can only read English though.

So far I have been exposed to accounts from Westmoreland, Hackworth, Santoli, Hathcock...and would like to get more info.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Hello,

Here's a good start. Each book is pretty good to me. Some of them are really really good.

Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam/ Sorley

The Ravens: The True Story of a Secret War.../ Robbins

Five Years to Freedom/ COL Nick Rowe

Khe Sanh: Siege in the Clouds/ Hammel

Fire in the Streets: The Battle for Hue/ Hammel

Vietnam: A History/ Karnow

SOG: The Secret Wars of America's Commandos.../ Plaster

Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America.../ Sheehan

Hell in a Very Small Place/ Bernard Fall

Street Without Joy/ Bernard Fall
 
I would add:

Troung Nhu Tang, A Vietcong Memoir
Oriana Fallaci, Interview with History (out of print) or Interviews with History and Conversations with Power for her interview of Vo Nguyen Giap
 
DB731 said:
..from the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese perspectives, especially the fighting man's. I can only read English though.

So far I have been exposed to accounts from Westmoreland, Hackworth, Santoli, Hathcock...and would like to get more info.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Click to expand...

Man if you would of posted this only a couple of month's ago I just gave away over 100 books on that subject.
 
It's an interesting topic. I read Vietnam: A History a while back and it was a pretty good read.
WHat Ive always wanted to know more about was the Korean War (The Forgotten War).
 
RevDevil said:
It's an interesting topic. I read Vietnam: A History a while back and it was a pretty good read.
WHat Ive always wanted to know more about was the Korean War (The Forgotten War).
Click to expand...

Hey Rev a couple of good ones come to mind. The Coldest Winter, Breakout, and About Face by David Hackworth are all worth reading.
 
I highly recommend "Counterinsurgency Warfare, Theory and Practice." Written before the Vietnam war, it delves deeply into how to run both an insurgency and counterinsurgency. It applies to both the North Vietnamese tactics and why they were successful, as well as why our combat centric tactics did not win the war.

One of the best books I've ever read, with a lot of lessons that are even more relevant today.

http://www.amazon.com/Counterinsurgency-Warfare-Theory-Practice-Classics/dp/0275993035
 
On War, Sun Tzu
Guerilla, Charles W. Thayer
Bright Shining Lie, John Paul Vann, Sheehan (+1)

and from a personal viewpoint, there is a lot of declassified material concerning the SIGINT activities available now...JSPC (Joint Sobe Processing Center), Combat Apple aerial reconnaissance missions, 6924th Security Squadron, and 6922nd Security Group... some of us know where the Mu Gia Pass is :)
 
+1 on Bright and Shining Lie

Novels but excellent
Two by DelVecchio
The 13th Valley
I've read this 3x. Each sitting brings a little more insight.

For The Sake Of All Living Things
A tale of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

Michael Herr's Dispatches is another good read, but again from the US perspective.
 
The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans
 
I've heard that "In this valley there are Tigers" is a good read. Writen by Charles McDonald, he served in the Army Special Forces in Vietnam.
 
SRWeldon said:
I've heard that "In this valley there are Tigers" is a good read. Writen by Charles McDonald, he served in the Army Special Forces in Vietnam.
Click to expand...
Much more than that. For actions in Vietnam, McDonald was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, five Bronze Stars w/ V device, four Army Commendation Medals w/ V device, eight Air Medals w/ V device, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm.
 
Historical fiction:

Tiger the Lurp Dog- Miller

Nonfiction:

Shadow Warrior: William Egan Colby and the CIA- Woods

Whisky Tango Foxtrot- Black

On the Ground the Secret War in Vietnam, Across The Fence- Meyer
 
Phase Line Green I think is the name is very good. It's autobiography about a new Lt. in his first combat. That combat just happens to be Hue. Check it out.
 
Dead Center... story of a USMC scout sniper.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top