American Military History: Vietnam History Books

THE AMERICAN FLAG BOOKPLATES (Sample available)
art from a photo. Condition: NEW package of 10 bookplates made by pacaritambo books. The peel-off label stock is heavier than most bookplate materials and is matte and not glossy. We can also personalize the bookplates if you like - email us the name you want on the bookplate. They are as perfect as possible, and we feel the subject matter is much different than you can get anywhere else. 3.75" H x 3.75" W. Content: This bookplate is a version of the American Flag - with plenty of room for a name of even an inscription. Any questions or for a sample, click here to email us.
$ 3.59 + $ 2.75 first class shipping.

AMERICA'S LONGEST WAR: The United States and Vietnam 1950 - 1975 (SEcond Edition)
by George C. Herring. Condition: Good +, 1988 Alfred A. Knopf Trade Paperback, second edition, sixth printing. Gently pre-read book (the interior is clean) but the cover shows wear: edgewear with small short creases top front cover edge Content: Comprehensive yet concise, America's Longest War provides a complete and balanced history of the Vietnam War. It is not mainly a military history, but seeks to integrate military, diplomatic, and political factors in order to clarify America's involvement and ultimate failure in Vietnam. While it focuses on the American side of the equation, it provides sufficient consideration of the Vietnamese side to make the events comprehensible. [1 copy available]
$ 4.85 + $ 3.19 media shipping

APACHE SUNRISE
by Jerome M. Boyle. B&W photo section. Condition: Very Good 1994 Ivy Books (Ballantine) paperback, 8th printing. Spine crease with tiny edgewear. Interior clean & tight. Content: The personal story of Vietnam Cobra pilot recounts his combat missions during the invasion of Cambodia, his participation in downed-crew rescue, his experiences of being shot down himself, his loss of comrades, and more. Whether rescuing downed crews, flying fiery combat missions during the invasion of Cambodia, or being shot down himself, Cobra pilot Jerry Boyle saw war quickly turn from a scary game of bullets, rockets, and grenades to a terrifying race against death where just a split second could turn a scene of breathtaking beauty into one of sheer hell. A true story of courage and dedication by a real American hero. [1 copy available]
$ 8.49 + $ 2.89 shipping.

BLACK HAWK DOWN: A Story of Modern War
by Mark Bowden. B&W photo section. Condition: NEW 2001Signet paperback first printing. Tiny edgewear. Content: Journalist Mark Bowden delivers a strikingly detailed account of the 1993 nightmare operation in Mogadishu that left 18 American soldiers dead and many more wounded. This early foreign-policy disaster for the Clinton administration led to the resignation of Secretary of Defense Les Aspin and a total troop withdrawal from Somalia. Bowden does not spend much time considering the context; instead he provides a moment-by-moment chronicle of what happened in the air and on the ground. One of the best military books ever written. The movie is wonderful and so is the History Channel documentary (interviews with the survivors). Combine this book with Somalia Diary (below) for a more complete history. [1 copy available]
$ 4.49 + $ 2.89 media shipping

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
by Ron Kovic. Condition: Very good + 1977 Pocket paperback edition, 24th printing. If this book has been pre-read, it shows no signs of it. Tiny tiny edgewear. Content: One of the best of the Vietnam veterans' war memoirs - made into a wonderful, disturbing movie. While it might seem stuck in the 60s and 70s, that is far from accurate - much of what Kovic experienced and his reaction in the aftermath is still going on today - only it's called the Iraq War. Worth the read. [2 copies available]
$ 4.50 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
by Ron Kovic. Condition: Very Good + 1976 Quality Paperback (Book Club Ed) Trade Paperback. Looks & feels unread, but does have a pale spine crease (binding?). Interior perfect. Content: One of the best of the Vietnam veterans' war memoirs - made into a wonderful, disturbing movie. While it might seem stuck in the 60s and 70s, that is far from accurate - much of what Kovic experienced and his reaction in the aftermath is still going on today - only it's called the Iraq War. Worth the read. [1 copy available]
$ 5.50 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

EYES BEHIND THE LINES: L Company Rangers in Vietnam, 1969
by Gary A. Linderer. B&W maps. Condition: UNREAD 1991 Ballantine Books paperback, 12th printing. Thin binder's glue string down spine. Content: "In Vietnam, nightmares came true. The only questions was whether they killed you or not." In mid-December 1968, after recovering from wounds susatined in a murderous mission, Gary Linderer returned to Phu Bai to comlpete his tour of duty as a LRP. His job was to find the enmy, observe him, or kill him -- all the while behind enemy lines, where success could be as dangerous as discovery. The job of the all-volunteer Rangers was to find the enemy, observe him, or kill him -- all the while behind enemy lines, where discovery could mean a quick, violent death. Whether ambushing NVA soldiers or rescuing downed air crews, the Rangers demanded -- and got -- extraordinary performance from their troops. Sequel to The Eyes of the Eagle. [1 copy available]
$ 3.50 + $ 2.89 shipping.

I'M NO HERO: A POW Story as told to Glen DeWerff (SIGNED COPY)
by Charlie Plumb. Illustrations by Alta Adkins. Condition: INSCRIBED on loose endpage. UNREAD 1984 Independence Press Trade Paperback, 15th printing. Light edge wear. Content: Reviewer: "An excellent account of life with POW backdrop. One of the few books by a Vietnam War POW written very shortly after the war. A view into history that has not been colored by outside influences. It leaves you with little doubt about the truly patriotic nature of the men who were fighting in the war and how they felt about their captors and those that would defend the North Vietnamese. It is an inspirational life story that uses the author's POW experience to show the inner strength that people have if they can summon it. There are lessons here that go beyond the history." An American hero who doesn't bounce or catch a ball. Imagine that. [2 signed copies available]
$ 11.49 + $ 3.19 shipping.

THE LAST BATTLE: The Mayaguez Incident and the End of the Vietnam War
by Ralph Wetterhahn. Two B&W photo sections. Condition: NEW 2002 Plume Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: On May 12, 1975, less than two weeks after the ignominious end of the Vietnam War, Cambodian Khmer Rouge troops seized the SS Mayaguez, an American container ship in the Gulf of Thailand, and held the 40-member crew hostage on an island off the Cambodian coast. The American response was swift and deadly. President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger ordered an immediate rescue operation and bombing of the Cambodian mainland. Less than 24 hours later, the crew was returned unharmed and Ford declared the mission a success. Yet research by journalist and former air force pilot Wetterhahn (who completed 180 missions over Vietnam) clearly shows that the rescue operation was botched terribly. In their haste to act decisively, Wetterhahn argues, Ford and Kissinger sent dozens of U.S. Marines to the wrong offshore island at the same time the Khmer Rouge were about to release the Mayaguez crew. In all, 41 American troops were killed in the operation (including 23 air force personnel who died in a helicopter crash). Three marines were inadvertently left behind on Koh Tang Island, where Wetterhahn reveals for the first time they were captured and executed. Wetterhahn painstakingly reconstructs the action from four points of view: the policy makers in Washington, the American troops on the ground, their superiors along the chain of command and the Khmer Rouge officers who seized the crew and fought the Americans. The battle scenes are riveting and evocative, the analysis of the strategy and tactics insightful and the discovery of evidence showing the fate of the three marine MIAs convincing and disturbing. [1 copy available]
$ 4.50 + $ 3.29 shipping.

LIFE ON THE LINE: Stories of Vietnam Air Combat
by Philip D. Chinnery. B&W photos. Condition: Gently pre-read 1988 St. Martin's hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first US edition, first printing. DJ has light edgewear top and bottom spine. B&W photos illustrate - and many of them are simply amazing photos. Content: According to received wisdom, the grunts slogging through the jungles of Vietnam and fighting their way out of ambushes tended to envy their brothers in the air as above the battle, literally and figuratively. This disservice toward the air war is put to rights here by 36 airmen whose reminiscences are collected by Aeroplane Monthly contributor Chinnery. There are tales related by pilots of jets and helicopters of fighter, bomber and photo reconnaissance missions in which fliers tell of narrow escapes, of failures as well as successes, of ejecting from their craft into the jungle and the sea, and of POW camps. So much of the material is technical, however, that the book will appeal primarily to military history buffs and Vietnam veterans of the air. [1 copy available]
$ 8.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

OUR WAR: What We Did in Vietnam and What It Did To Us
by David Harris. Condition: NEW 1995 Random House small hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), first edition, second printing. Content: Older readers may remember Harris as the most celebrated (or notorious) of the Vietnam War draft resisters, one who impressed many of his ideological opponents with his moral integrity. Antiwar to the core, he refused to join other activists in their support for North Vietnam. Since that war's end, Harris, who's now 50, has written a number of books but has generally maintained a low profile. Here, he sets out in search of a "reckoning" to "clear our souls of this perpetual shadow" of the war. His opening chapter, with its beautifully cadenced and nuanced prose, hints of cleansing reflections to come. [1 copy available]
$ 2.69 + $ 3.09 media shipping

PATROL: AN AMERICAN SOLDIER IN VIETNAM (Winner: Jane Addams Book Award)
by Walter Dean Myers. Color collages by Ann Grifalconi. Condition: NEW 2002 HarperCollins soft cover [10.3 x 8.6 x 0.5 (40 pages)], no printing given. Content: Myers's verse powerfully evokes the experiences of a young soldier in this picture book. Searching the unfamiliar landscape, his squad tries to sense the presence of the enemy in the jungle. But who is the enemy? The old man in the village? The babies? Planes pass overhead, dropping bombs "at a distance that is never distant enough." The author captures the young man's fear, uncertainty, and weariness. "We move again. We are always moving." The layers of Grifalconi's full-page collage art conceal and reveal the flickering images of the text. Figures blend into the forest. Shadow and shape converge. The repetition of words and a landscape scene at the beginning and near the end of the book are particularly effective because they are the same except for the addition of fire and plumes of smoke in the "wide valleys" and "thick green forests" after the patrol has finished its mission. These pictures are difficult to erase from one's memory. When the soldier does encounter an enemy as young as himself, neither fires. Close enough to see one another, they cannot kill. "In a heartbeat, we have learned too much about each other." Myers and Grifalconi's presentation is one that is hard to forget. Recommended for grades 4 - up. [1 copy available.]
$ 5.45 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

QUOTATIONS VIETNAM: 1945 - 1970
compiled by William G. Effros. Condition: Gently pre-read 1970 Random House paperback, first printing. Light tanning to white cover edges, but none inside pages. Pale spine crease. Name inside front cover. Better than it sounds. Content: From John F Kennedy in 1954 to several quotes on Cambodia in 1970, this is a great resource for writers and historians. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 5.49 + $ 2.94 media shipping

SCREAM OF EAGLES: The Dramatic Account of the U.S. Navy's Top Gun Fighter Pilots - How They Took Back the Skies Over Vietnam
by Robert K. Wilcox. B&W photo section. Condition: Used 1992 Pocket paperback, first printing. Small edgewear with spine crease and binder's glue strings down spine. Slight roll. Interior clean & tight. Content: In the darkest days of the Vietnam War, when the U.S. Navy's kill ration dropped to a deadly 2:1, battle-hardened fighter piolots formed the Fighter Weapons School known as "Top Gun." Requisitioning Soviet MiG-17s and MiG-21s for brutally realistic dogfights, the Top Gun instructors dueled each other and their students to achieve an extraordinary new level of fighting expertise. The training paid off in the Vietnam skies. Locking on to enemy aircraft with radar guided weapons systems, executing screaming vertical climbs and multiple G-force turns, the Top Gun pilots drove the Navy's kill ration up to an astounding 12:1 - and decisively won the war. Features breathtaking accounts of aerial duels. Spotlights some of the more successful pilots such as Randy Cunningham, hero of the Vietnam skies and now a disgraced & imprisoned Congressman. [1 copy available]
$ 4.29 + $ 2.94 media shipping

SCARS & STRIPES: The True Story of One Man's Courage in Facing Death as a Vietnam POW (AKA Beyond Honor)
by Eugene B. McDaniel, Capt. U.S.N. with James Johnson. Condition: UNREAD 1975 paperback - no publisher given. Reprint but no reason for it given. Tiny edgewear. Pale tanning page edges. Content: Reviewer: "The story of Eugene "Red" McDaniel is not only about a prisoner of war in Vietnam, it is the story of a hero who defied the odds and overcame extreme adversity. McDaniel was shot down in 1967 and spent 5 years in captivity in North Vietnam's Hanoi Hilton, Zoo, and Zoo Annex prison compounds. While imprisoned, he made very aggressive strides to keep secret communications going between the prisoners even though such communicating was prohibited. In continued defiance of his captors, he paid a dear price. McDaniel had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most viciously tortured prisoners of the Vietnam war. Methods used on him were sadistic and barbaric and leaves you wondering how his jailors could possible treat another human being in this manner. In the most trying of times, when all hope was lost and despair was complete, McDaniel turned to faith and prayer in God and was lifted up from the depths he was in. McDaniel was a constant source of optimism and strength for his fellow prisoners during confinement. This book, outstanding in its message of courage, perseverance, and inspiration, will leave you knowing that no matter how difficult things can become, faith in God will always see you through. A magnificent book from start to finish and definitely recommended to everyone." Next time your kids think a hero is a person who can bounce or run with a ball, give them a copy of any book by an American POW during the Vietnam War and let them see real heroes. [1 copy available]
$ 3.49 + $ 2.89 media shipping

SIX SILENT MEN: 101st LRP/Rangers Book 1
by Reynel Martinez. B&W photo section. Condition: UNREAD 1997 Ivy Books paperback, first edition, 4th printing. Tiny edgewear. Content: In 1965 nearly four hundred men were interviewed and only thirty-two selected for the infant LRRP Detachment of the lst Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Old-timers called it the suicide unit. Whether conducting prisoner snatches, search and destroy missions, or hunting for the enemy's secret base camps, LRRPs depended on one another 110 percent. One false step, one small mistake by one man could mean sudden death for all. Author Reynel Martinez, himself a 101st LRRP Detachment veteran, takes us into the lives and battles of the extraordinary men for whom the brotherhood of war was and is an ever-present reality: the courage, the sacrifice, the sense of loss when one of your own dies. In the hills, valleys, and triple-canopy jungles, the ambushes, firefights, and copter crashes, LRRPs were among the best and bravest to fight in Vietnam. [1 copy available]
$ 4.50 + $ 2.94 media shipping

SPIES & COMMANDOS: How America Lost the Secret War in North Vietnam
by Kenneth Conboy & Dale Andrade. B&W photos and maps illustrate. Condition: Gently pre-read 2000 University Press of Kansas hard cover & DJ (in mylar jacket), no edition given. Content: The authors relate how, from 1964 to 1972, the Defense Department oversaw one of the longest-running covert paramilitary operations in U.S. history: the Army's Studies and Observation Group (SOG) in Vietnam. The American-trained SOG units conducted cross-border missions to disrupt enemy activities, rescue downed U.S. pilots, train agents and conduct psychological operations designed to undermine morale in Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. According to the authors, nearly all of the SOG missions were unsuccessful; virtually all the Vietnamese commandos sent into North Vietnam, for example, were killed or captured. Drawing upon extensive research and interviews, Conboy and Andrad --an analyst of South Asia and a U.S. Army military historian, respectively -- have constructed a readable, almost mission-by-mission account of the SOG operations, from the policy decisions of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara to the experiences of the agents themselves. The authors also offer a reasoned analysis of why the program was, as they say, "doomed from the start." The main factors were "political constraints," "a lack of understanding of the enemy" and the fact that "blind missions into closed communist societies did not work." The book's most riveting sections are the many suspenseful accounts of cross-border missions -- complete with names, dates, places, acronyms, code names and a detailed cataloguing of weapons and espionage equipment used by the spies and commandos. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 8.49 + $ 3.29 media shipping

STUDENT POLITICS AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES:
A Select Bibliography
by Philip G. Altbach. Introductory Essay by Seymour Martin Lipset. Condition: UNREAD 1968 Center for International Affairs, Harvard University Trade Paperback. Repaired short peeling top spine with thin mark fore edges. Interior clean & tight. I don't even see any tanning. Content: Great research tool for those writing about or interested in the student political movements in the 1960s - 70s with emphasis on the Vietnam War protests. Complete (up to that date) bibliogrpahy. [1 copy available]
$ 7.50 + $ 2.89 media shipping

VIETNAM DIARY
by Richard Tregaskis. Condition: Good + 1966 Popular Library paperback - no edition given. Interior clean & tight with light tanning to page edges, but manufacturer's error has left book slightly off square. Content: Written by one of the most knowledgeable and experienced of America's war correspondents, Vietnam Diary shows how we developed new techniques for resisting wily guerrilla forces. Roaming the whole of war-torn Vietnam, Tregaskis takes his readers on the tense U.S. missions--with the Marine helicopters and the Army HU1B's (Hueys); with the ground pounders on the embattled Delta area, the fiercest battlefield of Vietnam; then to the Special Forces, men chosen for the job of training Montagnard troops to resist Communists in the high jungles. He was the winner of the George Polk Award in 1964 for reporting under hazardous conditions. [1 copy available]
$ 2.85 + $ 2.89 media shipping.

THE WALL THAT HEALS and WRITINGS ON THE WALL (2 books)
by Jan Scruggs with assistance from Kim Murphy. Cover photo of The Wall. Condition: NEW 1992 Vietnam Vetrans Memorial Fund paperback - no flaws. Content: This is, simply, the story of The Wall and the stories of Vets, Widows, Children, and even politicians who served in Nam or lost loved ones there. The author originated the idea and led the campaign (starting with only $2,800 of his own money) to build the memorial wall to Vietnam Veterans in Washington, D. C. It was completed in 1982 - with NO government financial assistance.. This book was published as he led a campaign to commemorate the 10th Anniversary. If you have not been to The Wall, it is the only "must-see" place I can think of in this country. It's power is amazing. Writings on the Wall shares the writings of well-known and ordinary citizens about their feelings on the Wall. [1 copy available]
$ 3.95 + $ 2.89 shipping.

WHEN HELL WAS IN SESSION
by Senator Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr. with Ed Brandt. Condition: UNREAD but not perfect 1976 Robert E. Hopper paperback reprint. Small edgewear with light tanning to white cover edges and deep tanning to interior page edges. Content: The now well-known and terrible story of Senator Denton's years as a POW in Vietnam. If your kids think that someone who bounces or carries a ball is a hero, give them this book - then they'll know what a real hero is. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.49 + $ 2.89 media shipping.