Southeast Books

This is the real story of Dieter Dengler's experiences in Laos. When compared to the movie RESCUE DAWN, it becomes obvious that the movie is a lot closer to the truth than it's critics advocate.

I finished this book on Memorial Day 2008. It is still relevant to our
position of freedom and life.

Escape From Laos is truly an amazing tale of survival. Having a first hand perspective like no one else has, Dengler tells this story with almost no emotion, describing each terrible situation without shying away from the reality or overdramatizing. A quick and interesting read.

On February 1, 1966 the American pilot Dieter Dengler (1938-2001) took enemy fire and crash-landed his plane in Laos while on a secret mission. After surviving in the jungle on his own he was captured, tortured (hung upside down with an ant nest around his neck, submerged in a well, dragged by an ox through a village), then taken on a three-week jungle trek to a Pathet Lao prison camp called Par Kung. Dengler recalls that it was nothing like he imagined a prison camp might be, but instead a tiny enclave of a few huts exactly twenty-one by twenty-two steps in size. There he met six other POWS, two American and four Asian (which later became a source of tension), who had been imprisoned as long as two and a half years. Later they were transferred to the very similar Hoi Het camp. When starvation threatened both the prisoners and the guards, and the prisoners overheard the guards saying that they planned to shoot them, they made an elaborate plan and escaped. The fellow POWS were separated after the escape, and Dengler and his buddy Duane Martin teamed up. Lice, leeches, ticks, ants ("the true torment of the jungle"), sweltering days and cold nights, torrential rain, dumb mistakes and incredibly good luck, and the human will to survive--these are only part of Dengler's first person narrative. Incredibly, after soldiering on for so long, Dengler and Martin stumbled onto some villagers, scared them, and in the space of a minute they had beheaded Duane. After surviving twenty-three days in the jungle after his escape, hallucinations, wandering in a circle, tumbling over water falls, and eating things you never should eat, Dengler was rescued in an improbable stroke of luck. He lost sixty pounds in the six-month ordeal. In 1997 Werner Herzog made a documentary about Dengler called Little Dieter Needs to Fly. More recently Herzog dramatized this survivor's tale in the film Rescue Dawn (2007). This is a gripping book that reminded me of Alfred Lansing's Endurance about Shackleton's Antarctic survival story.

Best book I read in 2007 and I'm squeamish about war narratives. Riveting, astounding, a profile of courage and mental agility. This is the bible of survival techniques.

I shudder to think what details were edited OUT of this book.

I also recommend the film "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" where Dengler himself takes one back to the scene of these horrors.Little Dieter needs to Fly

I read the true story of the My Lia Massacre when it first came out, and then knew why when we came back we were called baby killers. Now that I have read this book on My Lia I wonder how they let something like that happen and what makes me mad is that nothing more has been done about the people that done it all. I personelly think that all the people that took part should be put in jail and left there, but other then that it was an excellent book to read.

The major problem with this work is that from the beginning, it tries to explain the My Lai massacre as a function of the corruption inherent in the Vietnam War. It is reminiscent of Jospeh Caputo's attempts to exonerate himself by blaming the war for the corruption of his soul and his order to assasinate two suspected Vietnamese spies. The problem with both of these approaches is that the events are never placed in their proper context, that is, as occuring during a war whrer millions of soldiers served honorably. Instead, the event transcends time and space and is explained as product of the impersonal forces of war and their effects on the soldiers who served in Vietnam. My Lai, then becomes the epitome of this "Zietgiest", if you will, of the corrupting influence of war and its effeects on the participants.
Granted, the behavior of the men of the Americal division in the My lai episode is simply unforgivable, but plenty of heroic soldiers served in the division, as did millions of other soldiers in Vietnam without the requisite number of massacres one should expect if the war was so traumatizing and corrupting. A better approach would be to explore the personal flaws of those involved and begin an explanation from there. The real tragedy is not the effect of the war on the perpetrators, but the real human failure of those who participated and the circumstance they would find themselves in that exploitred their deficiencies of character. The victims are truly victims because they were subjected to the actions of these men not because of something they did, but by the mere juxtoposition of events that allowed these terribly flawed men to enounter them in war.
It seems disingenous, as well an insult to the victims and those who served honorably, to blame this event on impersonal forces such as the "corrupting nature of war" rather than focusing the blame squarely on those individuals responsible. If not, the tendency is to transcend space and time, take the event out of context and view as a manifestation of an American Holocaust in Vietnam. Nothing could be further form the truth. The authors should be reminded that those who cannot distinguish between a tragedy and a holocaust yearn to be taught the difference.

I thought that Lt Calley was made a scapegoat for the
event that happened at My Lia, but after reading the book.
I find that he was a coldblooded killer,and cause many other young men to be the same way. I will never understand why Cpt Medina,and the other oficers involved in this incident was not brought to trail. The order given by these Oficers were just as much the cause of the problem, as were the men that did the actual killing.
I served two tours in Nam , and I thank God that I never
witnessed any such thing. I would probably have been brought to trail myself for killing those that would do such a coldhearted
thing.
However I must say that I am exremely proud of those that did not participate in the shooting.

An excellent and even-handed book. As a father of four, I would take my helmet off to Thompson and hope that I would have done the same thing in those circumstances.

However, as a jumpy eighteen-year-old who had spent three months seeing his buddies slaughtered in booby trap after booby trap, having their heads blown off by snipers you never see or get to track, Army trucks full of draftees decimated by grenades thrown by smiling elderly villagers and children, I really don't know how much I would have given a damn for any village anywhere in that country.

Yes, the massacre was wrong, and thank God for men like Thompson, but if anybody is going to judge My Lai or any other total breakdown of discipline and artificially-sustained morality, it should be men and women who have served in extreme combat environments, not bourgeois middle-class Liberals who have never had to get their hands dirty.

Vietnam was a filthy war, and because it never had a distinct purpose or Win Scenario driving it, it was a pointless war. Ironically, one of the things that triggered My Lai was the very fear and frustration generated by the VC's own tactics, including the mutilation of American corpses and the constant goading and provocation that GI's had to endure.

This was the same Enemy that massacred French garrisons and lined the approach roads with the severed heads of the defenders to demoralize the relief columns. The same Enemy that even booby trapped live babies in order to kill American soldiers and shock them into a state of psychological collapse.

Read the book, by all means, and be outraged. Yet while the massacre can never be justified, with the kind of background, only some of which I have just outlined, it can perhaps be understood - above all, as others have rightly said, in the absence of strong leadership and the stability provided by having a good sprinkling of experienced Vets throughout the Company.

No, it should never have happened, but then, neither should the War.

My family fled Vietnam in 1979 and settled in the U.S. I always believed that the Americans were the "good guys" in the Vietnam War. After reading this book, I now have a much different view. I see the conflict as something that is much more complex than what I was taught in high school. The Viet Congs committed many atrocities during the war, but it seems as though the Americans committed just as many--if not more--atrocities. The My Lai Massacre is a shining example of the low regard that a large number of American soldiers had for Vietnamese peasants.

I highly recommend this book as it debunks the myths surrounding the Vietnam War. In addition, the authors call into question the moral character of not only the "grunts" that gunned down old men, women, children, and even babies, but also the officers high up the chain of command that tried to cover up the massacre. Moreover, the authors are highly critical of the military justice system that basically looked the other way even in the face of overwhelming evidence that a massacre indeed did occur.

The book serves as an important reminder of the horrendous nature of war where good young boys can turn into cold-blooded killers. In light of the recent events in Haditha, Mukaradeeb, and Hamdania, among others, we need to learn from past mistakes so that we don't repeat them.

I highly reccomend this book. The photographs in this book attest to Larry Burrow's commitment to document this war. Not one picture is alike in any sense of the word. One second you're looking at a Buddhist protest in Saigon, then you flip the page and see Westmoreland and McNamara stepping off a plane, ushering in the Johnson administration's phase of the war. The most harrowing photos are actually from the early days of the war, of ARVN troops in the delta. Of course, the pictures from Khe Sanh will tug at the heartstrings of any American. Purchase this book.

I could be verbose and describe the virtues of this book in great detail, but the pictures in this amazing work speak much louder than anything that I could write. He was a man who gave his life for his craft, and this book is a powerful tribute to that craft. Absolutely stunning and indispensable to anyone that wants to understand "that war" and the power of the visual image.

Larry Burrows was and still is a benchmark which other photojournalists should strive to attain. Great book. Buy it.

What is a good photograph even in times of war? Look into this book. Larry Burrow gave us a clear message.

An amazing book, incredible images from the great artist Larry Burrows. Although taken 35 years ago, they are as relevant today as they were then.

Educational, Emotional, Entertaining....like spending an evening with a good friend with a great story to tell. Hopefully this is a first of many for this talented writer.

Jim Fallon has an amazing way with words. His writing illustrated his jouney to Vietnam in a way that was clear to the reader.

I must say I did not expect to laugh as much as I did while reading Virga Tears. It is clear the writing has a unique way of telling the truths of his serious jouney, at the same time seeing the humor in traveling in a third world. If you have traveled the world, you will laugh with understanding, if you have not, you will laugh at the reality of his words.

The hard truth of life in Vietnam, then and now was not lost in humor. It was very human.

Great book.

A delightful chronicle of an odyssey back to VietNam, by two unlikely travel-mates. An engaging, funny, at times disturbing account of war, memories of war, and the personal costs of relationships in wartime. Hard to put down, I loved the writing style that seemed to blend Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson.

I was surprised to find tears of laughter from a book on Vietnam. This is one that I will read over and over and send to friends for the Holidays.

A new twist and a story not previously told about the war. What a trip what an adventure.

Vigra tears is a delightful story of two men who visit Vietnam 30 years after the war. The author and his brother-in-law, different as night and day, share a most memorable experience in their journey and it gives you a different perspective of the war.
This book is worth reading, very witty and well written. I especially liked the chapter titles and how they related to the text of the book. It is easy reading for those that don't have a lot of time. The events that take place are interesting and informative and give you a sense of the country and people. The author makes you feel like you are right there with them. I didn't want it to end.

From the jump, you are in the action in this book. However, if you don't know military acronyms or can't pick them up quickly, you'll be lost. If you do or can, you are in for adrenalized enjoyment.
The now-obsolete hazardous task of airborne Forward Air Controller is material for a thrill ride of a read. Harrison's memoir exploits the material, but in a good way.
He opens in the action; he's flying a routine mission, putting in air strikes in a spot where the enemy probably isn't to be found. You are right in the cockpit with him when a stray bomb suddenly ignites a major battle. His failure to conclude this combat is a nice simile for the inconclusiveness of military action in Vietnam.
The next section, where Harrison pulls you back into the run-up to the battle, spares us the childhood stuff with his dog, parents, school, ad nauseam. By taking us instead through FAC training, it settles into the Air Force culture of pilotdom and quickly accomplishes the dual tasks of accustoming us to his viewpoint and pulling us quickly back to Vietnam.
Along the way, Harrison shows us both the camaraderie among pilots and the decisions he has to make as a commander managing the pilots and men who work for him.
He segues into flying covert operations for the CIA. When I came to this part, I expected these espionage missions into Cambodia to be comparable to the Raven FAC missions in Laos. Much to my surprise, they were more like the Jedburgh agent deliveries of World War II.
The book ends inconclusively with the loss of his wedding band while boarding his airplane home. It left me wondering if he had received a Dear John.
While this book has no blinding revelations, it is a good-humored modest account of his service with a knack for vivid phrases. Let me give two examples:
On his way home, a clerk exclaims that Harrison has a Silver Star, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a raft of smaller decorations. Harrison's reply is, Hurry up with the paperwork that gets me home.
Vivid phrases: try "Shell holes dotted the base camp like pimples on a teenager."
All in all, a good book. Also, if you enjoy this sort of tale, you might try In the Black by Joe Lerner.

If you are in any way interested in FAC's Forward Air Controllers, LRP's, Air Cav, and Vietnam... BUY THIS BOOK. Superb.

If you are remotely interested in aviation (military or otherwise
you simpy must read this book.
I've read it twice and I am still struck by the courage and bravery
of the author and his compatriots.
I've read practically every first person account of pilots flying
in Vietnam that I can get my hands on and this one remains my absolute
favourite.

Marshall Harrison, my hat off to you sir. You are a true hero.

Very exciting and spellbinding account of an Air Force OV10 pilot and his experiences in Viet Nam. Historically accurate, yet very entertaining style of writing. If you want to know what it was like to fly the OV10 in combat, read this book. it takes you there.

This has to be the best written book on the subject matter. Throughout the book I felt as though I was living his experience and now when I remember the book sometimes I can't remember if it was part of a movie or the book, that's how good the visuals were while reading it. I highly recommend it and hope that the author brings more out into print

~ I first read "Summons of the Trumpet" when it was published in 1978. Interestingly, in his preface, LTG Palmer states "There will be those who claim that history, true history, can't be written so soon after an event...they are correct. The definitive version of the Vietnam War will be published decades hence..." Well, a full thirty years later, it turns out this statement is the only thing he got wrong!

~ For me, this volume was and remains the definitive work on the Vietnam conflict. It is interesting, concise, understandable, and insightful. I continue to re-read it about every five years and just cracked it open again.

~ When I retired from my Army career (as an Infantry officer), I became a high school social studies teacher and I have used "Summons" as one of my main references when teaching my students about the Vietnam War, this time period, our society, and American government.

~ Russell Weigley, a noted historian who I also value, correctly called this book "by far the best synthesis of...the Vietnam War." Thank you, General Palmer, for letting the "Trumpet" sound!

As a Vietnam veteran, I am often surprised at the mythology that surrounds the Vietnam war to this day. This is "must reading" for anyone seeking fresh insight into that struggle. I found this book consistent with my own experiences and observations from my tour of duty in Vietnam (1968 to 1969). For this reason, I highly recommend it to any serious student of history.

This is one of the best books (if not the best) I have ever read on the Vietnam War. The author develops his arguments with such clarity and eloquence that the book is a real joy to read. Palmer does not describe many battles but only those which were characterized as turning points of the conflict, like Ap Bac (1963), Ia Drang (1965) and Tet (1968) but the depth of the political and military analysis is fantastic. I especially enjoyed the chapter on the military logistics of the US forces in Vietnam as well as the role of the air power in the conflict. It is astonishing to realize that the US actually defeated the insurgency in Vietnam and lost the war only because of the persistent commitment of numerous regular North Vietnamese divisions, which were also mauled badly in battle in many cases! The `Ahilles heel` of the US was the Vietnamization program which the communists didn't allow to mature. Very highly recommended!

Palmer's book was one on the first I have ever read on Vietnam, and remains one of the best. It is mostly concerned with overall strategy and campaigns; less with individual battles and operations. The book severely criticizes the Johnson Administration (with a particular venom for Robert McNamara) but is much more positive about Nixon. The author's attitude towards the South Vietnamese government and Army is critical but quite fair, and he gives the North Vietnamese their due. This is not really a book about American military performance, and does not really mention problems within the military, such as drug abuse, racial incidents, massacres, etc., but he does believe that any problems were a result of having a bankrupt political/military strategy. A few OK maps, no photographs or footnotes, but a nice bibliographical essay. All in all, a very good short introduction but certainly not a complete history of the war.

I was looking for a good overview book of the Vietnam War and this really fit the bill. The author put together a well thought out, easy to read and well-written book that does a good job of giving the reader the high points. The author was a solder in the combat and spent a number of years in the military so he has an authoritative position to speak from. He does a great job of keeping the book away from being overly laden with military jargon or the Rambo style of combat writing. The book is focused on the American effort and thus skims the pre U.S. troop entry into the war. If you are looking for a deeper history on the start of the war with the French or the overall American involvement in Asia then this book will disappoint.

The treatment he gave to the major battles was good. He presented an easy to follow account of the battle, what lead up to it and the outcome. He also touched on some of what was happening back home with the politics, but only briefly. I think the most interesting parts of the book for me was the details of the air war, more specifically how the bombing kept escalating and then the final bombing push by Nixon. My only complaint with the book is that it was an overview that was a bit too light on the facts for me. The book was only 270 pages long, and book size do not necessary determine quality, this book could have been a little bit more in-depth. It seemed to me that to get a better understanding a few more pages could have been added without the overview turning into a in depth study.

"Chickenhawk:Back in the World's" picks up exactly where Mason's first book left off. Briefly, Mason starts off relating that upon his return from his 1 year tour of Vietnam as a chopper pilot (Sept. 1965 to Aug. 1966) he became a helicopter instructor pilot. Cleared Hot!: A Marine Combat Pilot's Vietnam Diary (Special warfare series) This ends quickly after Mason is tormented by severe P.T.S.D symptoms, hallucinations, panic attacks, depression and insomnia. Farewell, Darkness: A Veteran's Triumph over Combat Trauma As a result of this, he quit his position and left the military. In the backdrop of authoring his best selling book, Mason slipped into drug and alcohol addiction as well as adultery. Chickenhawk His wife, aptly named "Patience" stayed with him and eventually authored her own book about surviving the demons of P.T.S.D., from the viewpoint of a spouse. Recovering from the War: A Guide for All Veterans, Family Members, Friends and Therapists Mason takes on one failing job venture after another, ending with a financial fiasco creating a company manufacturing mirrors. Doubting that his book will ever sell and on the verge of financial ruin, Mason meets two misfits that con him into coming with them on a small ocean vessel called the "Nemaste", bound for the Colombian Coast to pick up 3,500 lbs. of marijuana to smuggle back to the U.S. Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling: Lessons from the Inside Graphically recounting the Caribbean voyage, Mason and his crew picked up the dope and upon reentering U.S. waters were busted by the waiting U.S. Coast Guard.Brothers of the Run: Marijuana Smuggling...the Way It Really Was Mason received 2 years at Eglin, a minimum security prison in Florida. It is in Eglin that Mason learned that "Chickenhawk" was a best seller. "Back in the World" ends with some major revelations of Mason's feelings about the Vietnam War, his thoughts of what the causes of P.T.S.D. are and the announcement of a fictional book he penned. WEAPON Mason has some very unusual stories and anecdotes in "Back in the World". He writes how the U.S. government in his opinion manufacturers crime. Mason gives us proof of this by telling a story of a man he met in jail named "Danny", a pilot. Mason is told by Danny that he was approached by 2 guys that offered him $10,000 to simply test drive a new DC-6. If Danny liked the plane, they will pay him another $90,000 to fly in contraband from South America. Danny test drove the plane, accepted the 10K from the 2 men, and went home to discuss the story with his wife. The next day, he returned the $10,000 to the 2 men and told them "no deal" (something Mason points out he wished he did in his ill-fated boat ride to Colombia). A year later, Danny was arrested and convicted of conspiracy. He received 5 years. The 2 men were D.E.A. agents and Danny's crime was that he failed to inform the authorities about the offer the 2 men made. Finally, there is the bone chilling story Mason tells of "Johnson" the Navy Seal and professional assassin, who wouldn't say why he was at Eglin, but tells Mason that he almost strangled his wife to death, has no friends, likes to kill, and that his "employer" (the U.S. Government) will be getting him out any day, because there is a "job" coming up. TDY Mason listens to Johnson's stories of personal assassinations in Viet Nam that he carried out as part of the infamous "Phoenix Program". The Phoenix Program This was a program the U.S. Government undertook in conjunction with the Navy Seal Team and plotted in the U.S. by the "Rand Corporation". Communist Viet Cong elders, teachers or leaders were kidnapped, interrogated for intelligence and ultimately murdered. Mason relates how Johnson claimed that the Government was going to get him out in 2 days so he can "execute" a job that has come up. Sure enough, 2 days later, Johnson was out! Scary! There are many stories like this and I found this book very enjoyable to read! An excellent sequel to his first book!

Thankyou Mr. Mason for helping me understand the Vietnam war and it's impact on those who fought. I was born about the time that you were touching down at your first LZ, and only grew to know the war from television and from my uncle, who was a helecopter pilot as well in vietnam. This book is a must-read sequel that will also shed light on what soldiers returning from the Gulf area must be going through. Congratulations on such a contribution, and Jerry Fowler is right, God is working through you without a doubt. You're an inspiration, I am just sorry that you and your family had to suffer so much.

This is a great book, as you can see by the previous reviewers!

What I want to know is why this book has been out of print for so long?

This book was recommended to me by a veteran that flew with the First Air Cavalry. He commented, "This book described my life in Vietnam".

The book is vivid in it's descriptions and extremely well written. I have read the book twice and both times have been moved by the ending. If you enjoy reading about flying, the Vietnam conflict, and people, this book is for you.

I have read this book three times. I know what an extraordinary story this is and have tried to turn others on to it.
Bob Mason's transformation from eager pilot trainee to jaded combat veteran/burnout, while probably not anymore remarkable a story than any other pilot's is well written and that is what makes it great! After reading the book I felt as though I know Bob Mason. Not a bad thing.
When Mason describes the deck inside the chopper,covered in blood you can almost smell it.
Serious life and death stuff with some of the funniest stories of human screw ups wrapped up in a truly memorable account of one
helluva chopper pilots' experience in Vietnam.
It's like I say:" 'Chickenhawk' is the best damn war movie they never made!"

Great book! I find it important to learn about history and what better way than 1st hand accounts such as this one. Learned a good deal about the Marine Force Recon and their important role in the military family. I came away feeling a great respect for the men of Force Recon and hope they know that through books like these those men and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.

I cannot add any more than what has already been written below, except to say I like TRUE stories books better than fiction, and this book captivates your attention right at the beginning and takes the reader right through the very end. For a first book by this author, it is a superior read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I highly recommend any of Major Norton's books. This book is very well written, and provides an honest opinion of his experiences during his first tour in Vietnam. It also gives a good, personal look at the inner workings of Marine Recon teams in Vietnam.

Major Norton's easy and honest writing style make his books very hard to put down once you start reading them. He also does a great job of bringing the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of combat in Vietnam to life for the reader.

Most of all, Major Norton does an outstanding job of making one proud of all our fighting men & women who served in Vietnam; they did a great job and books like this one are long overdue.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to all who might be interested in the personal experiences of Vietnam combat, as well as for anyone interested in the extremely tough job of gaining intel on enemy forces in Vietnam.

This is a very sobering and informative account of the author's 1969 stint in Vietnam. The early part contains background on how the author joined the marines and became a medic. Later chapters recount particular missions into the DMZ. You get to experience the danger of what's it like to be part of a small team, sometimes just a few yards away from an enemy of greatly superior numbers.

This short work is extremely well-written, direct, and very interesting. The author provides great insight into the special comradeship within the US Marines.

This is a story about Bruce Norton, who joined the Navy and then became a
> Navy medic.(Corpsman)
> > He was assigned to 3rd Force Recon Company in 1969-1970 in Vietnam. He
> served with Alex Lee, who wrote his own book about commanding 3rd Force
> Recon Company.
> >
> > Norton, like the Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock, was raised in the woods,
> and learned to shoot and find his way around the woods as a kid. This came
> in handy in Vietnam.
> > He learned to shoot rats in the city garbage dump in his home town in
> Mass. They hunted at night, with flashlights taped to their rifle barrels
> to spot the rats.
> >
> > While in Vietnam, he went through a typhoon and was in the jungle, with
> his 6 man team. They tied themselves together, and to some banana trees to
> avoid being blown away by the 120 mile per hour winds.
> >
> > He was on patrols that encountered a bear on one, and a tiger on another.
> >
> > He lost several friends in the Ashau Valley. Alex Lee describes the
> Ashau Valley as spooky and filled with evil spirits in his book, Force
> Recon. Horton, on the other hand compares it to the Garden of Eden.
> > While in the Valley, he describes how he got very sick on water the North
> Vietnamese poisoned by killing a pig and throwing the carcass in a pond.
> Norton drank the water, not realizing there was a dead carcass in there,
> even though the North Vietnamese left signs on the nearby trees announcing
> this.(The Marines could not read Vietnamese)
> > The 3rd Recon Company was disbanded when he was there, after Gen
> Nickerson, who created the Company, got transferred back out of Vietnam.
> >
> > Norton notes the outstanding leadership in the Company. Alex Lee, Major,
> Commanding, had the Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star, 3 Navy
> Commendation medals, Navy Achievement medal, 2 purple hearts. Today, Lee is
> still considered a genius at small unit tactics. Clovis Coffman, another
> officer won the Navy Cross.
> > Two of his best friends, died bravely in the Ashau Valley winning medals.
> Charles Sexton, won the Navy Cross in the Ashau Valley and Paul Keaveney
> won the Silver Star.
> >
> > Norton stayed in the military, leaving the Navy and made a career
> > of the Marines, and was a Major when writing this book in 1990.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

When I first started reading this book I didn't know what to expect. The book was written by my uncle's CO and is largely about his platoon. My uncle never has talked about his experiences in Vietnam, after reading I realized what sort of impact that kind of war could have on a person, and why one would rather try to forget about it.

My understanding of Vietnam was very cliche and far from the real truth. It was clear that Vietnam is an obscure part of American history, and most likely will remain that way being forgotten by each new generation.

This story mimics many of my experiences working with the VietNamese people...I'd recommend also reading, "The Sorrow of War"...by Bao Ninh for a perspective from the other side.

I have difficulty relating to and with some VietNam combat vets who experienced little of the culture or realities of the VietNamese...My life and world view changed dramatically and forever in the 23 months I spent in VietNam. Our country seems to have learned little from the experience...and still fight wars for all the wrong reasons...and for big money's sake.

3 to 5 million dead in SE Asia...for what?

Well written book...I was a 19-21 year old with way too much power in VietNam.

I first read this in the late 80's. As a child who didn't remember the Viet Nam War itself, I mostly learned about it afterwards.

I find myself coming back and rereading this about every five years. I'm currently rereading it after reading a c.1966 book about Vietnam political history, and following up via various web pages (yay for Wikipedia!) on different subjects.

As I reread it, I find that what I had thought were just side-comments are really quite illustative of both his situation, and the policital situation there--how little the S. Vietnam govt really cared about the people, for instance.

I heartily concur that this would be a great assignment for high school students. it is a good read, and would open up discussions about what was actually happening, without just being memorization of facts and figures.

I think I probably read the first printing of Once a Warrior King and that was probably over a decade ago now, but David Donovans account of his time in Vietnam still remains one of my favourite accounts of the conflict.

I read this four years ago as a junior in high school for my American History Class. The course was offered for college credit and I used to get frustrated by all the books my teacher made us read, not to mention the essays we had to write in response to what we learned. Near the end of the year she assigned "Once a Warrior King" and I was so impressed that I never forgot the impact the book had on me. It was a vivid statement from the point of view of a man fighting in Vietnam and I could feel everything with accuracy as if I had gone through the same trauma. He was a warrior king and it was a classic.

... The world is diminished by the experience." William Shawcross concludes his excellent book with the previous succinct summation of his 400 plus page indictment of the policies and actions of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon in regards to Cambodia. Of particular interest is the 50 or so pages of additions at the end, regarding Kissinger's reaction to the book - there is no real rebuttal, or listing of factual errors, it is all classic Kissinger dissembling. Sadly, the book remains achingly relevant today: one of the prime reasons stated for the invasion was to "save the lives of American troops," the same rationale President Obama just used in refusing to release photos of prisoner abuse at Gitmo.

In January, 1994 I walked through S-21, the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh. Aside from the caretakers, I was the only one there. The exhibits are mainly the haunting pictures of the torture victims. The nightmare of the Cambodian auto-genocide, in which a third of the population died within four years, was finally ended by the Vietnamese invasion in 1979. The agonizing question is why, in two countries with similar experiences in fighting a long war under the bombs, did this happen in Cambodia and not Vietnam. Shawcross gives some of the most likely reasons we'll ever have: "That summer's war provides a lasting image of peasant boys and girls, clad in black, moving slowly through the mud, half-crazed with terror, as fighter bombers tore down at them by day, and night after night whole seas of 750-pound bombs smashed all around (p 298). Even more telling, Shawcross latter says: "All wars are designed to arouse anger, and almost all soldiers are taught to hate and to dehumanize their enemy. Veterans of the combat zone are often possessed of a mad rage to destroy, and to avenge their fallen comrades. It does not always happen, however, that victorious armies have endured such punishment as was inflicted upon the Khmer Rouge. Nor does it always happen that such an immature and tiny force comes to power after its country's social order has been obliterated... then giving power to a little group of zealots sustained by Manichean fear." I remember some who thought of Cambodia, pre-war, as an idyllic paradise, with the priorities in the right place. The author wisely quoted a more cautionary note by quoting a French archaeologist, Bernard-Philippe Groslier: "beneath a carefree surface there slumber savage forces and disconcerting cruelties which may blaze up in outbreaks of passionate brutality."

A much younger and more morally astute Christopher Hitchens wrote an excellent book entitled "The Trial of Henry Kissinger." But it is Shawcross who has compiled the most damning evidence. Kissinger cynically used journalists (who were often all too accommodating) while behind their backs was contemptuous of them. Cambodia was just one of the many pawns on his chessboard. Shawcross reminds the reader of Kissinger's rationale behind his belief that he had the right to overthrown the democratically elected government of Chile: "I don't see why a country should be allowed to go Communist through the irresponsibility of its own people." (p 304). One of the disappoint revelations that Shawcross makes is that Theodore White, whose "Making of the President" books I have always admired considered the invasion of Cambodia to be one of the two major achievements of Nixon's rule. (p 171).

In the "Plus ca change..." category, on how history continues to repeat, consider that the author documents how it was John McCain's father, the Admiral who was Commander in Chief of Pacific forces would give energetic lectures about the "threats" to the United States that members of the press dubbed him the "Big Red Arrow Man." (p 136). General Abrams hyped, like Rumsfeld would a generation latter, that the Vietnamese communists had a headquarters that was a "reinforced concrete bunker, 29 feet underground, that housed about 5,000 officials and technicians. And recently Condi Rice defended George Bush with exactly the same rationale that Nixon told David Frost in an interview: "Well, when the President does it; that means that it is not illegal." (p 159). The "divine right" of Kings lives on!

Overall, Shawcross has written the sine qua non of books on the Cambodia tragedy. It is hard to be `judicious and balanced" when confronted with these events, but the author does provide the essential, measured account. A vital read, for then, and now.

I was living in Cambodia when I came across this book, following the recommendation of one of my English friends. I bought the book, opened it... and could no longer put it down! This book came as a complete eye-opener to me, on both how America had conducted its war across Indochina, but also on how Cambodia's history had/has been so intimately intermixed with Sihanouk's.

If you are into learning the backside of what we could all dub "official history", then this book's for you. You will no longer look at Kissinger, Nixon or Westmoreland with the same candid, obedient and servile eyes after reading it. Packed with previously unheard-of accounts, reports, testimonies, following a clean, highly intelligent argumentation methodology, Sideshow acts as a real bulldozer on the reader, repeatedly confronting him/her with loads of devastating illustrations of unsound decisions, hidden political actions, secret wars of influences etc. It is certainly one of the punchiest, journalism-based historical account I have ever read, whatever the subject.

It shed a completely new and intense light onto the poor -though touching- little country I was living in then, and forever changed the way I looked at politics, diplomacy and intelligence.

Shawcross gets into the minds of Kissinger and Nixon so well. His is a book to be read over and over again to see the working of the U.S. Government and how it can destroy a country. He talks about the 25 pound shark at the bottom of a swimming pool full of children -- and we understand how the USA's leaders destroyed a country. It is a lesson to be learned over and over again as we go about destroying other countries. This is one great read - worthy of the time it takes to understand it. A victory for the author over Mr. Kissinger.

This book has managed to live on, which is perhaps unfortunate - historically speaking, it's far more relevant to contemporary geopolitics than it should be.

In any case, SIDESHOW has managed to stand as one of the better books on Cambodia, and America's involvement in Cambodia (Elizabeth Becker's WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER is a must-read as well). One could debate Shawcross' perspectives, but his research is meticulous and has withstood many attacks, and his depiction of the machiavellian darkness that can creep into foreign policy is chilling and ruthless, and - for better of worse - makes for hypnotic reading, all the more frightening as it's drawn straight from history, research, the Freedom of Information act.

Now more than ever, this is essential reading.

-David Alston

On Junior Day, 2006, I would recommend SIDESHOW by William Shawcross. It contains information about the twentieth century that could be applied to situations that America faces in the world in 2006. The global superpower naturally thinks that everything will be resolved by the application of hyperpower, as Japan suffered a humiliating defeat at the end of World War II when it discovered that the United States was not just fighting a war against Japan, it would nuke their cities to bring about whatever result it wanted. When American troops openly invaded parts of Cambodia, Congress responded by imposing limits which were still in place on April 30, 1973:

"The justification for bombing Cambodia had been to protect Americans in Vietnam. Since October 1970 the Congress had included in every military appropriation bill a proviso expressly forbidding bombing in Cambodia except for that purpose. By the end of March 1973 there were no American troops left in Indochina. Still the bombing of Cambodia increased. The administration now based its case on Article 20 of the Paris Agreement. Rogers now claimed that American withdrawal from Vietnam did not affect the situation in Cambodia, and that Article 20 legalized the bombing `until such time as a ceasefire could be brought into effect.' " (p. 277).

One of the strange things about the invasion of Cambodia was that Nixon made an announcement on April 30, 1970 which attempted to keep all previous secret activities secret:

Ignoring Menu, Nixon began with the lie that the United States had "scrupulously respected" Cambodia's neutrality for the last five years and had not "moved against" the sanctuaries. This falsehood was repeated by Kissinger in his background briefings to the press. That same evening he told reporters that the Communists had been using Cambodia for five years but, "As long as Sihanouk was in power in Cambodia we had to weigh the benefits in long-range historical terms of Cambodian neutrality as against any temporary military advantages and we made no efforts during the first fifteen months of this administration to move against the sanctuary." The next day he said of Sihanouk's rule, "We had no incentive to change it. We made no effort to change it. We were surprised by the development. One reason why we showed such great restraint against the base areas was in order not to change this situation." (p. 146).
In his announcement of the invasion, Nixon stated that his action was taken "not for the purpose of expanding the war into Cambodia, but for the purpose of ending the war in Vietnam"; he would give aid to Cambodia, but only to enable it "to defend its neutrality and not for the purpose of making it an active belligerent on one side or the other." (p. 146).

Currently Iran has a militia of five million, and if Iran were to officially enter a war in Iraq as a result of bombings by Israel, as urged by Vice President Cheney, to remove Iran's nuclear capabilities, even if a bomb based on plans provided by the CIA wouldn't work, Iran has other ways it could strike back. Being subatomic is very much like Cambodia was in 1970, but we shall soon see what issues are about to be submitted to the UN security council, and if it helps or hurts. A blockade created by Iran so American supplies might have more trouble reaching Kuwait and Iraq; oil exports from the region could end; American dollars could fall; the interest on bonds could rise so high that the U.S. government couldn't balance a budget; and some of the world's banks might then be alarmed.

SIDESHOW by William Shawcross is the only book I have in which I can look up Lon Nil in the index. Lon Nil might well be Cambodia's forgotten man. His brother, Lon Nol, declared himself Chief of State as well as Prime Minister and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces when he dissolved the Assembly in October 1971 and assumed emergency rule. (p. 229). In December 1971, an American psychiatrist in the U.S. Army found "his close associates indicate his mental faculties have deteriorated markedly as a result of his February 1971 stroke" (p. 208). On April 1, 1975, at the urging of his brother Lon Non, Lon Nol took half a million dollars and moved to Hawaii. (pp. 357-358). But for me, the best picture of events in Cambodia is the final page of Chapter 8, The Coup, in March 1970, when Lon Nol overthrew Sihanouk, using the hostility of the urban elite and military officers to Sihanouk to justify a power grab by a former Minister of Defense who "had been the principal scourge of the Vietnamese Communists while privately profiting from the thriving covert business that they brought through Sihanoukville." (p. 113). Sihanouk responded by forming a government recognized by Peking on May 5, 1970, shortly after the American invasion announced by Nixon. Sihanouk had flown from Moscow to China on March 18, 1970, but Lon Nil was still in Cambodia:

Rioting broke out in several provinces; opposition was strongest in the market town of Kompong Cham, Cambodia's second city, fifty miles northeast of Phnom Penh. After Sihanouk's radio broadcast, the town filled with peasants, fishermen and rice farmers from the neighborhood. The townspeople refused the government's orders to remove the Prince's portrait, and they burned down the house of the new governor whom Lon Nol had appointed. Demonstrators gathered in buses and trucks to march on Phnom Penh. They were halted by an army roadblock, and after that . . . About ninety people were killed or wounded. (pp. 126-127).

The most vivid display of anger against Lon Nol occurred, again in Kompong Cham, when peasants seized his brother Lon Nil, killed him and tore his liver from his stomach. The trophy was taken into a Chinese restaurant, where the owner was ordered to cook and slice it. Morsels were handed to everyone in the streets around. (p. 127).