Asian-American Books

The author recounts his command at the initial battle of Khe Sanh village, a shockingly one-sided precursor to the better known siege of the Marine fire base, which was again the prelude to Tet, the culminating point of the Indochina war.
By way of full disclosure: I know the author and think highly of him, but had no idea of his involvement in this battle, so long ago now.
This is a small book mostly intended for military professionals, but full of interesting detail for the outsider. It appears neither as literature nor as a scholarly work, but more as a collection of eyewitness accounts, anchored by the author's recollections, to cast new light on the whole Khe Sanh debacle. Together, they fill a void in history, and the book will surely be welcome among both veterans and professionals.
Colonel - then Captain - Clarke states that his goal is to offer lessons that should be heeded today. I found that his and his compadres' plain narratives are the strongest part of the book, and the lessons more subject to controversy. A body of opinion holds that you can't learn from history; it is countered by the observation that there is nothing else to learn from. My view is that we must learn from history, but if we try too hard we sometimes learn the wrong things.
Those of us who haven't been shot at have to be cautious in commenting on such matters, so I will stick with general observations. Clarke felt that missing Unity of Command was a millstone for the Allied combatants; specifically that the USMC, the US Army, and the ARVN were fighting different wars and did not aid and inform each other as needed. Clearly, as an advisor working with ARVN and Montagnard forces, he did not see eye-to-eye with the USMC at the fire base, nor apparently with General Westmoreland's general strategy of attrition and the obsession with body count.
For my part I never understood why the USMC is fighting land battles. I thought the Marines were supposed to board enemy ships. Perhaps they are not the first choice for COIN (counterinsurgency) duty.
Clarke and his hard-pressed, multinational team did not have this problem with the Air Force. If I saw a lesson here it was surely to not even think about "trying stuff like this at home" unless you have a superb FAC (I suppose UAVs today) and air power on demand, night and day. And clearly, that was Westmoreland's idea: let Giap try his Dien Bien Phu Nr. 2 and he'll see what difference B-52s make. Indeed, the report included calls Khe Sanh a "Dien Bien Phu in reverse." Air Power is usually oversold, but not when used in tactical support of troops. Just look at the "wrong lesson learned" by Israel in Lebanon, thinking to duplicate NATO's air-only campaign in Kosovo, a big enough disaster in itself.
Cpt. Clarke was most upset that his village was evacuated after having withstood a ferocious onslaught of three NVA battalions over 36 hours. It seems logical though - the place would either have to be majorly reinforced, or it was a goner eventually. And it bears mentioning that the NVA thought it was their victory, not Clarke's, as they forced the Allies to withdraw. (A 50-1 kill ratio means nothing to the Politburo.)
The lessons I was most interested in were classical COIN methods like the CAP (Civil Action Program) and the strategic villages concept. Clarke implies that these were the true path to victory, not "body count." Because of all the propaganda out there, it is worth noting that the ARVN fought bravely, the Americans had especially trusting relations with the Montagnards, and few in this area at least seem to have wanted to be under Communist rule. As in 1975, almost all headed for the helicopters, or the road to the coast.
When the first reports came back from Iraq of US soldiers kicking in doors and confiscating weapons, I thought of the praised CAP effort in rural Vietnam and went uh-oh, not good. Surely in COIN you work with the people, as Clarke did, not against them; you don't take their weapons, you give them weapons. If they turn them against you, you shouldn't be there to start with.
As everyone knows, William Colby got his idea for the strategic villages from the Rif-Kabyl situation; but in a general sense it is really the cornerstone of colonial or civilizational development. It was the idea behind the Roman colonias. It may be the only thing that works for Western governments, genocide being off-limits. Thus the ink-blot theories from Iraq - secure the people first, then agonizingly slowly, institutions can take hold. And no one can occupy the whole place. So when Westmoreland asked for 206,000 more troops, he might as well have said: My strategy (attrition) sucks.
Has there ever been a general who thought he had enough troops? When Clark Clifford became SecDef, he asked "what's the strategy for victory?" - There was none, except more of the same. Colonel Clarke reinforces my suspicion that it needn't have been that way. The VC was crushed during Tet, and there was no uprising. The rest was basically NVA against ARVN with diminishing US support. Before the 1972 offensive, it appears the Republic of Vietnam had the wind with it, except that American determination had collapsed at home.
Clarke sheds new light on an old plan. It always seemed that certain moves were critical to win: cut across to the Mekong and stop the NVA directly in Laos; close Sihanoukville, which turned out to be more important for resupply than first thought; and interdict the two railways to China and the harbors (which did happen in 1972). I remember Westmoreland writing (A Soldier Reports) in an offhand way that he thought the Laotian panhandle was the key to victory, but it was never tried. Or at least not until 1971 (Lam Son 719), which was a bloody nose for the ARVN, who could not do this by themselves. Clarke recounts how the plan for such an operation was floated in continuation of Khe Sanh, only to be shot down when LBJ went on TV and declared that he'd had enough, both in office and in Indochina. Thus Vietnam became a disaster squared - dumb to go in, wrong to leave. McArthur is always quoted as warning against getting sucked into a war of attrition on the Asian continent (and he should know) - but his point was that if you're not going for victory, you shouldn't be there in the first place.
I found lots new and interesting in this book: The Royal Laotian Army joining in with the Allies; Cambodian mercenaries being used by the USMC; close combat with rats and rabies, and so on. When all this was going on I was just a boy listening to the news, but I recall that this was expected to be culmination point of the war, which it sort of was; and I recall the posturing about "escalation" by going into Cambodia (and secretly, into Laos). Clarke makes clear what nonsense that was. The first rule in guerilla warfare is you cannot defeat an enemy who has sanctuary. Do the niceties of diplomacy apply to us but not to the enemy?
Finally, some words about presentation. This is a poorly edited book. Dropped punctuation,"it's" as a possessive, "Calusewitz", open-ended quotations, repetitions - you don't expect this from a major publisher. It makes for choppy reading in places. The author's practice of referring to himself in the third person can be disorienting, especially as he slips into the first towards the end. Some trivial errors: The O-1 is not a Piper Cub, and the speed of sound certainly not a kilometer per second. Reviews would have caught things like that.
One non-trivial slip stands out: Not once, but twice - as bookends, so to speak - the Colonel refers to Coventry as an example of how Churchill sacrificed a city to protect the Ultra secret, just, as he asserts, Westmoreland left the young captain exposed so as not to alert the NVA that he knew what was coming. Army folks might not have heard this, but this is one of the hoariest old saws in air power history; it is such a good story, like that of the Danes with their yellow stars, that no matter how many historians you throw at it, it will not go away. There's not a shred of truth to it, and if you thought about it, it couldn't have. The PM could not have saved Coventry if he had tried, and he couldn't have tipped off the Germans; for, unlike the RAF fighters, radar does work at night, and the enemy would have been none the wiser.
Just had to get that out! But it is irrelevant to the book's purpose. It is very good and interesting, and recommendable to all with both a general and specific interest in the subject.

Being born only months before CPT Bruce Clarke was to become a district advisor in Khe Sanh, it would be understandable for this ultranationalist and patriot not to understand the meaning of the book Expendable Warriors: The Battle of Khe Sanh and the Vietnam War. But, the way the story was told allowed this reader to become part of that time in history. Having served with Colonel Bruce Clarke later in his career, I witnessed his leadership skills first hand. Yet, as depicted in the book, even in 1968 he already possessed these skills, no doubt refined even further by the time I met him. This book is part memoir, part tactical assessment and part history clarifier. You need not be a career army or marine officer to appreciate and understand this book. I highly recommend it.

Richard Charles Dewees
Douglassville, Pennsylvania
President, The Dewees Group, Inc.
Former member of the "Fighting First"
Dagger Brigade, 1st ID - Big Red One

I was stationed not far from Col. Clarke, although in a usually more tranquil area. I met him on a few occasions, including on a trip to his Khe Sanh village. I also knew several of the headquarters leaders he wrote about. Let me say, that, although I have not finished Clarke's book, almost every page gives me the chills, and - no - I don't suffer from flashbacks. I keep saying to my wife - "Are you asleep?; I've got to read this to you!" Hard to believe almost 40 years have gone by. The story is incredible.

Bud Stevenson Fairfield, CA

First the disclaimer. I am mentioned very briefly, actually 2-3 times, in the book. I was one of the three American officers in the compound during the NVA attack. You'll have to decide whether this review is completely objective in light of my direct involvement.

I was there. That's the way it happened.

It is a very little known part of the Vietnam War. Everyone's eyes have been focused on the Marine Corps Combat Base at Khe Sanh and the months that it was under constant artillery and mortar bombardment. Without taking away from the bravery of those who had to withstand it, there is only brief mention at most in the history of Khe Sanh that the District headquarters compound, consisting of a mix of 175, mostly Vietnamese paramilitary and Montagnard tribemen troops under the direction of US Army and Marine Corps Advisors, and the Vietnamese military District Chief, repulsed an attack by a North Vietnamese regiment-sized force of about 2,000 fresh troops with brand new equipment that had just crossed from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The attack lasted for a period of about 36 hours before the defenders were ordered to abandon the District Headquarters. We were able to survive because the author of this book, a West Point graduate, called artillery "air-burst" rounds directly over our position at the height of the attack. The book describes the bravery of the Army medic, the Air Force spotter who directed jets to bomb the enemy positions, the failed attempt to bring in reinforcements who were ambushed by NVA lying in wait, and the "Puff the Magic Dragon" plane circling during the night firing its Gattling guns to protect the defenders. The defenders were eventually evacuated by helicopter on the second day or had to traverse enemy territory by foot to make it to the Marine Corps Base.

Having been ordered to abandon the District HQ, the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) took control of the area between the Marine Corps Combat Base and the Lang Vei Special Forces Camp, which the NVA later attacked and overran with amphibious tanks, thereby totally isolating the Marine Corps Base Camp.

If you want to know the full picture of the Battle of Vietnam, especially the complete story of the Battle at Khe Sanh, you need to know how the NVA planned and executed an objective that was intended to be the American version of the defeat of the French at Diem Bien Phu. The NVA, ultimately, lost the Battle of Khe Sanh militarily but "won the war" through its continued insurgency and the resultant media attention and reporting back home.

Are there lessons to be learned for our present military operations? I'll leave that for the reader to decide.

Though a part of Texas A&M's military history series, this book often serves as more of a study in the political conflicts between the Defense and State Departments. As a result, it details enough of the conflict between the two to intrigue both Koreaphiles and those interested in the political process and posturing.

The author was in the unique position to know fully about both positions during key moments in Korea's modern history. The result is a read that is sometimes funny, often insightful, and always interesting.

Perhaps what is best about this book is that while it helps to have a basic understanding of Korea's recent history in advance, it is by no means required. Young's straightforward style makes otherwise complicated issues seem as simple as night and day. It also provides a wealth of information in under 200 pages without overwhelming the reader.

Eye on Korea is a tremendous contribution to modern Korean history. It is a very easy and entertaining read. It will appeal to those who know nothing about Korea, and to those of us who have lived or travelled there extensively. There is little to no jargon, things that would not be familiar to the average reader are explained quickly and clearly.

I have spent the better part of my adult life in Korea or working with Koreans. I was surprised and delighted by the things I learned by Eye on Korea. It filled many gaps in my understanding of how things went down in the late 70's and 80's. It was full of names, places and events that I recognized, but had never before had a coherent picture of how they all related. Eye on Korea provides that coherence.

If I am forced to complain about anything, it would be the brevity. I would have enjoyed a couple hundred more pages. It's evident from what Col. Young tells us--and from what he doesn't tell us--that he knows enough to fill volume upon volume.

This is a MUST BUY for anyone interested in Modern Korea or Korean-US relations.

James Young, one of the American military's first area specialists, has written what may well be the most interesting and definitive book on recent Korean-American diplomatic and military relations in print today. Young, a former Army Colonel, spent almost 20 years in Asia, including 14 in Korea, where he was an advisor to five American ambassadors and several Secretaries of Defense. In this appealing memoir, he writes with the expertise of an old Korea hand.

After four years of training in Korean language and culture, Young was a first hand witness and participant as American diplomats convinced South Korean President Park Chung-hee not to develop his own nuclear weapons. The lessons from this experience might well be of use today in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

From the perspective of a military attache,Young provides new insights into the intrigue and behind-the-scenes efforts to derail President Jimmy Carter's troop withdrawal policies. His on-the-scene account of the military coup of 1979, and subsequent events, is extraordinarily authoritative and comprehensive, and provides new information for historians. He provides personal observations on the imposition of martial law and the Kwangju incident that followed, when Korean military forces ran amok during protests in the city and killed and wounded hundreds of civilians. For the first time, he details how the United States was caught flat-footed, and how policy makers at the time failed to respond, thus sowing the seeds of anti-Americanism in the years to come.

Additionally, Young's insider account of dealing with the senior leadership in North Korea in both diplomatic negotiations and business settings makes a major contribution to understanding the internal dynamics within this secretive state.

"Eye on Korea" is a great mixture of contemporary military and diplomatic history. It offers stories that are entertaining, provocative, and often humorous. Those interested in the region, the issues, and modern Korea will value this book.

Colonel Jim Young has developed a keen analytical eye for things Korean developed over a multi-decade career of study, friendship and focus on this fascinating but enigmatic country. Young uses the vehicle of autobiography to detail some of the high points in the modern developmental history of South Korea and along the way opens the curtain to an insider's view of US governmental machinations. The Colonel had an uncanny way of being involved over many years with key events in US-Korean relations such as threatened troop withdrawals under President Carter, assassination of President Park, the death of dictator Kim Il-sung in North Korea, the murder of US Army officers and many, many other events. Final chapters discuss nuclear North Korea and the complexity of the tense situation there.
This book offers the reader a fresh insight to events and analysis not seen elsewhere. It is written for a non-technical audience but is valuable for the cognoscenti as well. I recommend 'Eye on Korea' most enthusiastically to every concerned person who wonders what the future holds for America in the vital but tumultuous environment of the Korean Peninsula.

What a shame. This book gives a good outline of the events of the war and what happens when politics, not military know how runs a war.

I wrote 'Fiasco' and was pleasantly surprised by how well it was done as an audiobook. I actually listened to it on my commute and enjoyed it. I recommend it highly.

This book provides a good analysis of some of the mistakes the U.S. made in the war in Iraq. I would classify the problems he describes into two main mistakes. First, the Bush administration imagined that WWII is a good analogy for the threat that the U.S. faces from the mideast. That wouldn't have been a particularly unusual problem in a war if they had corrected their worldview when they saw evidence of enemies using a very different strategy.
The biggest and least excusable problem was that the lack of anything clear enough to be called a military strategy. It almost sounds like Bush thought the sound bites used to market the invasion to voters amounted to an adequate description of military goals. This left various parts of the U.S. forces pursuing conflicting strategies that ranged from attempts to aid Iraqis in building a democracy to attempts to conquer Iraq for its Al-Qaeda connections, leaving U.S. forces to a confused pursuit of conflicting strategies that guaranteed increased Iraqi hostility toward the U.S. without accomplishing much else.
This book suffers somewhat from a narrow scope and an over-reliance on opinions from within the U.S. military. Ricks and his sources seem to be too optimistic that they've learned a strategy that has some chance of working if U.S. voters are patient enough, but they show no familiarity with the analysis in Robert Pape's book Dying to Win which suggests that the strategy advocated in Fiasco will perpetuate the conditions under which suicide bombings increase.
The book implies that a sufficiently wise set of leaders could have produced a strategy with a reasonable chance of success, but I'm left doubting that any U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein could have produced a good result.
The book is mostly cautious about historical events that the author can't verify, such as Bush's motives, and the extent to which U.S. policy was manipulated by Iran.
I'm curious why Fiasco doesn't devote much attention to the current Iraqi government. Possibly it is sufficiently tainted by its association with the U.S. that it is irrelevant, but if so I would have expected an argument to that effect.

I commute 64 miles a day by car and this CD made my commute fly by. The narrator helped me keep all the general straight-- all of whom were saying in one way or another: "This isn't going to work" or "What is Plan B once Plan A fails?". I sat in my office driveway listening to "Fiasco"!
I highly recomend it..........now I need to buy something else.....or wait for Tom Ricks to write a follow-up.

It's good to see it all down and organized in the way you have in a single book. Makes history very readable, especially for those of us who got almost no Philippine or Philippine-American history in our American education of 2 & 3 generations ago.

This is a great book (a must reading for all Fil-Ams). It looks like a time capsule with details. It will make a good gift to friends and the young Filipino Americans.

I admire the exhaustive and authoritative historical contents,the substance, style and layout of The Filipino Americans. It isfluid, easy to read and above all very informative. It deserves to be in every home library of families who love history.

Laced with reproductions of paintings and photographs from various sources, this fact-filled volume provides readers, in the early chapters, with a fascinating view of the always exciting, sometimes poignant, and too often tragic history of the Philippine archipelago. For many Americans unfamiliar with the mercurial nature of United States policy towards the Philippines following the Spanish American War, there will be surprises. Read carefully the content of letters from foot soldiers to their schoolmates and families back home. The author's many chapters on the distinct periods of Filipino immigration to Hawaii, Alaska, and the contiguous United States are colorful and informative. The reader discovers that it is the rich heritage of diverse customs and traditions that make the Filipino presence an especially welcome addition to the American scene. This is a book that everyone will enjoy.

Son's debut novel, an entry in the First Person Fiction series, is a tender quasi-memoir detailing his childhood in a Korean immigrant family, trying to find his place in a new and unfamiliar world. Jin-Han's father is in love with American opportunity and is determined to own his own business. He purchases a wig shop, which takes them from Chicago to Memphis to Houston, where they are at last successful. Along the way, Jin-Han experiences the usual pains of adolescence fitting in, understanding the opposite sex but with the added challenge of an unusual name, language and appearance. Son's language is at times startling with its simple elegance: Jin-Han's first kiss makes his insides feel "like a beehive on a warm, sunny afternoon," and his depiction of a dance party at a friend's house, in which the kids keep playing the same slow dance over and over, captures the essence of sweet teenage romanticism. The family dynamic is strong; Jin-Han's parents emerge as robust and complex individuals. Jin-Han ultimately emerges as his own man, a product of his family ties but not prisoner to them. The book liberally uses Korean words and phrases Jin-Han's mother is his Uhmmah, his father his Ahpbah and includes a brief glossary, which adds another pinch of flavor to an already inviting and warm story. Ages 11-15. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

One of Jin-Han Park's first memories is of the time he lost a hat that his mother had knitted for him. The wind carried it off and somehow, though he has worn many hats since then, he remembers that particular one best of all. Perhaps it is because his mother can no longer knit him a new hat.

We follow Jin-Han's memories from the time he lost his hat to when he lost his mother. These two points of reference are tied together for Jin-Han, connected forever in his heart. But there are some wonderful stories that lie between them. We can enjoy hearing about class photograph day when Jin-Han was in kindergarten, his first kiss, what it was like to become a big brother, and the many other times he shared with his family and friends.

Author John Son has created a collection of stories that will make you smile. It will also make you stop and think about the life of immigrants and the many hardships they have to face. There are so many things that need to be learned and understood. Jin-Han and his family undoubtedly must have felt isolated at times, like a small island in the vast sea of American life. We also see how the second generation can become separated from the first. Jin-Han wants to be as American as his friends are, while his parents still hold on to the Korean ways. As we watch Jin-Han grow up, we can see the divide between the parents and the boy widen; it is both interesting and sad to watch.

John Son involves us in the life of his Korean family and proves he can tell a wonderful story.

--- Reviewed by Marya Jansen-Gruber (mjansengruber@mindspring.com)

I read the paperback version of this book. It was written in simple text but yet it was very compelling. Being adopted from Korea, I thought at some points in life that living with Korean parents would be better. But after reading this book,I realized, at least I didn't have the cultural differences to go along with being a person of color.
I would recommend this book for other kids/adults that were adopted from Korea. Because it gives you insight on the way we might have grown up if we were living with our natural parents. And it fills in some of those missing blanks that all of us have.

In this memoir-ish novel of growing up in the 70s and 80s, Jin-Han's parents are Korean immigrants to the USA who make a living by running a wig shop with a predominantly Black clientele. While this entry into American capitalism was not atypical for immigrant Korean families, it is an atypical lifestyle for a child becoming an American teenager. Jin-Han's story is told at the point where these several worlds meet, and it is an engaging and moving story. Perfect for young adults and general readers. I found it to be a superior book. I really loved it.

Maybe it's because I just got finished reading Camus' "Stranger", but this book seems a lot like it. It's told from the point of view of Dick and the narrative seems very existential, grounded right in the very moment, with only little concern for the future. Also, there is the 'tough-guy" style of narrative which Camus confessed to using. Very truncated sentences. Very narrowed point of view which results in a sense of isolation. It's ultra-modern because it seems to go beyond issues of ethnicity, right down to the very basic necessities of all human life. The author goes out of the way to point out things like breathable air, and water and food and shelter. It's a very short book and very difficult to put down. Disturbing, fascinating and entertaining at the same time. I don't know why I should say this but it gives me confidence that there are actually other people out there who think. Is the author coming out with anything else soon?

Having been acquainted with the author now for some years, I have the sneaking suspicion that his intention in "Fun With..." was to shock us with the zeal of an emerging agnosticism, to render modern angst through the perspective of an intelligent yet simple character. If anything, Quiray is honest. And this honesty comes through in the inescapable theme of multiculturalism. In a world of western freedoms tempered by puritanical heritage, chaotic diversity is the rule. The final truth: Dick is brown, and Dick can't possibly know what this means. In conversation Quiray has spoken often of dramatic scenarios, `writing styles' and other various artistic devices (musical, visual, gastronomical) which transcend loyalty to friends, family, ethnicity and country. I won't say that he has failed at such a burdensome task. On the contrary, I have spoken to a few mutual friends who have read the book and they candidly reported that they were somewhat repulsed by what they perceived as apparent misanthropy. A jobless, appetite-driven photographer who takes pictures of roadkill? But, I would quickly append that Quiray also does a surprisingly decent job of exposing a slew of complex philosophical, sociological and psychological modern-day dilemmas armed only with one and two-syllable words in simple declarative sentences. And I believe the greatest thing about this book is that, despite ourselves, we come to love this character although we know very little about him. Living his spartan-like, stark existence, Dick is us--without the commercial insulation each of us have erected around ourselves. And despite the lonesome weariness he shoulders in his pursuit of transcendence, it is his desire for intimate spiritual connection with his neighbor which captures our heart and preserves his dignity. Artists live by different rules, and sometimes it is justified. If we're lucky, everybody benefits.

Remembering my reading of Quiray's second novel from a distance of almost a year, I realize that "Fun With Dick and Jana" gives voice to the mutual attraction of two adult friends struggling to express their complex, and intense, affection in a dead-end world where that affection is threatened by boredom and dis-ease about the future. Their lives unravel in a small college town filled with their own barely audible disappointments and too many memories of growing through adolescence into their early 20s. Quiray's main character is a man of confused ambitions, mixed emotions and striking intelligence who works odd jobs to pay constantly truant bills while wandering into various confrontations with other nomadic souls. As these situations unravel, including a car crash, a variety of landlord avoidances, a wedding photography session, numerous thoughts on modern multi-culturalism and brushes with casual sexual contact, "FWDJ" becomes more a character study of early adult struggle than it is a love story, drama, adventure or moral tale, although it contains aspects of each. Instead "FWDJ" circles in the difficulty of maintaining a forward course in life as it is set upon by the striking need to "just grow up" and the simultaneous conflict of not knowing what growing up means. By novel's end, Quiray's lovers, and their ambiguous relationship with their small town, realize a tenuous balance between happiness and sadness that fills them with hope for a future that holds excitment and accomplishment as the carrot sticks prodding adult maturation. "FWDJ" is a story of transition and companionship, and realizing that all futures begin with first steps through who we have been into who we want to become.

Found the characters closely paralleled my own personal experiences. Somewhat of a coming of age story about Dick and friends trials with life, friends, parents, females, morals etc. Anyone who's ever been confused about life will appreciate the book and the message it offers.

It is really delightful to see a book on Geet Govinda comprising some new and original material including interesting legends and anecdotes attached to it. A common reader also gets the bird's view about the tradition of Indian Miniature Painting. The brief narration of each canto in lucid language is another significant characteristic of this book. It is general belief that this is an exclusive poem of physical love only but a new dimension of this great lyric is explored when we find that this great poem is a poem of supreme oneness. Radha and Krishna, though two different souls, exist as one. Radha yearns for a complete merging with Krishna. The quote of Dr. Vidhya Niwas Misra is worth observing in the book, "No poem based on physical love could succeeded in carrying the burden of the density of sentiments and no poem could have succeeded in giving so powerful a direction to the stream of sentiments that the ocean would have become eager to merge himself into a drop".

The leaves have been produced so lively that they truly represent the rich heritage of Indian Painting in the remote area of Khandesh in the later decades of 18th Century. Not only the scholars and art lovers but also the people of Khandesh were unaware about this painting tradition of their own area. The fine blending of different Rajasthani and Malwa styles can be found in these paintings. This fusion is entirely a new discovery for the world of Indian Art.

It is a great and unique experience to see the visual transformations of a legendry love poem composed by Jaideva long long time ago. Geet Govinda is though a love poem focused on Radha and Madhava's love plays but is also a strong symbol of the expressions of various disciplines of Indian Art, like dance, music, drama, recitation and painting. This is a rare work in which we find the wide consultation of Hindi and Sanskrit sources, least took place in the earlier works on Geet Govinda. The connoisseurs as well as the art loving readers of the west will enjoy unique experience while going through the superb text and fantastic colorful pictures of Radha and Madhva's love plays. The pictures in the book are sequentially arranged in such a way that the whole story emerges automatically before the eyes. The text comprises the story of eternal love, history of Radha's emergence and the discovery of new style of painting. The book adds a new chapter in the history of art and is useful for a reader who inclines to look at the charming Indian images of great love along with their poetic narration.

The book narrates the journey of love. This lovely Sanskrit poem of 12th Century significantly impressed upon the different branches of the fine arts in India. The history of Indian painting is incomplete without the history of the painting traditions flourished in different regions of India in different time frames depicting this great love story of Radha and Madhava, composed by Jaideva. This love poem established Radha as an eternal symbol of fervid emotional surrender for Krishna. The illustrations in the book are superb and the text is very live and lucid. It is a path breaking work, which established that the painting tradition of Geet Govinda prevailed also in Deccan. Prior to this work it was considered as if the painting tradition of Geet Govinda prevailed only in North India. The book is nicely published. The content gives lot of new material coupled with some unique pictures of the Indian melodies, the Ragas and Raganis. The lovers of Art and Literature both should warmly welcome the book.

The book talks about the discovery of a new style of miniature paiting which was prevalent in a part of central India. The pictures of the paintings are extremely beautiful and follow a pattern. The author has put down the reasonings behind why these paitings have something in common and different from the other styles very well. The overall quality of publication and the language of the text is extremely good.

I have returned to Vietnam many times...I speak the language and have known about the atrocities that occured after April 30, 1975. I have read and re-read this work and I compare it to another great book...Decent Interval by Frank Snepp. The stories are unique yet the same, reeking of betrayal and abandonment by a "friend".
The author reveals arduous research and the ability to place these anecdotes onto paper without losing emotion and perhaps color. As a previous reviewer has stated...better late than never. My congradulations and thanks to the author.
I would give this book more stars if possible.
I am the author of ...Eye of the Tiger and Thoughts Etched in Jade.

In this book, Dr. McKelvey wrote a detailed and intimate account of the South Vietnamese military officers' fates after the end of the Vietnam War.

The message is troublesome but not surprising: the military personnel were rounded into re-education camps and suffered untold tragedies from humiliation, torture, mental degradation to physical impoverishment within a communist prison system. The majority of the officers were jailed from ten to fifteen years; one officer was detained for a total of 22 years.

While 70,000 former political inmates and their families were allowed to immigrate to the U.S. through the ODP (Orderly Departure Program), many more are still living on the fringes of the Vietnamese communist society. A former major drives a pedicab for a living. In this McKelvey's book, we heard the voices of a doctor, a tailor, a politician, an engineer, a spy, a pilot, and a teacher. They all endured "grueling and unforgiving ordeals that only the strongest would have survived." Family members were ostracized for being related to the political prisoners; their wives suffered uncounted financial, emotional, physical hardships, their children barred from a decent education.

The book is one of the few that deal with the long-term psychological effects of the incarceration on the inmates and the sufferings of their relatives.

The author concludes that: 1) War does not end when peace treaties are signed because the negative rippling effects of war and destruction affect many generations to come. 2) The U.S. should be very careful about intervening militarily in any part of the World. 3) The U.S., if it does go to war, cannot simply abandon friends and allies to the mercies of common enemies.

McKelvey, a Marine veteran of Vietnam, penned a marvelous oral history of former reeducation camp survivors. The Introduction is personal and touching. The book contains four major sections dealing with interviews with former prisoners: a doctor, an engineer, a tailor, a pilot and a spy. Families of prisoners give their stories of carrying on while their loved ones were in captivity.

The author probes deeply into the postwar lives of these former public servants and officers of South Vietnam. From the initial reporting date in June 1975 until their release, the interviewees recall the brutal details of the camps, their captors and the communist indoctrination--basically hard labor and starvation. "Reeducation" is a misnomer.

Nixon and Kissinger's "Peace with Honor" never materialized. Ford took care of the refugees in the U.S. but didn't/couldn't intervene. Carter, well...he was busy with pardoning draft dodgers and Iran. The U.N. and Amnesty International finally took notice in 1979 when it was too late for the majority of those who had perished.

I give this book four stars only because it reeks of academia, its format of Q&A rather than an arcing narrative. It should be included in every Vietnam class, especially those professors and students who care to learn about America's defeated and abandoned allies.

I am a student from Vietnam and now studying in the U.S. I chanced to read this book in our university library. Thanks the AUTHOR for an insightful book.

In fact, my family background was 'clean' in the eyes of our government because my parents were not involved in any military service for the former government. But I have friends whose family situations were exactly the same as those portrayed in the book. I must say those are incredible human sufferings, and not only for one generation. I am glad some of those stories are now heard, perhaps a bit late but still, better than never.

Here's a life-time lesson for me (and perhaps some others): no matter how and what communists tell you, don't hastily believe them. Just look at what and how they do, and you'll see it for yourself. For many of them, human dignity and lives are trivial and cheap.

My son read this book as part of a book club. He enjoyed it thouroughly. It gave us an opportunity to talk about a different culture. Some of the text describing the behaviors and actions of the characters were a great place to ask text comprehension questions. I enjoyed reading it along side with my son.

I read this book and then had my 8 year old daughter read it and give me a report on it. She not only loved the story, she picked up on Pong Lo's plan right away and couldn't wait to get to the end to see what came of it. It's a very good story with more than one great lesson.

Multiplicaton pays the bills .He wants to marry the princess,but he is a peasant. See how Pong Lo wins the right to marry her by using his math skills. Wonderful story about an old culture and about how smart people are regardless of their social stature.Ahhhhh....yes ! DON'T FORGET THE RICE.

This is a great story for teaching how something as small as a grain of rice can earn a farmer a marriage to the princess, and a kingdom. Multiplication is used in the book, and can spring into a math lesson for teachers and parents alike. It is most likely to interest 4th and 5th grade children.

The author has presented an excellent historical account of a unique part of the Vietnam war which until now has largely gone untold. He has done this by combining personal accounts of Recon Marines with his own extensive hands-on experience. Of his 20 years on active duty, Lt. Col. Bill Floyd served 13 years in Reconnaissance and Special Operations billets.
In Vietnam 1967-68, he served in every capacity from Platoon to Battalion Commander of Recon Marines. Later he served as the Ground Reconnaissance and Special Operations Officer on the staff of the I Corps Commander/CG Third Marine Amphibious Force. In that capacity he got to see the full spectrum of all special operations conducted in the I Corps.

With his extensive background, he very eloquently presents facts and makes the case that Marine Recon patrols along the DMZ were performed in the most dangerous combat environment of the Vietnam war. The battles of the Third Marine Division along the DMZ were with NVA divisions whose artillery out-gunned and out-ranged American artillery. He points out that the Marines were not dealing with an elusive enemy but rather were met with well equipped and numerically superior North Vietnamese regulars who utilized the camouflage of the mountainous jungle to their fullest advantage. They were able to move large concentrations of troops around without being detected from the air. To counter this, Third Marine Division utilized reconnaissance teams extensively and with great effectiveness.

This book reveals just how difficult and dangerous it was to be a Recon Marine up along the DMZ. It is a lasting tribute to those who served and sacrificed in that capacity.

Reading through this book I found that it personifies the word "family". It is an excellent collection of anecdotes presented in a fashion that is neither subjective nor objective but something else...something that crosses all of these parameters and leaves the reader astonished that such things did in fact occur... perhaps this can only be classified as a "labor of love".
As a writer I found the book to be well crafted and of course extremely informative; but, as a poet I found it to be something more, something that forces it's way into the heart of the reader conguring a smile or perhaps a tear. Though he will never admit it...this effort was not an easy task for the author. This is his gift to those that he led into what was then the "worst place on Earth". I, along with many others, watched as he unselfishly wrote about the "teen-aged warriors" that would have followed him into the depths of Hell had he asked. I am proud to be mentioned in this wonderful work of art. From all of us, thanks Bill.
Eddie Delezen 3rd Force Recon Co. Nov. 1965 - Dec. 1968.
Author of ...Eye of the Tiger...and ...Thoughts Etched in Jade.

LtCol Bill Floyd, USMC (ret), the first XO and then CO of this volunteer company formed in Camp Geiger, Camp Lejeune, NC in 1965, chronicles the Vietnam combat experiences of his highly trained Marines and navy corpsmen, commissioned for special duty in support of the 3D Marine Division along the DMZ. Writing from the heart, desiring to leave a written legacy of the men he deeply respected, Bill Floyd describes first person accounts of his men in combat against NVA regulars, men in covertly inserted 4-8 man recon teams, patrolling for several days often beyond the reach of supporting fire. Readers will taste the tension, the fear, the pride, and the professionalism of the men so respected by the writer. The personal accounts are stunning in scope. Recon Marines saved hundreds of their fellow grunts who would have faced overwhelming odds if the recon Marines had not executed their role so superbly often surrounded by NVA forces. Recon casualties were many but none of the wounded, the dead, or the survivors, would regret their great sacrifices, because of their pride and dedication to each other in their performance in accomplishing some of the most dangerous duty in Vietnam.
Bill (Doc) Bentley, 3d Force Recon, 1966-67.

This is a story, told in their own words, of the Marines and corpsmen of 3d Force reconnaissance company; it's a story of valor, sacrifice and, above all, devotion to their fellow Marines and sailors. Other books (Alex Lee's "Force Recon Command and Bruce Norton's "Force Recon Diary") have covered the company's latter years in Vietnam. This book begins with the formation of the company in 1965 and its initial deployment to Vietnam in 1966. I had the honor of serving as a platoon commander and intelligence officer in 1967/8. It was a highpoint of my life to serve with the men in this book.

When 3d Force Recon Co. was formed in October 1965 then Captain, W. C. Floyd was the initial executive officer. He took command of the company in June 1966 and remained in that billet until November 1967. He oversaw the training and preparation prior to and then the deployment to Vietnam. He has intertwined the accounts of the men in the company with historical notes from Ray Stubbe's Aarugha, the history of Marine Corps force reconnaissance, and his own perspective as the commanding officer. It is a story well worth reading.

There are many descriptions of patrolling in the field and enemy contacts. It's worth reading this book to benefit from the many "lessons learned" by recon teams working in extreme conditions. It's also an excellent account of equipment, tactics and techniques used in a war that is, for most of today's Marines, ancient history.

The book covers all aspects of company operations, from patrolling to support activities. Some of these, like the road convoys (called "rough riders") which inserted many teams and the communication network which kept the teams in contact with the rear, are important but little known parts of the overall recon operation.

One chapter is devoted to the courageous Navy corpsmen who were members of the company. These sailors were two time volunteers, first volunteering to serve with the FMF and second, to serve in force recon. Anyone who has served with corpsmen, particularly in combat, has the highest respect for these men.

I personally found the chapter titled "Reflections" the most moving part of the book. In this chapter, as the title indicates, members of the company, now all well into middle age, reflect back on what serving in 3d Force means to them. It, more than anything else, is a commentary on what was, for most of us, one of the high points of our lives.

I think present day Marines will enjoy this book, not only for the descriptions of combat in Vietnam but also for the deeper message of the bonding of men in war. I'm sure that many Marines who have served in Iraq can and will relate to the experiences and feelings in this book.