Customer Reviews

1st Marine Division in Vietnam (Spearhead)

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Part of Zenith Press' SPEARHEAD series, 1ST MARINE DIVISION IN VIETNAM, written by well-known military historian Simon Dunstan, relates the history of the Marine Corps' oldest, most decorated division in the Vietnam War. If Dunstan's book is representative of the SPEARHEAD series, readers are in for a treat. 1ST MARINE DIVISION IN VIETNAM is an excellent, comprehensive, informative and well-illustrated summary of this distinguished unit in action.

Following a brief summary of the 1st MarDiv's history, Dunstan relates the unit's history in Vietnam, this section accounting for 76 of the book's 128 pages. Units of the Division arrived in South Vietnam in July 1965; the last elements not leaving until May 1971. Operating in I Corps the Division took part in dozens of major operations, being awarded two Presidential Unit Citations. Dunstan devotes the remainder of the book to "Equipment and Uniforms," "Organization," "Personalities" and "Assessment."

I most enjoyed the "In Action" history, which combined command-level and line-doggie viewpoints along with side-bars on topics like tour of duty, 1st MAW CAS, recon units, etc. The "Personalities" section - which described unit 'movers & shakers' and CMH winners - was nicely done. Lastly, the "Assessment" section was especially interesting.

The book features dozens of b&w and color photographs, maps, diagrams and insignia.

Short and sweet: an excellent summary of a legendary unit in combat. Kudos to Simon Dunstan and Zenith Books. Highly recommended.