Armies of the Vietnam War 1962-75 (Men-at-Arms) (Bk.1) [Paperback]

Philip Katcher (Author), Mike Chappell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Men-at-Arms | Publication Date: July 24, 1980

Philip Katcher provides an overview to the conflict that engulfed Vietnam following the division of the country into two along the 17th Parallel in 1954. The uniforms and insignia of the US forces, including the army, Special Forces, air force, navy and marine corps, are dealt with in detail, together with those of the ARVN, the Allied Forces (such as the Royal Thai Army and Korean troops), and also the Communist NLF (Viet Cong) and NVA forces. Mike Chappell's colourful artwork provides plenty of detail to accompany this authoritative text.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Packed with specially commissioned artwork, maps and diagrams, the Men-at-Arms series is an unrivalled illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the world's military forces, past and present.

About the Author

Philip Katcher was born in Los Angeles, California, to parents involved in the film industry. He was educated at the University of Maryland and served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He has also been an active participant in living history activities, especially in the 18th and 19th century periods. He has written a number of books on various periods of US military history and presently is editor/publisher of Military Images Magazine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (July 24, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850453607
• ISBN-13: 978-0850453607
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Superseded by Later More Detailed Works, December 22, 2001

By 

El Cutachero (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Armies of the Vietnam War 1962-75 (Men-at-Arms) (Bk.1) (Paperback)

Though I have had this book for a long time, I have seldom looked at it. As a specialist in this period and a veteran of the Cold War Army I have studied this period in real time since the fifties.
In any case, the book is now obsolescent except for the color illustrations. At the age of 23 it has long been superseded by the works of Shelby Stanton (c.f.) and others.
The author did serve in Vietnam but since we were there for eight years, as often stated, due to the replacement system, we fought eight different one year wars, not one eight year war.
Those who were there in 1965 and earlier looked like those who served in the 1950s, by the end of the war, the soldiers' clothing and equipment was totally revised and had gone through two cycles of development and entering on a third which began during the last years of US participation and remained in use till the late eighties.
So you cannot generalize about VM, you need to know where someone was, and most important, when.
This book is simply not comprehensive enough nor is its companion in this series (#143), which was an attempt to fill in the gaps left by this one.
Every national contingent who served in VM could well support its own study, the Australians and the South Koreans come readily to mind.