Baptism: A Vietnam Memoir [Mass Market Paperback]

Larry Gwin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 2, 1999

"The 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry had the dubious distinction of being the unit that had fought the biggest battle of the war to date, and had suffered the worst casualties. We and the 1st Battalion."

A Yale graduate who volunteered to serve his country, Larry Gwin was only twenty-three years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1965. After a brief stint in the Delta, Gwin was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in An Khe. There, in the hotly contested Central Highlands, he served almost nine months as executive officer for Alpha Company, 2/7, fighting against crack NVA troops in some of the war's most horrific battles.

The bloodiest conflict of all began November 12, 1965, after 2nd Battalion was flown into the Ia Drang Valley west of Pleiku. Acting as point, Alpha Company spearheaded the battalion's march to landing zone Albany for pickup, not knowing they were walking into the killing zone of an NVA ambush that would cost them 10 percent casualties.

Gwin spares no one, including himself, in his gut-wrenching account of the agony of war. Through the stench of death and the acrid smell of napalm, he chronicles the Vietnam War in all its nightmarish horror.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"The 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry had the dubious distinction of being the unit that had fought the biggest battle of the war to date, and had suffered the worst casualties. We and the 1st Battalion."

A Yale graduate who volunteered to serve his country, Larry Gwin was only twenty-three years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1965. After a brief stint in the Delta, Gwin was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in An Khe. There, in the hotly contested Central Highlands, he served almost nine months as executive officer for Alpha Company, 2/7, fighting against crack NVA troops in some of the war's most horrific battles.

The bloodiest conflict of all began November 12, 1965, after 2nd Battalion was flown into the Ia Drang Valley west of Pleiku. Acting as point, Alpha Company spearheaded the battalion's march to landing zone Albany for pickup, not knowing they were walking into the killing zone of an NVA ambush that would cost them 10 percent casualties.

Gwin spares no one, including himself, in his gut-wrenching account of the agony of war. Through the stench of death and the acrid smell of napalm, he chronicles the Vietnam War in all its nightmarish horror.

About the Author

Larry Gwin was commissioned as an infantry lieutenant out of Yale University in 1963. After two years with the 82d Airborne Division, he served as an advisor to a South Vietnamese Army battalion in the Mekong Delta before joining the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in September 1965. Assigned to Alpha Company, 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment (A 2/7), he served as their executive officer for almost nine months. During that time, A 2/7 made more than forty-five combat assaults, fought in five major engagements, usually against North Vietnamese regulars, and suffered in excess of 70 percent casualties. Gwin returned from Vietnam as a captain and taught history as an ROTC instructor at Northeastern University before leaving the army and heading to Boston University Law School in 1968. Graduating in 1971, he practiced law in Boston until 1982, when he "dropped out" to write and teach. Since then he has written more than eighty-five published pieces, taught at the prep school and college levels, and commenced an arbitration practice. He has two grown sons, Sam and Rob, and resides north of Boston, where he continues to write and arbitrate securities cases. In 1996, he was awarded a Silver Star for his extraordinary heroism in the Ia Drang Valley. Baptism is his first book.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1st Ed. edition (November 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804119228
• ISBN-13: 978-0804119221
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > History > Asia > Southeast Asia

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars AMONG THE WALKING WOUNDED December 1, 1999

By richard rescorla

Format:Mass Market Paperback

One of the few narratives to come out of Vietnam that digs deep under the camouflage of a sensitive yet tough infantry officer.AUTHOR Larry GWIN took over thirty years to reveal this wonderful memoir,and readers will surely feel the wait was worth it. BAPTISM is not merely an I-was-there war story,even though it blasts its way through some of the bloodiest encounters of the war. Rather,this book is the haunting story of a man who was proud to answer his country's call to arms,urged on by family history and the single mindedness of Yale ROTC training (ranger,airborne all the way).To such an idealist,the mud-and-blood sacrifice and idiotic blundering inherent in war was almost certain to offer a very painful baptism indeed.Whether he is describing the anguish of seeing comrades blown to bits by friendly fire or an act of cruelty imposed on a boom-boom girl,the author's eye is merciless and all revealing.Gwin deals with the twilight of war,bringing those of us who were grunts back to the alien landscape we struggled against but did not understand.His book is lyrical at times,all about the death of valor and the angry rebirth of an American fighting man,"doomed from here to eternity". VETERANS will recognize the honesty of this book,while civilians,especially women,will better understand the flak jacket that conceals every combat soldier's heart. A MAGNIFICENT book. It should be enjoyed along with Joseph Galloway's and Hal Moore's WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE AND YOUNG,a best seller that provides a big picture of the FIRST CAV in combat, and covers some of the battles and firefights so poignantly described by LARRY GWIN.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best I have ever read about Vietnam '65-67 Era. May 30, 2003

By J. Walton

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This book I shall keep in my library forever. I hope someday my kids will read this. I was at An Khe and Larry captures it exactly as I remember it. Many books have been written about Vietnam, and each person's recollections are personal to his own perceptions of his time there. No two are the same;But Larry tells it like I remember it. This is an outstanding book! I couldnt help but make notations as I read it. A classic to my way of thinking. Anyone that wants to know what it was like, read this book.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Memoir of a Year in Vietnam August 28, 2002

By H. S. Wedekind VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

After reading the first chapter of Larry Gwin's book, I was hooked. This memoir, a story of a naive 1st lieutenant who is sent to Vietnam, survives a nearly disastrous battle, then is horrified by the reality of war and death and suffering, is well-written and spellbinding. He writes openly and honestly about himself, warts and all, as well as his fellow officers (the good, the bad, and the cowardly) and the "grunts" in his platoon. Many of the NCOs and enlisted men who go into battle with lieutenant Gwin prove to be brave in the face of death and loyal to their buddies who are either wounded or dying..."No one is left behind." I felt as though I was there with lieutenant Gwin as he and his men are airlifted into a hot LZ, praying to come out alive and in one piece. While this is a story about the horror of war, there are quite a few light moments which are humorous. All in all, this book is a real page-turner. Perfect for a rainy afternoon's read in a comfortable chair.