Customer Reviews

The Coast Guard at War: Vietnam, 1965-1975

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very few Americans realize the U.S. Coast Guard is a military organization and has fought in all the wars of the United States. Capt. Alex Larzelere, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.) has written one of the very few excellent accounts of the service in combat. Captain Larzelere, as a young officer, commanded patrol boats in Vietnam so is able to bring his perspective to this book on the Vietnam conflict. Larzelere has done a great service to those who wish to study how this nation's smallest armed force performed during the long and divisive war. The small amount of publicity the U.S. Coast Guard received from their efforts in Southeast Asia came from the patrol boats and high endurance cutters. In this account, however, the author covers all the activities, from explosive loading details, shipping advisors and aids to navigation duties. Furthermore, what makes the account even more valuable is Larzelere's interviews with many of the U.S. Coast Guardsmen who served in Vietnam, although this tends to be mostly from officers, there are very few enlisted men interviewed. On the debit side, this is an uncritical history. Readers will believe no one made any mistakes while serving in Vietnam, nor is there any discussion about how the war affected the service as a whole, or even what lessons were learned during the war. These demurs are the reason for the rating I have assigned to this book. These caveats aside, Captain Larzelere's account is very readable and should be read by anyone interested in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard or the Vietnam War. It will be a standard book on the history of the service.

The awesome Coast Guard fired 77,000 rounds of naval gunfire support to help Army and Marine troops. The small patrol boats sent up the dangerous rivers in the south were sitting ducks. You'll find out why all were not destroyed by enemy fire. The ammunition depots in the harbors were disasters waiting to happen until the Coast Guard got there and put things in order. It is incredible to learn the other military services top battle commanders were so ignorant about Coast Guard assets and expertise. But, once they learned, they couldn't get enough of the Coast Guard. Book could use some more detailed maps and a pronunciation guide to Viet words. Also suggest reading Mayday! Mayday! Most exiciting stories of US Coast Guard. A great read.

The majority of the information was culled from Coast Guard records, interviews and recollections from officer grades. There was very little input from the enlisted ranks. As an former enlisted man and veteran of the Tan My loran station, I enjoyed the book but it was a bit general in the coverage.

Great book. As a Coast Guardsman, I appreciate learning about those who served for me. This book tells the tale of those who served aboard the cutters, (the Point Welcome and other 82's are the most familiar to Coasties) and the Aids to Navigations Teams, the Port Security units, Marine Inspectors and the Loran Station Personnel. The last four had stories that I never known. I would have appreciated more from the Enlisted personnel but I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Coast Guard.

This is a very enjoyable read for anyone that is interested in Military History, especially the Vietnam War. The Coast Guard played an important but often overlooked role in the U.S. War in Vietnam. Written by a man that experianced it first hand. (Capt. Alex Larzelere) A must read for you Military History Buffs and for all of us Coast Guard supporters.