Customer Reviews

Covert Warrior: A Vietnam Memoir

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

 

 

There were so many inconsistencies & fabrications in the book that I almost put it down before I was 30 pages into it! As I read on I got more & more upset with the author's baloney that I steamed from page to page! Don't waste your time with this one!!

Reading through the book I found that the Author stated that the Marines had their LRRPs, Long Range Recon Patrols. (Page xviii) Wrong. The Marine Corps had and still has Recon Marines and Force Recon. LRRPs were the U.S. Army. The M-16 round is comparable? to the Stoner round. (Page 10) In fact they are exactly the same, 5.56mm or .223 cal. Take your pick, there is No difference, same exact "cartridge". The Author mentions the city of Long Bin. Wrong again! It's Long Binh. Typo, perhaps? However, if he was 'IN COUNTRY' at all he would not forget the correct spelling of that area which was where the LBJ Ranch was located. The Long Binh Jail (so nicknamed) was for military personnel who had committed crimes while in Vietnam. And last, his constant mention of ammo "clips". If properly trained, as the Author supposedly was, the proper term is "magazine" in which the ammo is fed from the bottom of the weapon. A clip is a strip which holds the rounds and fed through the top of the open bolt of the weapon, i.e. the M-1 Garand. I belive that this book is tantamount to a cheap war story, fabricated by a person whose knowledge is limited to what books or television programs he obtained his information from. I gave up reading this book because, to me, it is just a work of FICTION. I DO NOT recommend this book for the serious non-fiction military book reader. Save your money and come to my home when I have a yard sale. Your price? FREE or best offer!!!!

I won't waste any time identifying all the mistakes, lies, and fabrications. Smith and his book were exposed as frauds in detail. Articles to that effect were published in Soldier of Fortune and Behind The Lines: The Journal of US Military Operations. Don't waste your money on this poorly written fiction masquerading as a NF memoir. Presidio Press (the hardback publisher) was greatly embarassed by these revelations.

-- review submitted by Rob Krott, military historian, sr. foreign correspondent for Soldier of Fortune, columnist for Behind The Lines

Warren Smith has written a brilliantly detailed and suspenceful male fantasy that would leave even Ian Flemming in stiches. This book is ridiculous! Shame on Presidion Press for printing it and Amazon from selling it. ...

Warner Smith obviously never came within spitting distance of the enemy in Vietnam. It's a shame that Presidio Press, an otherwise respected publisher, let this piece of junk go out the door with their imprint.

Warren Smith has written a brilliantly detailed and suspenseful male fantasy that would leave even Ian Flemming in stitches. This book is ridiculous! ...

Warner Smith died about a year ago. I was his neighbor during the years that this manuscript was written, and spent time with him through the process. The manuscript was not written for publication but instead as a healing tool to help him deal with a lot of trauma he had apparently stuffed inside and never dealt with. When he returned from his military service, he had buried his Vietnam experiences deep inside, along with the memories of the friends who died while serving along side him. He became a consultant in large commercial real estate transactions and was good at what he did. Like me, he was involved in working with the government during the Savings and Loan Crisis during the early 1990s. He and I both spent a lot of time in DC, and one day he ended up at the Vietnam War Memorial and came unglued emotionally. That surprise experience both hurt and changed him, noticeably. He began writing to help process this stuff internally, and to seek a different kind of peace than one gets when one just hides something away and pretends it is no longer an issue. His pain was very real and this manuscript was his therapy. It was his honest look at what had happened and came from his perspective. Someone else on the same assignments might have written differently about what they felt or what they did, because we each tend to tell of our experiences from our own perspective. Most readers can see that Warner was not a writer, he was just a guy who worked hard in his business and took good care of his family. When he wrote this paper, his kids were in high school and his lovely wife Lynn was about to die from cancer. He LOVED his family.

I've read the reviews here and am surprised at how eager some are to attack a paper because it isn't written as they would like to have it worded, or whether it is as precisely linked with what their history books (or even personal experiences) tell them about events in Vietnam. I am even more surprised and disappointed that fellow servicemen would attack this man as if they were attacking an enemy. The only reason this book exists is that friends who he shared the manuscript with felt like it was worthy of being published...and NOT because he was trying to be some documentary writer. After he decided to go ahead and publish this as a book, Warner had to work through permissions from his former "employer" to obtain approval for their release. Try to imagine what that was like. The book wasn't professionally edited, but yet, it wasn't just 'thrown out there' without review from CIA caseworkers. Some of what he originally wrote was not allowed to be published and remains dark. Warner was an honorable and honest man. Apparently more honorable than some of his detractors.

I knew this man. The book troubled me because I saw how writing it troubled him. He may have spoken off the top of his mind when he wrote (as I am doing now) but I can tell you that Warner was not a liar. Some may disagree with his telling of these events. And that is OK, they can say so. But they weren't there and this man was. To those 'military historians' who call this book a fake, and who obviously attempt to elevate and inflate themselves in the process, shame on you. You are doing a disservice to this man and to others who he served with.

WH
February, 2010

This is a well written book which I read very quickly. It has enough action to keep the reader interested and gives good background info about men fighting for the CIA during the Vietnam war, which I did not know much about previously. The only real downside is that the author does not describe more of his experiences. You get the feeling that he was involved in alot more exciting missions yet he does not go into them all. Saving them for another book perhaps? I'd buy it. This one was worth reading.

WHEN YOU READ ABOUT MR. SMITH'S SOLO RECON MISSION 30 MILES INSIDE SOUTHERN CHINA EVERY PARAGRAPH WILL KEEP YOU WIRED!HE KEPT TWO CYANIDE PILLS WITH HIM. CAPTURE WAS NOT AN OPTION.

THis a very good book. i could not put it down. very interesting.