DAYS OF VALOR: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War [Hardcover]

Robert Tonsetic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2007

A nonstop maelstrom of combat action, leaving the reader nearly breathless by the end. The human courage and carnage described in these pages resonates through the centuries, from Borodino to the Bulge, but the focus here is on the Vietnam War, and a unique unit formed to take part at its height.

The 199th Light Infantry Brigade was created from three U.S. infantry battalions of long lineage, as a fast reaction force for the U.S. to place in Indochina. As the book begins, in December 1967, the brigade has been in Vietnam for a year, and many of its battered 12-month men are returning home. This is timely, as the Communists seem to be in a lull, and the brigade commander, in order to whet his new soldiers to combat, requests a transfer to a more active sector, just above Saigon. Through January the battalions scour the sector, finding increasing enemy strength, NVA personel now mixed within Viet Cong units. But the enemy is lying low, and a truce has even been declared for the Vietnamese New Year, the holiday called Tet.

On January 30, 1968, the storm breaks loose, as Saigon and nearly every provincial capital in the country is overrun by VC and NVA, bursting in unexpected strength from their base camps. In these battles we learn the most intimate details of combat, as the Communists fight with rockets, mortars, Chinese claymores, mines, machine guns and AK-47s. The battles evolve into an enemy favoring the cloak of night, the jungle-both urban and natural-and subterranean fortifications, against U.S. forces favoring direct confrontational battle supported by air and artillery. When the lines are only 25 yards apart, however, there is little way to distinguish between the firepower or courage of the assailants and the defenders, or even who is who at any given moment, as both sides have the other in direct sight. Many of the vividly described figures in this book do not make it to the end. The narrative is jarring, because even though the author was a company commander during these battles, he has based this work upon objective research including countless interviews with other soldiers of the 199th LIB. The result is that everything we once heard about Vietnam is laid bare in this book through actual experience, as U.S. troops go head-to-head at close-range against their counterparts, perhaps the most stubborn foe in our history.

Days of Valor covers the height of the Vietnam War, from the nervous period just before Tet, through the defeat of that offensive, to the highly underwritten yet equally bloody NVA counteroffensive launched in May 1968.

The book ends with a brief note about the 199th LIB being deactivated in spring 1970, furling its colors after suffering 753 dead and some 5,000 wounded. The brigade had only been a temporary creation, designed for one purpose. Though its heroism is now a matter of history, it should remain a source of pride for all Americans. This fascinating book will help to remind us.

REVIEWS

"... Tonsetic's account is a panegyric to the soldiers he served with rather than an attempt at a general history...the work is primarily about his own experiences and those of the people around him, collected from the personal recollections of participants and contemporary after-action reports. ..of interest to subject collections."Library Journal,02/2007

"...Tonsetic, who commanded an infantry company, relies heavily first person infantrymen to paint a picture of almost non-stop combat action..." Vietnam Veterans of America 04/2007

"... this book has no other purpose other than to disclose the valor and sacrifice of those who fought during this period. ... This book took me by surprise. I had begun the task to review a log of war, to gain new admiration of valor and courage. In the end, not only had I gained a renewed appreciation of courage and valor, but more importantly I had to come face to face with the enormity of loss and grief that is forever imposed on our soldiers. This book is a path to share that cost. " Reviewed by: Edward Fennell

"...will resonate with veterans, especially grunts who served anywhere in Vietnam....offers historical insights for today...a worthy memorial."Vietnam Magazine 12/2007

"... a spell binding account of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade's actions surrounding the Tet Offensive... an excellent memorial to the exploits of this fighting unit." Collected Miscellany, 06/2008

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his first book, Tonsetic focuses on the battles at the start of the North Vietnamese and Vietcong Tet offensive from late January to May 1968, fought by his unit, the U.S. Army's 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, which was assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Tonsetic, who commanded an infantry company, relies heavily on evocative first-person testimony from his fellow infantrymen to paint a picture of almost nonstop combat action among his and other battalions of the 199th, which fought primarily around the cities of Bien Hoa, Long Binh and Saigon. But rather than a memoir, this is an in-the-trenches look at men in combat that tells "the stories of the men who performed the deeds of valor through their own eyes and words." In fact, Tonsetic refers to himself throughout the narrative in the third person. With its acronym-heavy use of military lingo and its focus on tactics and battle action, this book will appeal to those interested in the nuts and bolts of Vietnam War combat and in the period during which Americans killed in action reached the highest levels of the long Vietnam War. (Mar.)
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Review

"...Tonsetic, who commanded an infantry company, relies heavily first person infantrymen to paint a picture of almost non-stop combat action..." Vietnam Veterans of America 04/2007" 

"...will resonate with veterans, especially grunts who served anywhere in Vietnam...a worthy memorial." Vietnam Magazine 12/2007

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Casemate (February 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932033521
• ISBN-13: 978-1932033526
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #630,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Tonsetic was born and raised in Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1964, he entered the Army as an infantry lieutenant. During the Vietnam War, he served as a light infantry company commander & as an advisor to Vietnamese Ranger & Airborne units. He was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star for extraordinary heroism during the 1968 Tet & May Offensives. He retired from the Army at the rank of Colonel. After completing his Doctorate in 1996, he taught at the graduate level at the University of Central Florida. He currently resides on Maryland's eastern shore where he continues to write.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Who Did Not Return, April 12, 2007

By 

Wayne I. Munkel (University City, Missouri) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: DAYS OF VALOR: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War (Hardcover)

Days of Valor is a six month snapshot of the Veit Nam War and is part of the bigger picture of the events leading up to the Tet Offensive and the events following Tet. It is a mini history of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade and the men who fought during that time period. This book is an action roller coaster from start to finish. The book highlights the incredible actions, heroism, courage and valor of ordinary grunts and career soldiers of the 199th. It contains a no holds barred description of the chaos and character of the fighting in War Zone III and its major bases and cities during that time.

Robert Tonsetic, the author, describes the combat experience so vividly that one can vicariously experience combat with his soldiers. The ugliness of battle with its smells, sights and sounds is graphically documented. The environment in Viet Nam with its oppressive heat, monsoon rains, humidity and terrain is vividly described. The destructiveness of the Viet Nam War on the soldiers and the country is clearly pointed out. One can vicariously experience the fatigue and sleep deprivation caused by combat and the fighting conditions of this most brutal war.

Tonsetic has written a book that needed to be written about the 199th Light Infantry Brigade and its supporting units. It is a focused study of the combat, valor and heroism of men from PFC to General rank who performed their best during the most decisive American and Vietnamese Army victory of the war - the Tet Offensive. He concentrates on the strategy, command decisions and the execution in the field of officers and ordinary soldiers perfoming their duties. He does not focus on the political backdrop aganinst which these battles were fought. The author is a soldier's soldier. He is the type of leader soldiers wat to lead them into battle. While he was part of this story, he wrote it as if he was an objective observer.

This is not a novel about the Viet Nam War. It is a chronicle and oral history from the author and others who fought there of what the war was like for them and those they fought with during the six months of this history. It is brutally descriptive and real. It is truth about the war.
It is about the men who survived and those that died.

Viet Nam veterans have been maligned by the media and so called elites for decades. Tonsetic shows by his example and in the post war accomplishments of many of the soldiers named in the book that Viet Nam combat veterans accomplish great deeds in war and in civilian life. For those of us who were there, this is a welcome addition to the real history of the Viet Nam War. For those who hold other views of the war there can be no reconciliation.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Days of Valor including my personal experience, April 18, 2008

By 

Allen R. Oakes "Allen R. Oakes Retired soldier" (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: DAYS OF VALOR: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War (Hardcover)

I believe this book to be a pretty accurate account of the battle on Dec 6, 1967. I am personally mentioned (PFC Allen Oakes) in chapter 3 along with my assistant gunner Pvt Jose Acevedo and Lt Wayne Morris. I was proud to belong to the 199th LT Infantry Brigade and the actions it took in Vietnam on behalf of all Americans. The book gives a good accounting of the 6 months it covers and I recommend it first for all members of the 199th and for people interested in the Vietnam war or for those who only have an inkling of what war is like. I would like to also say that each person's experience in this war were all different. Some saw hardly any action while others lives were forever changed by wounds, death or PTSD.
Forty years after Vietnam I'm still having surgury to replace a lost nose when I was wounded in the face. At any rate this book is a must read and I thank Mr Tonsetic for giving us a place in history and the research he did to make it as accurate as possible.

Allen R Oakes

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When We Won a Victory and Lost a War, March 14, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: DAYS OF VALOR: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War (Hardcover)

The author, then a Captain and commander of a light infantry company, begins this story with a little background. Then the story covers six months beginning in December 1967. This was a quiet time, just before the Lunar New Year, called Tet. The following six months was bloody and decisive.

The six month period in which Cap. Tonsetic led his unit, was a period where the Army won a victory, and lost a war. This is the story of the victory, won by young men no less heroic than their fathers in 'the greatest generation.' To a young man in combat, he hardly knows where he is, he has no idea of the bigger picture. He didn't hear the overly rosey story the senior officers were telling. He just knew that this little piece of ground, this hole in the ground was his and he would do his utmost to hold on to it.

This is a story of how one small unit faired in those six months. Their colors are nor furled, and hopefully they will not be needed again, but if they are....