Dak to: The 173d Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam's Central Highlands, June-November 1967 [Hardcover]

Edward F. Murphy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

Their officers and senior noncoms were drawn from the U.S. Army's elite. An all-volunteer unit of paratroopers, the "Sky Soldiers, " men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) were MACV's "fire brigade, " rushed to stem the tide wherever the fighting was heaviest. In 1967 the attention of General Giap and his North Vietnamese Army (NVA) focused on a small mountain hamlet in the Central Highlands called Dak To. From June to November 1967, in the hills and valleys surrounding Dak To, the 173d fought some of the bloodiest battles of the entire Vietnam War.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the best recent accounts of the ground war in Vietnam, this profiles the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the first Army ground combat sent there. Initially assigned to guard airfields, it was soon launched against two Vietcong strongholds, War Zone D and the Iron Triangle. But the centerpiece of this fast-paced history is the extensive account of the battle for Hill 875, where the brigade went up against the North Vietnamese for the first time. They proved to be a much tougher adversary than the VC. The Hill 875 sequences have an impressive immediacy, with the gore and carnage presented in shockingly sharp focus. According to Murphy ( Vietnam Medal of Honor Heroes ), founder of the Medal of Honor Historical Society, many of the survivors considered the battle for 875 a futile effort. But he points out that in the context of General Westmoreland's strategy of attrition, the dusty hill in the Central Highlands was "just one more place where the enemy could be killed." Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Instead of fighting Communist insurgents in Vietnam using their own guerrilla tactics, General Westmoreland chose to employ conventional means, hoping that attrition would wear down the enemy's will. In June 1967 he sent the 173d Airborne to a Central Highlands mountain hamlet named Dak To. At the outset, an entire U.S. company had over half its number killed in ambush, and fighting continued until many Americans died for ground that was soon abandoned. Military historian Murphy's workmanlike account of Dak To is well detailed, though not as gritty or compelling as Eric Hammel's oral histories (e.g., Lima-6 , LJ 11/15/89). And though the author provides an ample overview of where the battle fits in the greater scheme, the late Brig. Gen. S.L.A. Marshall, for one, bettered him in books like West to Cambodia ( LJ 12/15/68), giving greater insight into the military mind. Nonetheless, this work is recommended for libraries with large Vietnam War collections.
- Richard Paul Snyder, Cty. of Los Angeles P. L., Huntington Park
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 355 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Pr; First edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891414290
• ISBN-13: 978-0891414292
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Airborne, All The Way..., October 1, 2000

By 

Kevin F. Kiley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dak to: America's Sky Soldiers in South Vietnam's Central Highlands (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the best volumes about a desperate, bloody battle during the Vietnam War. Fought between the veteran paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade and North Vietnamese Regulars in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in late 1967, the author demonstrates through graphic prose and primary evidence just how savage and vicious the fighting in Vietnam was. This legendary fight took place almost immediately before the TET offensive of January 1968 and ruined some of the NVA units that were to take part in that offensive and helped ruin the chances for the Comminists to gain victory. Victory in this fight came at a heavy cost, and this book chronicles just how savage and desperate, and how heart-breaking the American losses were.

For me personally, this book means much, as my brother was a company commander in the 2d Battalion of the 503d infantry, one of the four infantry battalions of the 173d Airborne Brigade, and he was killed in action leading his company on Hill 875.

This book is as good as We Were Soldiers Once And Young, and it is one of the best books I have read on the war in Vietnam. It shows the courage and skill of outnumbered Americans who fought, died, and never quit-something that never really came out of the general media coverage of that unpopular war.

This volume is highly recommended and the author is to be congratulated for he has told a story of high valor and much suffering, and of the ongoing skill of the American soldier doing his duty, appreciated or not, in foreign lands fighting and defeating a skilled and determined enemy.

Virtute et Valore

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was pretty grim from up here!, February 26, 1999

By 

Paul Gardner (Upstate NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dak to: America's Sky Soldiers in South Vietnam's Central Highlands (Mass Market Paperback)

I flew door gunner for 4th Aviation's Gambler Guns over Hill 875 and surrounding hills that November 1967. This account by E. Murphy re-lives all of the fears and saddness I felt for those Air Borne men. I remember being served Thanksgiving dinner on the chopper while re-arming and how after one bite I couldn't eat because we needed to get back out there for those troopers. Every Thanksgiving I honor their memory with a prayer. I will never forget the sacrifice of these brave men and neither will you after you have read Dak To by Edward Murphy.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For the families left behind, Dak To is a "Must Read"., January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dak to: America's Sky Soldiers in South Vietnam's Central Highlands (Mass Market Paperback)

As a sister whose brother fought in the battles of Dak To, and did not return, this gave me insight into the hell he must have endured. When you lose a family member in a war in a far away land you spend night after night trying to imagine what war must be like for them. This book was a real peek into the nightmare that so many of our prescious boys lived in. Thanks to Edward Murphy who took the time to tell the "real story".