Good to Go: The Life and Times of a Decorated Member of the U.S. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two [Hardcover]

Harry Constance (Author), Randall Fuerst (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

In 1966 Harry Constance became a member of the newly formed U.S. Navy SEAL Team Two. By 1970 he was a veteran of three hundred combat missions in Vietnam, had captured almost two hundred enemy prisoners, and had received thirty-two citations, including three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. In Good to Go, Constance powerfully recounts his experience during three tours in Vietnam as a member of SEAL Team Two, Seventh Platoon. Known as fierce warriors with amazing stealth and skill in battle, the SEALs are an elite force trained to fight on SEa, Air, and Land with sophisticated special operations warfare tactics. From the floodplains of the Mekong Delta to the beaches of the South China Sea, Good to Go takes readers on Constance's harrowing missions, along trails crisscrossed by trip wires and through dense jungles booby-trapped with live grenades. Each "special op" is dramatic. The Seventh Platoon sets up ambushes, infiltrates Viet Cong territory, performs daring nighttime attacks, targets the location of high-level VC officials, and narrowly escapes enemy fire. Constance gives an extraordinary account of the Tet offensive, which his platoon fought from a hotel in My Tho. But in recounting the ferocious battle of Tet, Constance shows why SEAL humor and bravado always won the day. After Constance leaves Vietnam, Good to Go follows him as he plays a key role in the expansion of the SEAL program. His duty training recruits for undercover clandestine ops and going on dangerous assignments around the globe - in South America hot spots and onboard nuclear submarines - reflects his inspiring dedication to the SEALs.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Constance tells of his almost 20-year career with the Navy's UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) and SEAL programs, serving three tours in Vietnam and taking part in other covert activities around the world. In Vietnam, Constance received three Bronze Stars and captured over 200 enemy prisoners while serving with SEAL Team Two. He tells his story in page-turning style that is as engrossing as any adventure tale. His work is very similar to James Watson's Point Man (LJ 7/93), so libraries that have Watson's work could consider Constance's an optional purchase. But this similarity should not prevent purchase in libraries where adventure and military books are popular.?Terry L. Wirick, Erie Cty. P.L., Pa.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Memoirs of a SEAL extraordinaire, who served three tours in Vietnam beginning in 1967. Constance, an able and outspoken leader, clearly relished the life of a SEAL, and he describes it with vigor and frankness, starting with the intense training and severe physical and mental testing SEAL candidates face. After boot camp, they swim for miles as frogmen while learning the delicate handling of high explosives, attend army jump school for paratroop training, study scuba and deep sea diving with the navy, and infantry and close combat tactics with the marines. Some also train with Army Special Forces units. In Vietnam the orders were to find and destroy Viet Cong units, clearing out the countryside VC platoon by platoon, village by village. SEALs usually operated in six-man night patrols and brought tremendous firepower to bear in waging fierce (but usually brief and victorious) firefights. Hours of meticulous preparation and careful intelligence work were needed before SEAL units were ready for combat. Operating in small units behind enemy lines, they often had to deal with booby traps, mosquitoes, leeches, razor- sharp reeds, mines, and poisonous snakes before they could get to enemy positions. Constance praises the loyal Vietnamese who fought with the SEALs, noting that he found them to be tough front-line soldiers. By contrast, he views the regular South Vietnamese Army as generally ineffective and corrupt. During his three tours in Vietnam, Constance served in almost 300 combat missions, was credited with capturing some 200 prisoners, and received three Bronze Star medals and a Purple Heart. Vivid war stories, well told. An unusual insider's view of the tough, winner-takes-all world of professional warriors. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068815249X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688152499
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #290,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A thrilling and honest look at a warrior., May 2, 2002

By 

odanny (Peoria, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good to Go: The Life And Times Of A Decorated Member Of The U.s. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a frank and honest look at the exploits of a Navy SEAL.
While his actual combat exploits I have no way of proving true, his revealing and in-depth look at his own personal failures and in service power struggles surely don't all have happy endings, and the author is unflinching in his appraisal.

His time in country could of ended on his first mission. He first got tangled in the tow rope, and the boat pulling away dragged him underwater before he cut himself free, struggling with his gear and swimming back to shore. He then mistakenly interpreted a hand signal and made his first killing as a scared SEAL when he silently intercepted a VC lookout and knifed him. He was told to keep silent. He then got seperated from his recon platoon and made his way back to the rendevous point by himself while being pursued, and all the while he was unsure of which way to go. This was the start of three tours of duty that saw much action and direct combat with VC and NVA. This elite soldier found himself in the business of hand to hand combat many times, and his stories are told as if this author actually relished the amount of violence he was able to bring to bear. A warrior who looked for action, he later leaves this theater and sees firsthand the rivalry and disrespect he and other warriors feel for those officers spent little or no time in Vietnam and looked disdainfully upon those who actually fought there. This jealously, and the countering lack of respect, almost cost the author his Navy career on more than one occasion. In the end it proved his undoing in the military.

A very interesting tale of an insiders view of Vietnam, this book also explores his personal struggles and the bonds he forged in combat.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Action packed, July 18, 2000

By 

Brandon Gordon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good to Go: The Life And Times Of A Decorated Member Of The U.s. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read dozens of Navy SEAL personal accounts of Vietnam and this ranks up there as one of the best, along with Daryl Young's "Element of Surprise" and Jim Watson's "Point Man". Most of the book deals with his battle experiences. The great thing about the book is that every op was very different and refreshing. There's not a whole lot about his training to make UDT and SEAL Team and there is a chapter or two devoted to his personal life during his Navy career and after but the book flows so well that you find yourself really liking Harry and wanting to read these things. Several chapters at the end dealt with post-nam experiences which weren't all that interesting but the writing is so engrossing for the most part that it'll keep you up at night.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting subject -- disjointed writing, December 23, 1997

By 

David D. Clough "avid reader" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Good to Go: The Life and Times of a Decorated Member of the U.S. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two (Hardcover)

I thought the subject matter would make for interesting reading. It could have. The book seemed to have very little cohesion from chapter to chapter. Instead, the chapters seemed to jump from one story outline to another. It was as if Mr. Constance was reciting a war story, took a break, and told another, and so on. I would have preferred a thread running throughout the entire book, not just disjointed stories (even though most of them were interesting).