Green Beret in Vietnam [Paperback]

Gordon Rottman (Author), Kevin Lyles (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Warrior | Publication Date: July 25, 2002

Vietnam was the US Special Forces' most complex and controversial mission, one that began in 1957 and ended in 1973. Camp strike forces, mobile strike forces, mobile guerrilla forces, special reconnaissance projects, training missions and headquarters duty provided vastly differing experiences and circumstances for SF soldiers. Other fluctuating factors were the terrain, the weather and the shifting course of the Vietnam War (1955-1975) itself. Gordon Rottman examines the training, life, weapons and combat experiences of the Special Forces soldier in this challenging environment.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Insights into the real lives of history's fighting men, packed with full colour illustrations, highly detailed cutaways, exploded artwork of weaponry and armour, and action-packed battle scenes.

About the Author

Gordon L Rottman entered the US Army in 1967, volunteered for Special Forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. He was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group until reassigned to the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam in 1969-70. He is currently a civilian contract Special Operations Forces Intelligence Specialist at the Army's Joint Readiness Centre, Ft Polk.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing; annotated edition edition (July 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855325683
• ISBN-13: 978-1855325685
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #962,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good overview - highly recommended!, August 25, 2002

By 

Filupe Loupe (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Green Beret in Vietnam (Paperback)

For those who already have a small library of books on Vietnam Elite Forces and Militaria the names Gordon Rottman and Kevin Lyles are no strangers. To my knowledge this is the first time they have collaborated together and the result is as could be expected - excellent!

Given the many roles SF personnel conducted during the Vietnam conflict, their 'bread and butter' was the 'advisory' effort and consequently, this is what the book focuses on.

The text is well indexed, concise and clear - covering items such as organisation, training, life in the A-camps and the weapons utilised. The majority of photos are new and well chosen for their relevance to points in the text. Kevin Lyles' colour plates are superb - clean and well detailed - his intimate knowledge of the items involved are apparent (such as the highly 'technical' method of squeezing extra transmission range from a PRC-25/77 radio!). They also illustrate the closeness that SF soldiers had with their indigenous charges - my favourite colour plate depicting a light hearted mortar lesson!

My only criticisms of the book are in the order of nit-picking .. The 'SSGT' depicted in Plate 1 is quite obviously SF officer and legend, Ed Rybat - why not give him his due rank? Also, SF involvement in MACV-SOG was only alluded too - but in the space limitations of this particular publication this is understandable.

Incidentally the cover depicted on the amazon page was illustrated by Ron Volstad and most likely a pre-production cover - it is NOT the actual cover of the book I obtained.

In summary, a must have book for those researching the life and look of the SF soldier of the period. It brings together in a clear, concise way information that one would otherwise have to obtain from more expensive or out-of-print texts. An authoritative bibliography is also supplied for those interested in further reading. Although a short book, it is a worthy companion to those other excellent Rottman and Lyles titles adorning the bookshelf of the SF aficionado.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good to go!, June 6, 2005

By 

D. D Lawson (Pasadena, Calif. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Green Beret in Vietnam (Paperback)

A goog solid effort on a very interesting subject for me. A good nuts and bolts book about the SF. A worthy addition for a library dedicated to Military History.

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not sure how it was reviewed, February 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Beret in Vietnam (Paperback)

This has not even been released yet. If it is like most osprey titles it should be good.