Customer Reviews

The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh

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Edward F Murphy delivers his finest book yet about a battle that has long been over shadowed by the siege of Khe Sanh. I've waited for this book to come out a long time and I wasn't disappointed. His writing style is sharper and more intimate than his already great previous works. He is now on the level of Keith William Nolan. Edward F Murphy has now written some of the finest books on the Vietnam war.
The Hill Fights starts off with a bang and masterfully chronicles some of the heaviest fighting in the Vietnam war.
Khe Sanh was a special forces base until NVA activity in the area heated up. Westmoreland doesn't want the base to fall like the Ashau valley base did in 1966 so Marines get the call to go and prop up the base. Marines arrived at Khe Sanh Combat base and slowly take over. The infiltrating NVA intially lay low and the Marines had little luck in pinpointing them. The spring of 1967 turns deadly as the NVA decides to take a stand. On Hill 861 the entrenched NVA ambush a platoon of Marines. Low on ammo and in harsh terrain the Marines fight hard. Sadly the Marines are commited piecemeal and suffer heavy casulties before taking Hill 861. The Marines suffered 24 KIA, 46 WIA, and 8 MIA taking this hill that over looked the Khe Sanh combat base. Battalions of Marines arrived as reinforcements and they set out clearing the NVA out of the area. Hills 881 South and 881 North were assaulted next. Brutal combat takes place as the NVA holds it's own against the elite Marines. Finally the Marines superior firepower, training, and will to win allows the brave Marines to defeat the NVA. After 12 days of battle 168 Marines and Navy corpsman were KIA, 443 were wounded. 2 Marines were also MIA. The NVA lost 824 dead & 551 probably killed. Finally the hills fights were over and those that were there would never forget. One of the problems that hindered the Marines was the M16 which jammed much too frequently. Much blood was shed by dead and wounded Marines before the weapon would be fixed. The Khe Sanh area would grow relatively quiet until the well documented 77 day siege the following year.
The Hill Fights was one of the biggest battles in the Vietnam war and now can no longer be overlooked by history. This is a fine book and a must have for those into the Vietnam war or for those curious as to what it was like.

A profoundly detailed account of what we lived through and the often bitter circumstances that we faced in combat. Murphy lets you taste the bitterness of circumstances gone wrong and smell the sweet victory when it works well. I could never understand why we were given the M-16 rifle with serial no's that began with EM16-E1XXXXXXXX (experimental model) until the truth of the politics behind it was revealed in this work. They were next to worthless as originaly issued. The research on the book was exhaustive and done with a heart to reveal the truth without being mean spirited in conveying the truth. When Ed interviewed me and I had a foggy recollection, he challenged me with facts that made the memory come clear or proved to me that I was not recalling it correctly. Brilliant insight into why we fought some of the battles we fought and who thought we had to fight over what turf and why. The names in print alongside mine are all correct, a testament to the authors thoroughness. He did a good job weaving our comments together into an integrated story that is exciting to read. I've enjoyed reading it and still go back to it. Have given it as a gift on several ocasions.

This is a book from the fire team, squad and platoon viewpoint of vicious fighting and death. The book covers events in 1967 of fighting in the hills surrounding the Khe Sanh airbase. The author provides a brief overview of how the Marines got into the Khe Sanh area at the insistence of General Westmoreland, MACV Commander. And the problems that move caused for the Marines fighting a long way from their support in difficult terrain. Most of the book provides in great detail the actions by individuals, NCOs and junior officers of their terrible hardships and blood shed in those hills and jungle. The author also covers the serious problems the Marines had with their M16 rifles which had just been introduced into the field prior to the Hill Fights. Thirty-six years later the M16 works a lot better in combat, but in 1967 it failed our Marines in the hills. The appendix provides a short bio of the key individuals mentioned and what happened to them after the fighting in their later years.

At last some daylight comes to this forgotten chapter of marine corps history. The 3/3 marines were rendered combat ineffective by this series of vicious and wicked fights north of Khe Sanh. The very tool (M-16) the marines were given to do the job jammed after several hundred rounds were fired. Although this book does not go into exacting details for the failure of the M-16 rifle, it does an excellent cover of the men involved in the fighting. Be not deceived, marines are trained to clean their rifles as needed. I am glad to hear that the U.S. Marine Corps is finally giving the men who fought these battles the long overdue recognition they so richly deserve. My brother Thomas Wheeler and the 3/3 marines, fought hard for their lives on those lonely hills north of Khe Sanh not so long ago. This book indeed does justice to the men who did the job they were told to do not so long ago.

My brother recomended this book and said that it "told it like it was" as he was a Marine involved in the action described!

I bought this book for my father-in-law, who is a Purple Heart winner from the Vietnam War. He loved it so much, he bought five more to give to other Vietnam vets he knows.

A good book, but maps that showed the locations of individual units and the topography would have enhanced the understanding of the battles. When the author talks about ridges, crests and valleys, I found it difficult to visualize who was where. The few maps in the front of the book offer little useful information. And, the type is so small, reading the maps in the paperback edition proved to be a challenge.

This is one of the best compilation of personal accounts that I've read on Vietnam. I like how the author chose to present the information and how the author presented the political issues (both inter-branch and Congress) that occured in regards to bases and the M16. I'm surprised by some of the things presented in this book. One of the main surprises was the attitude that several of the NCOs supposedly held towards the junior enlisted men. It always struck me that Marine NCOs were some of the best and didn't hold the superior attitudes that were described in parts of this book.

There were a few things that could have been improved in the book, but they did not detract from the telling of these Marines' stories. The things that I think could have been improved were:

1. A couple of abbreviations were never explained (BLT and the naming of Marine units (i.e. 2/3, is that 2nd battalion, 3rd Marines or something else)).

2. It was nice that the author listed in the Appendix what happened to some of the Marines involved in the Hill Fights after the events in the book. However, I think that he should have included everyone he named within the book. It would have meant a longer list, but it would have been helpful.

Overall, this is a very well written and well informed account of what happened around Khe Sanh.

The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh is an excellent, well written account of the battles fought prior to the Siege in 1968. Mr Murphy goes to describe the battles for 881N, 881S, 861 and the events leading up to these fights. These hill battles were extremely bloody for both sides, and the book gives the stories of bravery and bloodshed.

Most know about the siege of Khe Sanh, but few know the extreme combat between the Marines and the NVA. This was the first instance of NVA at Bn strength attacking Marine positions as the Marines sought to secure the overwatch of hills surrounding Khe Sanh. The detailed and intense combat indicates the severity of the combat experience reinforced by the strength and determination of the Marines.

They alone can only share the glory of those days..the days of tragic losses highlighted by the individual sacrifices of those who served during that time. We shall never forget what these young Marines accomplished during those dark days around Hill 861 (North and South).

But, most disturbing is the now factual and historical data/information regarding the M16. The true and correct history of the weapon in the early days indicates the military introduced the weapon before adequate testing and modification were done. Tragic as it was, Marines died as a direct result of this weapon. But, more tragic was what appears to be a "coverup" of the real ground truth given to commanders by Marines who saw others die as a result of the weapon failure.

Today, the issues of the M4 remains..malfunctions continue..and no doubt Marines and Army personnel are killed or injured as a result.

My primary weapon in Afghanistan was the AK. So it goes.