Hunters & Shooters: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALS in Vietnam [Hardcover]

Bill Fawcett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 17, 1995

Documents the history of the SEAL teams and presents the personal stories of fifteen SEALs in Vietnam, recounting in sometimes chilling detail their dangerous achievements and near escapes. 20,000 first printing. $15,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This work is based on the recollections of 14 men who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy's elite Sea-Air-Land counterguerrilla force. The SEALs built a reputation second to none among U.S. elite forces, combining small-scale raids with clandestine operations. They owed much of their success to their limited size (unlike the Army's Special Forces, the SEALs remained small enough to be highly selective). SEAL achievements ultimately reflected the quality of the personnel. Fawcett (field curator for the UDT/SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla.) and his associates, Kevin Dockery and S.N. Lewitt, allow the interviewees to speak for themselves. The usual results are matter-of-fact accounts of deeds so extraordinary that the interviews often demand a second reading to reconcile their casual tone with their remarkable contents. Hunters and Shooters is both a series of character studies in the best kind of military professionalism and a tour de force explication of modern small-unit warfare.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In this worthwhile addition to oral history, 15 SEALs tell their stories, concentrating on their combat experiences in Vietnam. The 15 include a few reasonably well known Vietnam veterans, such as combat author Richard Marcinko and Rudy Boesch, who has served in special operations probably longer than any other American, and also officers and men who spent only a few years with the SEALs but remember them ineradicably. They are definitely men who have walked a little or a long way apart from where most of us go, and their stories are not for the weak of stomach or the politically correct. The strong stomached and incorrect, especially those interested in the SEALs, will, however, find the book eminently readable throughout, for it adds considerably to our knowledge of those amphibious warriors. Roland Green

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 350 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (July 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688126642
• ISBN-13: 978-0688126643
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,817,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book to accompany SEAL military histories, November 8, 2003

By 

Lowrey Brendan (Kochi, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hunters & Shooters: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs in Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

The great thing about this oral history is that you get a personal feel for the characters as they talk about their experiences. The wide range of experiences are reflected in the wide range of personalities that the history is drawn from. The accounts are honest and sincere. Each account begins with a brief editorial introduction and summary of a different aspect of the SEALs unit formation and operational history in Viet Nam. This helps the reader to understand the subject as a broad total of experiences rather than just a bundle of yarns slapped together. The editor did a great job of putting the accounts in an informative sequence which gave this reviewer a greater background understanding of the following accounts as I progressed through the book.
I bought my copy during a visit to the SEAL/ UDT Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida and I strongly recommend other interested military buffs to buy this book and check out the museum. Well worth it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book about SEALS in the Vietnam War, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hunters & Shooters: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs in Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a great book about 15 SEALS and their experiences from training to the Vietnam war and life in the teams. It is interesting to read about the different personalities of this elite group and the things that make them alike. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hunters & Shooters, March 5, 2008

By 

Kevin Paster (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hunters & Shooters: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs in Vietnam (Paperback)

I love the fact that this story was written with 15 different voices. Often times people would try to shell out 15 separate books instead, but I like the weaving interplay of the stories as they go into around and through one another.

This truly does (as another reviewer said) give the impression of an oral history and stories as they'd be told around a camp fire, very enjoyable.