Customer Reviews

L.R.R.P.: The Professional (Lrrp)

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As a fellow writer about life in the military, this is the first time I have enjoyed such colorful yet exacting descriptions. Camper gives the reader all the sights, sounds and smells of this conflict without bitterness or false heroics. After having read Robert Hemphill's "Platoon, Bravo Company", one man's account of the war behind the lines with no color, Dennis Marvicsin's "Maverick" co-written by Jerold Greenfield, a bad mix of WAR and ROSES, this is the best written work by a front liner. Camper's graphic depiction is the story of a young boy who becomes a Vet in a short time. His pictures are exciting without being poetic, thrilling without being melodramatic and personal without being elitist. Unlike Tim O'Brien's "If I Die in a Combat Zone", LRRP chronicles a soldier's life with clarity about his thoughts without the drudgery of the everyday minutiae. And unlike O'Brien, Camper tells a home coming that leaves you wanting to read the next book instead of glad that you finished this one.

A must have for those interested in infantry combat skills. Camper breaks up his accounts into one and two page diary entries that make for quick and easy reading.

This is an excellent account of one man's transformation to hardcore warrior. The author volunteers for the LRRP's (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol)to fight the war on his own personal terms. He sees first hand the heavy casualties inflicted on the large noisy maneuver line units by the NVA, and the disproportianate casualties inflicted by the LRRPs on the enemy. To increase the chances of his own survival he chooses to rely on his own skills and those of his team members in small four man recon teams as they patrol deep in enemy territory. The author brings to the reader the frustration of fighting both the enemy and the rear echelon bureaucrats,the confusion and terror of combat and commeraderie of men relying on one another in dire circumstances. Note: The author went on to become an international mercenary, covert operator and security specialist and has written other books on his post-vietnam experiences.

This is one of the finest Vietnam War memoirs I've read. The prose is flawless and sometimes borders on the lyrical. I just finished reading it again and was amazed at how much of it I had forgotten and how much better it seemed than the first time I read it. I wanted to read it again just to get to the last couple of chapters in which Camper and a few other LRRPs had NVA coming up at them during a recon mission atop a mountain overlooking a valley. Spooky was called in, as well as some damn good VNAF flyers piloting A-1 Skyraiders. The Vietnamese pilots flew so low Camper could make out their facial features as they dropped their ordnance around the mountain. This book ranks up there with Gary Linderer's fine memoirs on Lurping with the 101st Airborne. Get it new or get it used. If you like your war stories filled with action and told from the point of view of the soldier on the ground, there's nothing you won't like about LRRP: The Professional.

As a person, I find the story depicted here very lifelike and some times scary.....As a fellow L.R.R.P.(69-71),i find it truthfull...sometimes too truthful...brings back old memories best left forgotten. BUT, it is the best way to deal with some of the ghosts still lurking.....

I finished this book about a week ago. I usually wait a while to let it all settle. It was a great book. Personal, candid, real. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone. To me it read like a well written diary of a man who was there and wanted to remember accurately what it was like. Buy it.

...This is the worst book on LRRP/LRPs I have read, and I have read a few. I would recommend anything by Rey Martinez, Gary Linderer, et al. instead of this book.

Dimestore Liam
Detroit