Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Duty, Honor, and Country, March 9, 2001
My friend, whom graduated from West Point in 1991, recommended "The Long Gray Line" to me. My object for reading this book was that I wanted to learn more about the Vietnam War, what happened and why. I also wanted to understand more about the problems and turmoil that followed when the War was over. Further, I realised the book would be a great source of information about the West Point Academy, something I wanted to learn more about since my friend had attended the Academy. (A discussion with the same mentioned friend about the Vietnam War had left no doubt that I had considerable gaps in my knowledge of both West Point and the Vietnam War). I was completely fascinated with the story, and it soon became impossible for me to put the book down. I even wished for longer commute to work, so I could read more (I already have 1 hrs 20 min of commuting each way to work!). After I had finished the book I asked my friend "Was is really like that at West Point?" and he answered "The book gives a `pretty accurate' description of what it was like".. The first part of this book is about the Academic life at West Point, and at times this part of the book is absolutely hilarious! It left me smiling and laughing for myself.. I love the way the author, Rick Atkinson, describes the different characters. I had no problems picturing the different events in my head and I finished the book feeling like I practically knew all these cadets. The latter part of the book is about the war and it's aftermath. This part of the book is incredibly moving. The author describes these young men's (and their families) trial and suffering so well that you almost feel it as if the pain was your own. This part of the book left me in tears more than one time. I finished this book with a deeper comprehension of the pain and distress which Vietnam Veterans has experienced both while fighting for their country, and later returning home. Anyone interested in history, reading about the events and ideas that strongly influenced America in the latter part of the 20th century, should read this book. The words "Duty, Honour, and Country" will never mean the same to you after reading this book. It is not often that I read a book, which so deeply touches my heart as this one did!
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb History-Snapshot of an Era, July 5, 2000
I found out about this book when it first came out and I was stationed in Washington DC. It was of immediate interest to me, as my brother, a member of the West Point Class of 1964, had been killed in action in Vietnam, and was mentioned in the book. I called the author introduced myself and told him how much I liked the book and who I was. Rick Atkinson is not only a superb author, he is a fine man, and this book is an accurate tribute to, not only the class he chronicles in the story, but to the American fighting man in Vietanm as a whole. If you want an even, unbiased account of part of the war in Vietnam, this is it. It is much better than the highly touted Bright Shining Lie, of which I don't think too highly, and is one of the best books written on Vietnam. Atkinson tells the tale with aplomb, wit, empathy, and just plain good writing. Accurate and entertaining, you really can't put it down. I have also read his book Crusade on the Gulf War, of which I was a participant, and it was the best book I read on the subject. If the book is written by Rick Atkinson, buy it and read it-you won't be disappointed.
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long Gray Line, West Point 66 Class from School to Combat, April 6, 2002
What an exciting, engrossing book. You live the life of a plebe in the semi-pre-war, more casual era, then become wrapped in the clouds of the gathering storm clouds as the class progresses. You learn to know and love, hate, or appreciate each of the members as though you are there with them. Through the lengthy reading process, you learn a great deal about life at West Point, rituals, bull, bonding, and training. Finally you end up in combat and find that the enemy doesn't chose to play by many of the rules that you were taught, that you need to adapt or die. You learn that the order of allegiance becomes your foxhole buddy, your squad, your company, and way down the line becomes some distant concept of why we are fighting this war...you are fighting to protect your men, your friends. As men who are as real to your as your own classmates die, you grieve with the author. As men begin to harden and tear, you begin to understand Post-traumatic Stress. As men race against odds you begin to understand the terms from other books like "a hail of bullets", "SNAFU", "CYA", "Duty, Honor, Country." At the end of the book, you are fatigued, you need R&R, you want to go sit and have a beer with your friends and family and sit with the dog and watch the kids play in the neighborhood. You look a little differently when the flag goes by in the next parade.
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