Lost Battalion of Tet: The Breakout of 2/12th Cavalry at Hue (Ausa) [Paperback]

Charles A. Krohn (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1591144345 | ISBN-13: 978-1591144342 | Publication Date: February 5, 2008 | Edition: Rev. Pbk. Ed

Published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, this new paperback edition brings back into print a book that became an essential source for a 2006 study of the battle by the U.S. Army s Center of Military History. It takes a critical look at what went wrong in early 1968 during one of the first engagements of Tet, when a U.S. infantry battalion was ordered to attack a large North Vietnamese force near Hue City without air or artillery support. The tragic military foul-up resulted in over 60 percent casualties for the 2d Battalion, 12th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, when the soldiers were surrounded by the enemy and began running out of ammunition. The bold decision by battalion commander Lt. Col. Richard Sweet to break out with his remaining soldiers under cover of darkness saved this encirclement from being a total disaster. Author Charles Krohn, the unit s intelligence officer at the time, provides a much-needed analysis of what took place and fills his account with details that have been confirmed as factual by other survivors. Krohn examines the battalion s involvement in two other major attacks for lessons learned when vital systems break down lessons, he says, that are timeless and applicable anywhere. This book is published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles A. Krohn, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, is a combat veteran of Vietnam. As a civilian, he served as the Pentagon s deputy chief of public affairs from 2001 to 2004, including three months in Iraq as an adviser to the director of the Infrastructure Reconstruction Program. Recently, he was a visiting professor of journalism at the University of Michigan. A resident of Burke, Virginia, he now works for the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press; Rev. Pbk. Ed edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591144345
• ISBN-13: 978-1591144342
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #488,595 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

232 of 236 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brave, Honest Examination of War from an Inside View, April 5, 2008

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lost Battalion of Tet: The Breakout of 2/12th Cavalry at Hue (Ausa) (Paperback)

Charles A. Krohn first shared his military Intelligence viewpoint of the travesty of the infamous TET offensive in Vietnam in his recounting of events published in 1993. Now in 2008 he once again places some indigestible facts enhanced by further documentation of the events of the battle at Hue in 1968 that resulted in needless deaths of poorly directed soldiers. It was difficult though essential reading in 1993: it is even more difficult to address again in this the 40th anniversary year of the TET offensive.

From films and novels and various articles and reports that continue to remove the protective shroud from the American error in Vietnam, the details of the misinformed management of the TET offensive is common knowledge. What Krohn supplies in his re-telling of that gross misjudgment of wasting troops on an indefensible situation is not only the writing skill to make the situation come alive on the pages of his book, but he also speaks from the vantage of having been assigned to Intelligence and thus has first hand information, rather than retrospectively altered history reporting. The manner in which Krohn, from the first person narrative, explains the errors in judgment made by the commanding officers in the field as well as the higher officers who failed to assess the tragedy before it happened makes his account all the more terrifying. At the same time Krohn is careful to support the heroism of the soldiers who were so misdirected and his account of the battle is heart-wrenchingly poignant.

While we are at the mercy of the media to inform us about what is in truth happening in our current, equally misguided war in Iraq, reading books such as THE LOST BATTALION OF TET: Breakout of the 2/12th Cavalry at Hue provide some truths about the errors of war that should unite the country in electing to end yet another needless war. Recommended reading. Grady Harp, April 08

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for generations to come, February 2, 2008

By 

Col Robert L. Helvey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Battalion of Tet: The Breakout of 2/12th Cavalry at Hue (Ausa) (Paperback)

Krohn has chronicled a historical "snapshot" of a US Infantry battalion during the VN war--better than anything I have ever read. As eyewitness and participant, he has drawn with his words images of combat as sharp as any camera could ever produce. As an investigative reporter, he offers insights into the reasons his battalion was ordered to attack an entrenched enemy without artillery support. He also exposes the dirty linen that covered up incompetence by senior officers that was paid for in the blood of extraordinary Troopers in the 2nd Battalion, 12th US Cavalry. Aah, the soldiers! They were magnificent and Krohn gives them credit and attention they deserved. This is a book that will be read for generations to come.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Continued Relevance, April 13, 2008

By 

Redleg (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Battalion of Tet: The Breakout of 2/12th Cavalry at Hue (Ausa) (Paperback)

As a Viet Nam veteran and an Artilleryman, I read LTC(R) Krohn's book on two levels. None can deny the heroism displayed by the men of 2/12th CAV, nor can they ignore the idiocy that sent them into that meat grinder without Artillery support! That's the first level of interest for me. the second level is that the Author astutely points out that this SAME error in judgement was made when portions of the 10th Mountain Division were sent into Afghanistan. They too were denied artillery support in favor of PROMISED air delivered fires and ended up getting shot up by bad guys with D-30 howitzers and heavy mortars. Cudos to Charles Krohn for a clear-eyed first person account of the facts behind an important battle and the courage to relate that battle and the mistakes leading up to it to our current operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.