Customer Reviews

Marshalling the faithful: the marines' first year in vietnam

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is about a US Marine in Veitnam. A small man caught in a current that he couldn't recognize nor get out of. This book will challenge you, you'll be exhausted, perplexed, and asking why. Worst of all, you can see yourself doing the same. It's a very interesting work. One of the best examinations of Veitnam in several years.

I'm one of hundreds of people who knew Lt Frank Reasoner as a member of the West Point class of 1962.

Henderson's book is an extraordinary piece of work - a nonfiction account of the deployment of the 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division from Hawaii to Okinawa to Vietnam, as related by officers and men who served with Frank in the unit in 1965-66, but written in the form of a novel.

The book runs to a about 400 pages and documents a little over a year of unit history, but the first half is largely focused on Frank Reasoner's initial assignment to the battalion, his appointment to Company Command as a 1st LT, and his untimely death.

A lot of people got to know Frank when we were all cadets at West Point - but few of us saw him after graduation. Here's the way that one of his fellow Marines described Frank upon their initial meeting in a club on Okinawa:

"He stood no more than five feet six inches tall, and had his golden-brown hair cleanly cut close to his scalp in a flat-top. He wore sandals and white socks, white Bermuda shorts, and a bright blue Hawaiian shirt with bright red flowers printed on it.

"What caught John DelGrosso's eye was not the shirt, nor the Marine's short yet extremely muscular stature. It was the pipe. A pipe that nearly hid the man from sight. Not since Sherlock Holmes had he seen such a pipe. It began with a small black stem that the man clenched in his teeth, tapered out and bent down to the base of a huge yellow bowl that curved upward four inches. Had it been made of brass, he would have sworn that the man held a saxophone."

The first half of the book is full of insights into Frank's relationship to his men, his chain of command and his fellow officers - and the details of the mission that took his life. The entire book documents the constantly evolving nature of the early USMC mission in Vietnam, with perspectives on events and personalities influencing the conduct of the war for years to come - from the White House to MACV to CBS and beyond.

It's a great read.

my Father, a chopper pilot, was killed in the pre-'65 Vietnam era

Reading this book helped me understand what, where and WHY my Father was there. His sacrifice was not in vain!

Semper Fi

Laron D Shannon

I am pretty sure (based on his other books) that the book is a good / great read. Though the condition of the book was totally un-acceptable. the site stated the book was in very good condition, but when it arrived, the cover was torn and tattered, and several pages were crinkled and not a very attractive cover or an over all appearance. I would send the book back, but the mailing costs would be much more than the book had cost initially.