Customer Reviews

No Greater Love: A Day with the Mobile Guerrilla Force in Vietnam

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U.S. special forces experience varied widely in Vietnam. The A Teams, the Greek letter projects, the MIKE Forces, and MAC-V-SOG all fought different fights of a large and very complex war. Within those units, none was more unique than Donohue's, which morphed from an A Team on a mobile guerrilla mission, into the B-36 Special Task Force, much later into the B-36 MIKE Force. Donohue describes the early days, when the window of opportunity for mobile guerrilla operations against the NVA and VC Main Force regiments was wide open. If you want to know what it was like to be with a small band of American special forces (and one Australian), leading companies of Cambodian nationalist rebels from the Khmer Serai against one half of their ancient enemy, then this is one of two books you must read. This is a war of companies against battalions, out well beyond the range of artillery where American forces were not allowed to go, where junior sergeants functioned as platoon leaders during the heavy fighting, and then quickly morphed into medics and radio operators. Read this, and Donohue's Blackjack-33, and you'll have enjoyed some of the finest combat writing to come out of the 5th Special Forces Group.

A fabulous book for anyone looking for firsthand accounts of the great work our fighting men & women did in Vietnam, and an excellent antidote for the overplayed drivel Hollywood & the "mainstream" media try to spoon-feed us.

The author provides a minimal amount of background info on himself and the Mobile Guerilla Force, and then jumps right into the action. He gets your heart pumping and your senses instantly alerted through first-person writing, and once you start this book it is very difficult to put down. Mr Donahue does not hold back anything from the reader either; he skillfully relates the sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes of combat in Vietnam.

If you are looking for a well-written first-hand account about the experiences of combat in Vietnam, then I highly recommend this book. If you are a little squeamish, or prefer to research the unit histories and command structures of combat units in Vietnam, well, I STILL recommend this book (and all of Mr Donahue's books).

No Greater Love is a great book, but shows out of print. It's been re-titled to Blackjack-34 which is in print.

This is by far the best book I have ever read on the Vietnam War. Once the fighting starts it is difficult to put down as you have to know what happens to the team and to the individual players. If any book should be made into a film then it should be this one.

I just got done reading Blackjack-34 and could NEVER put it down! I read it in 3 days! Mr. Donaue really brings the war into your head and doesn't add all of the REMF bullcrap. Just dirty, bloody, and sweaty soldiers fighting, and dying for our great counrty. He lets you HEAR the bullets crack, the shrieks of friends, the whack of lead hitting flesh and bone. Best book on Vietnam that I have ever read! I can't wait to be a Special Forces soldier too someday.

Written by a living legend. James C. Donahue joined the Marine Corps when he was seventeen years old and served with the Corps through the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. After being discharged, he enlisted in the army and volunteered for Special Forces. As a Green Beret, he served with the 6th and 7th Special Forces Groups (Airborne) in Fort Bragg, NC, and with the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Vietnam. His many military awards and decorations include the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart, two Air Medals, the Combat Medical Badge, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

The Mobile Guerrilla Force was an elite unit of indigenous troops led by U.S. Army Special Forces "advisors." The MGF operated in the enemy's rear for weeks at a time, ambushing Viet Cong and NVA units, destroying base camps, and gathering vital intelligence.

Blackjack-34 (previously published as No Greater Love) is the story of an operation conducted by the Mobile Guerrilla Force in July 1967 to locate enemy units for the 1st Infantry Division. The Special Forces led Cambodian mercenaries become the prey when a main force VC battalion surrounds them and attempts to destroy them.

Donahue's mastery of dialogue makes Blackjack-34 read like a novel, but it's all real stuff. Check your clothes for powder burns when you're done reading this one. Winner of the Freedoms Foundation's George Washington Honor Medal.

An elite unit armed to the teeth, the Mobile Guerrilla Force was America's only real guerrilla force in Vietnam. These men operated for weeks at a time--springing ambushes, destroying base camps, and gathering vital intelligence--in steamy, triple-canopied jungles ruled by the VC and NVA.

On July 18, 1967, Special Forces medic James Donahue and his platoon were on a mission, code-named Blackjack-34, to locate enemy units for the 1st Infantry to destroy. But instead a crack enemy battalion found them.

Now Donahue bears witness to the bloody events of that day and the exceptional grit and determination of his teammates. BLACKJACK-34 is a magnificent tribute to the warriors of Mobile Guerrilla Force--their courage, heroism, and willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Rob Krott, author of SAVE THE LAST BULLET FOR YOURSELF: A Soldier of Fortune in the Balkans and Somalia

I was a REMF who worked in intel activities at the lowest to the highest levels from January 1966 to August 1970, with my last assignment tasked to SOG. Mostly unofficially, but some officially, I supplied intel to units like Donahue's. There were a very few other units like his so his was not the "only" real guerrilla force in Vietnam. I eagerly supported these men in anyway I could, to include "midnight requisitioning" things they wanted or needed from Saigon. Donahue writes well and gives the reader a very close up view of the war at the very pointed end of the spear. I could not put the book down until I finished the last page. Master Sergeant, US Army Retired, VN War 66-70 & 71-73.

I have read dozens of non-fiction Vietnam books, trying to gain every perspective. Donohue provides a view somewhat different from many others in that his unit successfully combines US commanders with Cambodian nationals. As other reviewers have related it is the gripping tale of a significant engagement, but with emphasis on the relationships and interactions between men from vastly different cultural backgrounds. I have to admit, in places I questioned whether conversations or details were representative of actual events, or if they were modified as a vehicle to convey patrol SOP (for example) for the benefit of an unenlightened reader. Those impressions were easily overpowered by Donahue's story of the courage and tenacity of the men in his unit, and their dedication to and affection for each other regardless of nationality. As in so many outfits, individual personalities became critical to the success of the mission as well as the care of the unit's dead and wounded both during the battle and in the aftermath. It is a tale well told and will remain on my bookshelf.

Donahue's books tell it like it was. Fear, friendships, courage and perseverance, it's all here. You can smell the place, feel the place and practically taste the place. This is as real as it gets.

I am just a student in a highschool. I have not ventured out into the military yet. I had previously had no idea what exactly went on in Vietnam. Through this book, I was able to gain a view through a field medic's day. In that day he lost friends, gained friends, and killed enemies. He showed what it was like to do those and how it felt. Now I know and I am thankful for that view that I never had before. For people who don't know anything about the Vietnam War, I suggest you read this book.