Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam [Paperback]

David Donovan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (July 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345479076
• ISBN-13: 978-0345479075
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #162,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the short list of Vietnam must-reads, November 29, 2007

By 

Jeff Kelleher (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam (Paperback)

Splendid book. Entertaining and minimally technical, it is strongly recommended for non-veterans who want to get a feel for "how it really was."

Donovan, as a mere First Lieutenant, was the senior U.S. military officer in a rural district near the Cambodian border. The Vietnamese District Chief cared little and higher authority was far away. By default, therefore, he became a kind of proconsul, a king. In charge of four Amercans and two platoons of Vietnamese militia, he ran his "own" war.

At first full of idealism and self-importance, he resembled Alden Pyle of the "The Quiet American". He mused that he could have any villager killed on his orders, and that he was treated like a lord. But he believed in the cause, loved the Vietnamese people, hated the Vietcong, disdained the corrupt and incompetent South Vietnamese government, and was appalled at the occasional coarseness of his fellow Americans. Like Horatio Hornblower, he was incredibly brave while filled with internal fear and doubt.

All of the grand complexities of That War are conveyed in microcosm through anecdote. There is much humor (the pubic-hair contest he was asked to judge while holed up in a bar; the Keystone Cops escape in a Jeep with the Vietcong blazing away), pathos (the burned child he could not save), frustration (the Province Chief on the take; the District Chief who cared more for his own comfort than his people's safety; the air-conditioned REMFs who inhabited a separate world in Saigon), anger (the Vietcong-planted bomb that shredded a schoolhouse full of children), and harrowing action (assaulting a Vietcong bunker complex in a motor-driven sampan).

I served in the PBRs--river gunboats--that he often mentions, in a nearby area and at roughly the same time. This is the book that I would have written, if I had Donovan's diligence, sensitivity, and craft.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book. Easy to read; hard to put down, July 24, 2008

By 

Dennis in Houston (Texas, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam (Paperback)

'Once a Warrior King' is an
excellent book. Written by Terry Turner using the pen name David Donovan.
I served on MACV Advisory Team 88 in Ben Tre, Kein Hoa Province, IV Corps, Sept. '68 - Aug. '69.
(That was where 'We had to destroy the town in order to save it.'
A dumb statement which was not true. Some buildings were damaged but were quickly repaired.)
I was fortunate to be at Province headquarers where we were able to live in a decent manner. By comparision, the MAT and District team where Terry Turner served, near the Cambodian border, had very little personal and US military support. It is obvious to me, as a former MACV officer, that the book 'Once A Warrior King' could have only been written by somemone who was actually there. The fact that T. Turner used a pen name is OK. Many of the names in the book were changed for reasons of privacy.
A good book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book!, November 14, 2007

By 

D>D> "Doubles" (Baton Rouge/ Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam (Paperback)

This is the best first person Vietnam War book I have ever read. I have read it multiple times and have given away each copy I've had. This book is the real deal.