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Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam [Mass Market Paperback]

Col. Michael Lee Lanning (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)


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Book Description

September 12, 1987
During his tour in Vietnam with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Lee Lanning walked the booby-trapped rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, searching for elusive Viet Cong, and later macheted his way through the triple-canopy jungle, fighting North Vietnamese Army regulars. He served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and company commander. He sweated, thirsted, hunted, killed. And in all those experiences, he shared the terror, boredom, rage, and excitement of countless other American soldiers.

Lee Lanning's story is based an the journal he kept of his time in Nam -- an pages often mud-splattered and occasionally bloodstained. In his wards: "It was popular among many who taught to say that Vietnam 'wasn't much of a war, but it was the only war we had.' I can only add that it was enough of a war for me."

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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

During his tour in Vietnam with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Lee Lanning walked the booby-trapped rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, searching for elusive Viet Cong, and later macheted his way through the triple-canopy jungle, fighting North Vietnamese Army regulars. He served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and company commander. He sweated, thirsted, hunted, killed. And in all those experiences, he shared the terror, boredom, rage, and excitement of countless other American soldiers.

Lee Lanning's story is based an the journal he kept of his time in Nam -- an pages often mud-splattered and occasionally bloodstained. In his wards: "It was popular among many who taught to say that Vietnam 'wasn't much of a war, but it was the only war we had.' I can only add that it was enough of a war for me."

About the Author

MICHAEL LEE LANNING, who retired from a career in the U.S. Army in 1988, was awarded the bronze star for valor with two oak-leaf clusters and numerous other decorations for his service in Vietnam. Author of over a dozen books on military history, he lives in Phoenix, Arizona
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 12, 1987)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0804100055
  • ISBN-13: 978-0804100052
  • Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 12.2 x 2.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Is Excellent, August 27, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)
I missed the Vietnam War by a year or two. I served as an 11B from 72-78. I always wondered what it would have been like to have been there in a rifle company. Plenty of books about SF and LRRPs, but not very many written by a real infantry platoon leader. I never had a tremensous desire to be an elite soldier in an elite unit (if I could have even made it). I only wanted to be a rifle squad leader. This book really made me feel what it would have been like. What I missed. It is a real world book. Not a battle every minute book filled with stories of great exploits. Just a real world grunt in Vietnam book. I highly recommend the companion book Company Commanders Journal.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK!!!, June 30, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)
This is one of the best books I've ever read, when it comes to documenting the day to day events of a soldier in war. Based on the writer's journal as an Infantry platoon leader, and reinforced with letters sent & kept by the authors wife, this book is both poignant and detailed.From simple remembrances of c-rations and malaria pills, to major battles and the loss of friends, Lanning's book remembers them all, and shares them with the reader.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent First-Hand Account, November 19, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)
The thing that sets this book apart from others like it is the fact that it is the author's personal journal from his tour as a platoon leader in Vietnam. It lacks the "story-telling" quality that most other personal accounts of the Vietnam War have. Often it is not well-written or completely coherent, but that only serves to help the reader understand the conditions under which the entries were made. The entries are sopplemented by the author's reflections upon preparing them for publication. The events in this book were recorded as they occured - not years later - and that's what makes its special.
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cam tam, recon platoon, fatigue trousers
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Black Horse, Charlie Company, San Francisco, Delta Company, Long Binh, Binh Chanh, Doc Bass, Fort Bragg, Tan Lap, Alpha Company, Bien Hoa, Butterfly Hill, Thursday Moved, Kit Carson, Tom Fallon, Bill Little, Ranger School, West Point, North Carolina, World War, Friday Moved, Bien Luc, President Nixon, Battalion Commander, Rat Patrol
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