Rangers At War:: Combat Recon in Vietnam [Hardcover]

Shelby L. Stanton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 26, 1992

"Shelby Stanton has emerged as the leading military historian on the war in Southest Asia."
COL. CHARLES B. MacDONALD
Author of COMPANY COMMANDER and A TIME FOR TRUMPETS
One of the toughest and most challenging jobs in Vietnam was to be a U.S. Army Ranger running Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols. The LRRPs took volunteers only, and training was designed to weed out all but the best. What emerged was an elite outfit of warriors in the finest sense of the word. Now Shelby Stanton, renowned military authority on the war in Southeast Asia, presents the first and only definitive history of the LRRPs and the U.S. Army Rangers in Vietnam. They're all here: the Screaming Eagle Patrollers, Cochise Raiders, Charlie Rangers, Cobra Lightning Patrollers, and more.


From the Paperback edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stanton ( Green Berets at War ) makes a significant contribution to the operational history of the Vietnam War with this volume on long-range reconnaissance and patrol units. Depending on helicopters for insertion and extraction, usually employed in teams only a half-dozen strong, the Vietnam-era rangers specialized in intelligence collecting and small-scale raids. Their improvised role was the product of a war without stable fronts and terrain that defied conventional means of information gathering. Stanton describes the rangers' history company by company and discusses their use and misuse by generals often as bewildered by the war as were the men they led. The book is particularly useful as a background for the large number of memoirs by veterans of long-range reconnaissance units. Not every fire fight was a victory, not every ranger a hero, but in Stanton the men in black berets have a worthy chronicler.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This history of American combat reconnaissance units in the Vietnam War, the author's seventh book dealing in whole or in part with U.S. ground forces in Southeast Asia, will add to Stanton's growing reputation as a leading interpreter of that conflict's military aspects. Here, he covers the evolution and experiences of rangers from each of the larger American units (1st Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division, etc.), including selected combat narratives for each. Reconnaissance troops, along with the tunnel rats and Medevac crews, remain unsung heroes of Vietnam. No other book to date has even attempted such an overview of how they responded to the tactical problems posed by Southeast Asia. Recommended for Vietnam War collections.
- John R. Vallely, Siena Coll. Lib., Loudonville, N.Y.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 382 pages
• Publisher: Orion; 1st edition (May 26, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517585901
• ISBN-13: 978-0517585900
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,133,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of LRRP/Ranger actions and unit histories, November 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rangers at War: LRRPs in Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

Stanton's book is the first one that I have seen that covers all of the LRRP/Ranger units, gives some insights into their respective AOs and tactics, and describes some of the missions conducted by each. Makes me proud to have served in the "Wildcat Rangers", Co.F/52nd Inf(LRP), and to be in one of the actions described in the book. A good complimentary work to such fine narratives as "Eyes Behind the Line".

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highland Rangers, July 14, 2000

By 

John Serrano - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rangers at War: LRRPs in Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

Company K team 3-C I was there and in the same Company K. Sgt. Kenneth Hess was a good friend of mine, as well as the other team mates. The Montagnard(Ju Hmok)that was killed by friendly fire was right. Pfc. Nathaniel Irving was killed in a way that only a NVA would kill like a(Butcher) yes he was butchered.The reason we didn't get any radio contact,was because a gernade had landed between Sgt. Hess's neck and the radio. Thats why we had lost radio contact. If you knew the NVA and thier ways. You would know that they never put anyone in a grave. The part about Pfc. Don A.MacPhail was right. He was a POW and then returned in 1973. The Montagnard (Ju Hmok) was also my scout.I had let him stay behind because he had just gotten married. but they needed a scout so they took Ju Hmok. Sgt. Hess only had two weeks too go before he was too go home. Of all the things that happened over there, that I won't forget and also what had happened too team 3-C. Submitted by Sgt. John Serrano

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the price!, October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rangers at War: LRRPs in Vietnam (Mass Market Paperback)

The previous reviewer who believes that this book was written by "some college professor" displays his own ignorance. The author, Shelby L. Stanton, was a decorated Special Forces officer who served in Vietnam. Trust me, the author knows what he's talking about, and though this may not be an exciting book, it is worth the price.