Red Thunder Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam [Paperback]

Eric M. Bergerud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

This honest, unflinching narrative presents the personal stories of the 25th Infantry--the division that inspired Oliver Stone's film, Platoon. Bergerud contends that the Vietnam War was lost in the field, where divisions like the 25th Infantry were obliged to fight in massive, expensive, and seemingly pointless campaigns against a stubborn, resilient enemy. Photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this gripping oral history of the Vietnam War, soldiers of the 25th Division recount the ways the war was actually fought and the psychological pressures they endured. Bergerud ( The Dynamics of Defeat ) divides his material into broad categories such as weapons ("The Tools of the Trade"); medical care, from the wounding of a soldier through his evacuation and treatment; the antipathy between frontline soldiers and support troops, and relations between Vietnamese civilians and American GIs. Raw memories of combat form the core of this impressive book, as the veterans recall their experiences in a viciously hostile environment--ambushes, minefields, friendly fire ("I was more afraid of our firepower," says one vet, "than of the enemy's"). The men also complain about the paucity of experienced NCOs and the crippling officer-rotation system. Only one group of memories is wholly positive: those of comradeship. Photos. History Book Club selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Bergerud's name is a familiar one to students of the Vietnam War. His Dynamics of Defeat ( LJ 11/15/90) was a well-received study of the war in the Hau Nghia province of what was South Vietnam. His latest work studies American participation by examining the war through the eyes of the officers and men of the 25th Infantry Division, nicknamed "Tropic Lightning." The 25th soldiered on in Vietnam from 1966 to 1971 and was the unit in which the director Oliver Stone served. Some 5000 of the names on the Wall, the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., are from the 25th. An outstanding example of the use of personal experiences to describe the nature of the fighting and of the world the soldiers knew, this memoir is a necessary addition to any library collection.
- John R. Vallely, Siena Coll. Lib., Loudonville, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140235450
• ISBN-13: 978-0140235456
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From one who was there, January 25, 2000

By 

Roger Hayes (Carlyle, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Thunder Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam (Paperback)

I served with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam--the unit which is the subject of Red Thunder, Tropic Lightning. I have read over a hundred books about Vietnam, but was really impressed with this work. Dr. Bergerud and his oral contributors, one of whom was in my squad, tell it the way it was. I've read other books by Eric Bergerud and consider him a meticulous researcher and brilliant historian. I believe the 25th Infantry Division Association, who recently honored Dr. Bergerud with their Stanley R. Larsen Award for his efforts on this book and his portrayal of the "Tropic Lightning" (25th) division, speaks louder than the "reader from VA". I'd highly recommend this book to anyone interested in what it was really like to be an infantryman in Vietnam.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling, insightful reflection on an ugly period., May 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Thunder Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam (Paperback)

A few years ago I received a letter from Eric Bergerud requesting information regarding my service with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. When I saw that Dr. Bergerud was an academic, with a connection to Berkley, I dismissed the request out of hand. Berkley had been the source of some of the most extreme criticism of the war and the soldiers who served therin. I erred in not responding to Dr. Bergerud's information request.

Years fade and conditions change. Change began with one significat event. The Wall went up on the mall in D.C. Its simplicity and haunting design erodes the barriers of time and space. No one who was there can look upon the Wall and fail to see his reflection looking back at him through the names of absent comrades. Now, five years after its initial publication, I have discovered Bergerud's book. Its effect is similar. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. I know some of the people quoted in it and neither they nor any of the rest of us who served there were made to look as villainous as we have been previously portrayed by the media and academia. My only objection to the book and the only fault I found with it came at the end. I have been present in the field with Field and Company-grade officers, and I have seen General officers on-site.

Perhaps it may have been the early stage of the war, but during my participation in it (I was an RTO) my unit, 4/23 Inf., was constantly involved in Battalion sized operations. The Battalion commander, LCL Bzarcz was continuously in the field. I saw the XO, MAJ Crim take a load of shrapnel in his leg and refuse medical evacuation. I walked, with MAJ Hamlin through the world's scariest minefield. Only later did it occur to me that whatever minefield you're in is the world's scariest.

One evening GEN Weyand landed inside the Bn. perimeter. In another incident, the Bn. lost several helicopters filled with men from Co. A in the Iron Triangle. While preparing for a rescue operation with the Recon Platoon, I saw! Generals from my own Division, the 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Airmobile. To state that these men took no risk, or were somehow imune to it, demeans their integrity and valor. In my experience, such statement is untrue.

The book is powerful and insightful. I believe it is must reading for those of us who served there and all others who would attempt to see the war through grunt's eyes.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-written accurate and moving, February 17, 2002

By 

D. C. Carrad "augustabookman" (Augusta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red Thunder Tropic Lightning: The World of a Combat Division in Vietnam (Paperback)

I was there too (June 68 to Junre 69), so let me add my voice to that chorus. In addition, this book is very well-written and a pleasure to read. There has been more nonsense written about Vietnam than the next 10 subjects combined; this book is a good start toward an antidote to all those years of lies. Vietnam veterans will love it. Non-veterans looking for the truth will find it fascinating and enlightening. Strong recommended.