Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

This book is right on the mark and describes the experience of the 25th Division infantryman with candor and accuracy. I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War. You can't get any more detailed or closer to the combat experience than Eric Bergerud conveys in this work. The voices you hear are those of our 25th Division veterans telling their experiences as they happened to them. This is a great work destined to remain a major resource for future historians who seek to understand the Vietnam War.

Although I never served in Vietnam, I was an 11B in the 25th from 12/72-9/74. I served in the Army six years, so I have a good sense of what sounds right and what does not. It is clear to me that Mr. Bergerud put together a well researched product that does a fine job in explaining to me the reader what life in the 25th must have been like in Vietnam. It is the only book I have come across that is Tropic Lightning specific. This book gave me a connection to those guys who served before me.

I've had people tell me that this book reads like a History book. Maybe so , but it's a history book the average citizen can understand.Eric writes about a Division (the 25th) that unless you are a vet,very few people know of. This division didn't receive the aclaim that others did , but should have. They fought bravely in an area north west of Sigon known as War Zone C which included the dreaded Iron Trangle,Hobo Woods, and along the Cambodian border. This Division suffered some of the highest casualties of the war.(5000+) The vets Eric interviewed were real grunts. They told their story as it was when they were there. They didn't try to make themselves look like hero's, they talked about the fear, the loneleness,the good times, and the times they cried when they lost a buddie. If you want to read a good book that covers the Vietnam War from begining to end (10 yrs)this is it.

I am not a history or war buff, so I didn't think I would like this book. But it was great. There are many stories from veterans that practically put you in Vietnam. I loved this book.

I was in Vietnam from Nov 69 to Nov 70 in the 2/22 Inf ( M ) 25th Infantry Division. My MOS was 11C20 ( 81MM mortar crewman on an APC ). This book uses actual quotes fron Vets, and presents a much different picture than the one Oliver Stone paints in "Platoon". Of course the truth always needs poetic license to make it salable. Anyway, if you want a down-to-earth nitty gritty book about the Grunt's eye view of Vietnam, this is the one. I have read many books on the subject and this ranks right up there with the books by Al Santoli ( also a 25th Div. Vet ). A must for all Vietnam combat vets.

I was drafted in 1965, had infantry training at Ft. Ord and in 1966 I was with the 25th, 1/5 Mech, 4.2" Mortars where I spent most of time in the field, and found the book very interesting. The book sure does give many different views. Some I think are accurate from what I saw and some are much different from what I saw. It might have been the year I was there, the unit, or the person giving the account, as many of the accounts in the book are from different years or different units within the 25th. When I was there our mortars were utilized very much and we did a lot of firing all the way from supporting those that were in a fire fight, to responding to VC mortar attacks, to illumination rounds, to H&I fire, some all night long. Even when in base camp there were times we would set up our mortars and sometimes fire them. There were other time we would be assigned as perimeter guards. At the end of the book, it gets into the drug use, the base camp troops verses those in the field, etc. I think the book gives a pretty good account of this and is accurate from when I was there. One thing I did not see mentioned in the book, was that those of us that were in the field most of the time did resent the clerks or base camp personnel that would fly out to meet up with us in the field, spend part of a day or very short time and then fly back to base camp, just so they could be awarded a CIB (Combat Infantryman's Badge). The CIB, for most of us that were in the field a lot, was something to be earned and some sense of pride. It was the same for a Purple Heart. Officers that would give themselves a Purple Heart for scratches did not really earn them. Overall the book is a good read, especially if you were in the 25th, or were in the infantry in Vietnam or had friends or family there.

I was in the 25th Division ( 1st of the 14th Bravo Company) from April 67' to Jan 68' (Tet Offensive) MSO 11Bravo40. I am saving this book for my grand kids to read
because this is as real as it gets in an infantry company. There was definitely no BS by the author.