Customer Reviews

Semper Fi-Vietnam: From Da Nang to the DMZ: Marine Corps Campaigns, 1965-1975

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Marine Infantry and their navy Corpsmen who served in Vietnam, will find their unit in this book, as well as those who served before and after their tours. More importantly grunts and Docs will know and understand better what they were doing and how that fit into the Marine Corps overall involvement in the war. Mr Murphy has talant beyond that of a history book author. The courage and selfless bravery of the men in this books pages speaks volumnes for a generation described differently elswhere.

This book filled in the blanks and answered questions I had about the big picture. I was in Kilo, 3/5 1st Division in An Hoa. I only saw microcosm of our activity. I had no idea of the "big picture" I want to talk to author about more in depth details. Great book.-Lynn Underwood

It seems quite evident that the sources for Murphy's book are unit histories, command chronologies and similar documents. These leave a bit to be desired as they're written by people who toe the party line (so to speak....meaning that the unit commander usually has a say as to what goes in and what gets omitted). As a one volume reference book on where and when the Marines had major engagements however, it is excellent. He is to be commended for including grid coordinates and maps, a great help if you're following along on a tactical map.

From the landing of the 1st Light Antiaircraft Missile Battalion in 1965 to the final liftoff of the last U.S. Embassy guards in April 1975, the U.S. Marine Corps suffered more total casualties in Vietnam than in all of World War II.
Their story of their bravery and sacrifice is well told in one compact but remarkably comprehensive work; thoroughly researched, admirably readable, with a notably well-organized and complete index which makes finding a particular unit or action fast and easy.
With photos and bibliography, Murphy's work will stand as an excellent one-volume history of the Corps in Vietnam.
(The numerical rating above is an ineradicable default setting within the format of this page. This reviewer does not employ numerical,ratings).

After I read this book, I developed a better RESPECT for the Vietnam Veterns. As Vetern myself I had no idea what those guys went through. SEMPER FI Guys.

There is no doubt that Mr. Murphy performed a service by inventorying, listing, and sometimes linking Marine Corps operations in Vietnam, but he tells only part of the story. Vietnam was largely an air war with infantry providing defense in-depth for the high value bulls-eyes parked on airstrips around the RVN. As such, the Marine Corps Air Wing(s) played a very important roll in the war. Yet that role, along with the roles of the Marine Corps artillary and other supporting arms go almost completely unnoted by Mr. Murphy. In part this probably derives from Mr. Murphy's background as chronicler of medal winners, for without a doubt the majority of Marine Corps medals rightly went to grunts. In part, it also probably owes something to the author's passionate attachment to romantic ideals of heroism as revealed in Bulwar-Lyttonesque sentences throughout the work. Unfortunately, the methods for researching medal awards provides a very narrow view of military operations. Unit histories, sufficient for ascertaining the tactical and operational circumstances of a given engagement, are insufficient for discussing Corps-wide activity. Failure at this level cannot be redeemed by hyperbole, such as "Across swollen streams and mucky rice paddies, and through thick treelines, the riflemen advanced, searching for the foe." found on page 229. In sum, the work is seriously flawed and should be used with caution, and probably only used as an index of actions, yet it is frequently an exciting read. trm

I have not read the whole book as of yet. What I read for the time period during 1967 was very lacking on some major items. I feel that the author is only using military info based upon large scale "named" USMC Operations and not very important info concerning activities that had the same impact without having a "name". A good example was what happened to Fox Co. 2/5 on July 4, 1967 when they were overrun at Nong Son, or as we referred to that place as the "Coal Mines". A young machine gunner that came as a replacement to Fox Co. due to the high KIA rate that happened to them on Operation II on June 2, 1967. This man won the Congressional Medal of Honor and was in country for less than a month. This only one of several examples that I can attest to. Thank you.

This author shows an incredible lack of knowledge about the Vietnamese (both ARVN and Nva/Vc troops) who fought at Hue. This lack of knowledge means that the readers have no clue of how bloody the battle Hue was and why it takes several weeks to regain the city.

According two recently publish Communist books: "Hue, Spring 1968, Ban Nghien Cuu Dang[the Communist Party Research committee], Hue, 1988" and the "Tck-tkn [Generl offensive-General Uprising 1968, Ban Nghien Cuu Dang[the Communist Party Research committee], Ho Chi Minh City, 1988". The Nva/Vc troops in Hue consist of 4 full strength regiments: the E1, E5, E8, E9 and several battalions from the E6 regiment several sapper battalions (E is the NVA denote for regiment). Only the South Viets Hac Bao Company, most of who during the New Year was on leave, defended Hue. The Nva attacked on the first day of the Lunar New Year and quickly gain control of the city. After which they release 2,300 violent criminals from the city prison and armed them and the city VC sympathizers to form the "Nghia Quan"[Rightous Army]. In total the Nva/VC have around 9,000 to 10,000 troops in the city including the "Nghia Quan' criminals. On the second day of the New Year, the ARVN 1st Airborne Brigade consists of the 2nd and 6th battalions fought their way into Hue by way of An Hoa. They succeeded in getting into the city and later the ARVN 9th Airborne battalions; fresh from their victory at Quang tri also joined them. It's true that the S. Viets ask the Americans for help after the second week of battle but it was not due to S. Viets troops cowardice or low morale like the author tries to imply.

The ARVN who fought at Hue consists of the Airborne, then later the Marines, Rangers and the 1st Division, the best fighting force in Vietnam war. However, initially, the S. Viets leaders do not want the ncient city of Hue to be destroyed and forces the S. Viets and Americans to fight with little or no air and artillery support. This means the cost in retaking the city from 8,000 well-fortified enemies has to be done hand to hand. During the week of the battle, the S. Vietnamese 2nd and 7th battalions went from 500 men each down to only 200 men. The S. Viets 9th airborne battalion went from 400 men to only 100 men, the rest were killed and wounded. The S. Viets marines and ranger battalions that later came to join in the fight was fresh from the battles in Saigon without replacement and were all at or around half strengths. A typical S. Viet airborne battalion consists of 500 men, 800 men for the Vietnamese marine battalion and 450 men for the Vietnamese ranger battalion. The Nva/VC also lost a tremendous number of men and o both sides settle down to defensive and probing attacks. This also is true for the USMC since the US marines for the first two weeks or so, fought only during the day and then retreat to the MACV compound at night, this go on until sufficient troops and allies replacement have arrive. The battle for Hue was bloody and vicious, the S. Viet dead was twice that of the U.S marines, as for the Nva/VC most of their troops die during the battle for the city.

There are moments that show the Marines' great heroism, sacrifice and humanity, but these are sparsely detailed and left me wanting more texture, more of a feeling of what these guys went through. Many of the terms are not defined which doesn't help a civilian like myself. The maps are too few and have so little detail, it is hard to get a sense of the sweep of events over the terrain. This book reads like a compilation of various lists of engagements, dates, places, commanding officers. I found it flat and disappointing.