Customer Reviews

Six Silent Men (101st Lrp/Rangers)

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3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read Rey's book second, Although I would have love to have read the books by the numbers I still enjoyed it very much, as a matter-of-fact when I got the other two, I read this one again. I have read all three of them three times, and have enjoyed them just as much each time I read them. I think Rey did an outstanding job of telling how the LRRP companies started. I have never met Rey, I am hoping to get an invite to their next reunion. I am an EX/ LRRP/RANGER. I was with ECHO/ 50th LRRPs then We became ECHO 75th RANGER. Roadrunner 6 out

I've read a lot of books on Special Ops and especially Lurps in Vietnam. I haven't read a book yet that I didn't like but this one was rather boring. I have to agree with another reviewer that there "wasn't anything making me want to turn the page." If you like sit on the edge of your chair, can't put the book down for hours read this isn't it. Still the book is informative and the series is pretty good.

What a great book! This has to be one of the most exciting, action packed and (despite what some other erroneous reviewers have said) well written vietnam history/memoirs out there.
'Marty' takes us on a sweeping adventure of the first two years of the LRRP's existence. He delves into their training in great detail and then throws you into their first mission...and lookout, the action doesn't stop until the last page. In fact most of the book is a narrative of their individual missions...these missions were usually 6 men, alone in NVA territory, whose job it was to obtain info on the enemy, including location, numbers, type of weapons, etc... Many times the team would be compromised and have to fight their way out of danger, occasionally losing (never leaving) members of the team, but always inflicting heavy casualties on the NVA. Their are some heart stopping missions in here that you will not believe. I simply could not put this book down. And this is coming from a reader who is usually 100% WWII! This book has seriously sparked my interest in learing more about Vietnam and our men's role in that much maligned war. If you enjoy war stories then you would LOVE this book!

I first read the novel "Death In The Ashau Valley" by Larry Chambers, also a member of the LRP's in Vietnam, he recommended these novels. Well I have to say he was right in recommending this novel, as well as the other 2. All of them were well written, and you had to love the men as well as their antics.

Six silent men Reynel Martinez
101st LRRP
The 101st Long Range Reconnainsce Patrols worked all over Vietnam, from I Corp in the North to the delta in the South. At times they worked with the Marines and the Special Forces. They went out in 6 man teams. The goal was to locate the enemy and target it for others to kill.
The 101st arrived in Vietnam in July 1965, at Cam Ranh bay. They were highly trained due to the efforts of Major David Hackworth, the brigade operations officer. In September, 1965, to gather intelligence, the Long Range Recon Patrol group was set up under the command of 1srt Lt. Joel Stevenson. The unit was formally established on 15 October. 337 men volunteered, and 32 were accepted.
The book relates the histories of several of the men that the author knew. This is the 1st of 3 books written about the LRRPs by the men who served with them. It covers this authors time there. Other time periods are covered by other authors. The author is the son of one of the Darby Rangers of World War II. He went around in the 1980's and got each person's story for the book. Maps would have helped in this book.

Part of the training was knowledge of the rules of 1759, of Rogers Rangers, still valid today, and in an appendix.
Doing this kind of work was new for Americans. The Special Forces had been doing it for years, and the LRRPs borrowed some of their tactics. However, the SF worked with local people on patrol It was widely expected that the LRRP all American team would not last a week in the jungle.
One problem was the headquarters would want to send the LRRPs out as bait for the North Vietnamese, and then attack the North Vietnamese when the LRRPs were attacked. This tactic was fought by the LRRPs, as they did not have the firepower to stop large groups of enemy.
The author goes into lots of detail about who was on each mission, combat loads, and training. In an appendix, is a list of a variety of weapons the LRRPs used as well as the enemy. LRRPs used the Special Forces tiger uniforms that they acquired via barter or stealing.
A bunch of times the teams were inserted into hot landing zones and had to be extracted immediately.
This included their very first mission, which was being monitored by brass all the way to Saigon. On the first mission they almost lost the classified codes used, and had to go back to retrieve them while being fired upon.
Sometimes while under fire chopper pilots refused to retrieve the teams. Braver substitute pilots had to be found. As time went on, a bonding occurred between the pilots and the LRRPs, as the pilots knew that the LRRPs would come and get them if they got shot down. The LRRPs greatly admired the pilot's bravery.

The LRRPs carried whatever weapon they wanted. Most used M-16's but some carried shotguns, grease guns from WWII, SKS's, Thompson's, whatever. They borrowed strobe lights from the chopper pilots for use in signaling.
Many of the fights were within a few feet of the enemy. Several accounts relate the enemy looking directly at the men on one side of a bush, the LRRPs on the other side, and the enemy not seeing them due to LRRP camouflage.
Choppers at the time had to descend to the ground for the men to get aboard, as ladders and harness's had not been devised yet.
There were several occasion were teams were inserted into the wrong spots and got into big trouble, as there were lots of unexpected enemy, or they were in the target zone of a B-52 arc light bomb strike.
A bunch of the LRRPs were former Special Forces people.
Special Forces camps such as Dong Tre and Tra Bang were used as jump off points for some of the teams.
Sometimes they got orders that they knew were making them bait, so they said OK to the orders, but ignored them.
Once in a while they got inserted via boat. One Vietnamese crew put them in 30 miles North of the target area, and they ran into many VC and were in the way of a B-52 strike.
Some teams had scout dogs, but the teams considered them worthless as the dogs ate and drank too much, and gave away their locations by growling and whining. One dog kept biting the team members and mysteriously got fragged. (Killed by a grenade).
Sometimes they had time to fish and used "Dupont lures" (M-26 grenades.)
One mission was up north near Duc Pho, near Nui Dang hill, where Marine Carlos Hathcock got his 2500 yard sniper kill using a 50 caliber machine gun. Hathcock was a legend with the 101st too.
There were lots of people killed in this book. A lot of medals were given, Medals of Honor, Silver Stars. One person had acquired 13 purple hearts.
On one mission, they were flying for an insertion and spotted troops on the ground. They radioed this and were told that there were no friendlies in the area. They called in an air strike and found out later that the target was a group of American troops who had been inserted in the wrong landing zone.
May 1966 was the second generation of LRRPs, as the originals were being sent home. The 3rd generation came a year later. In 1967. Some men kept extending, staying overseas 5 and 6 years. LRRP troops were recruited for SF duty, and visa versa.
One mission they were on was to snatch a prisoner. He was a high ranking VC and they were in a no shooting mode, so as not to kill the potential prisoner. Shooting started immediately, and they got the prisoner they wanted plus a bunch of others.
Several funny incidents in local bars are included. One Lt had a pet bird that he used to take to the bar and buy drinks for. He told the bird to attack, at which point th bird would run out on his arm and squawk at the crowd. The bird always passed out. At another bar, they ran into a bunch of Koreans. There was a face off, and finally a Korean grabbed a beer out of a LRRPs hand, drank half of it, and handed it back. The LRRP finished it and the party was on. Other times they took beer back to base with them, a no-no. They had arguments with MP's trying to take the beer away. A Marine major was giving a bunch of static right after they had returned from a mission. The LRRPs listened to this for awhile, and one in the back finally yelled out "let's shoot the MF!". The Marine major advanced in the other direction quickly.
In July 1967, the LRRPs were running missions from the Tra Bong Special Forces camp. The author liked the Montagnard rations better than his own. Theirs was fish heads and rice, and hot peppers. The author did not envy the SF as they always had VC spies among their troops.
The author also went to the Recondo school while there, and participated in 10 mile runs with a 40 lb pack, plus weapons.
Men like Top Smith were idolized for his leadership ability. He never raised his voice or gave orders, just suggestions. He defended his men from headquarters. So did Superspade.

There was a mission where they called in an air strike and the planes and choppers came and shot the target up. There was a VC 51 cal machine gun that was shooting at the aircraft. Strike after strike came in, and the VC with the 51 cal kept shooting and wounded a couple of the planes. The LRRPs were impressed with the VC gunners bravery and cheered him on. After several passes, the aircraft finally silenced the machine gun.
Weather and leeches were a constant problem. They were on a mission when a typhoon came over them.
The monsoon season kept them wet and cold all the time. Electrical storms got so bad that it would set off the claymore mines and trip flares.
One man in their group was a medic. He was one of 3 brothers. He got killed on Nov 1, 1967, exactly 17 years to the day as his older brother, who died in Korea. He was one of the authors best friends.
An incident is related where the unit is out in the boonies and comes to a hamlet with a restaurant. They order a meal, and while eating a VC group comes in and orders lunch too. Both sides eat and leave, in opposite directions.


At one time the LRRP. s were working out of Song Be, on the Cambodian border. At least once they got picked up for extraction on the Cambodian side.
On leave in the states, he meets one of his team members for some drinks and go to a bar. A good looking girl sits with them. The author knows the girl has something on her mind. He has something on his mind. Both keep drinking. The author felt something was wrong. She finished her mixed drink and finally asked, "Well, how many babies did you kill in Vietnam"? Thinking this over, the author finally replied, "Not near enough. That's why I'm going back!". End of relationship.
Within 48 hours of landing back in Vietnam, he was in the bush again, in action.

They caught a VC paymaster with a bunch of gold leaf, and turned him in to the Vietnamese. Superspade turned the guy over to the Vietnamese. A few days later, the author saw the VC out. He had bought himself ort of prison. After returning from leave, he noted to Superspade how unfair the situation was, letting the VC paymaster go. Superspade showed the author his new gold teeth and said that the VC paymaster paid for them. He had kept a bunch of the VC money. He also noted that he saw the VC paymaster in the jungle later. The paymaster was arrogant to Superspade, thinking he had bought Superspade's silence. Fatal mistake.
The book ends after Tet, and the elimination of the 1st Brigade LRRPs as an independent organization.

There is an epilogue explaining where surviving members went.

A good book that would be better with maps.

I am the author of SIX SILENT MEN Book Two, and though I am proud of Book Two and of Gary Linderer's SIX SILENT MEN Book Three, I think Gary would join me in saying that we are particularly proud of the job Rey Martinez did in SIX SILENT MEN Book One. Rey had the hardest job of research, and at least as difficult a task of rendering the results of his research into a readable and accurate narrative. He did a truly professional job. I think that SIX SILENT MEN Book One is the best of the three---and one of the best narratives to come out of America's war in Vietnam. ... SIX SILENT MEN Book One is Rey's first attempt at serious writing. It was written in Rey's second language, and it is a splendid book. Rey is a man of enviable talents, but that's no excuse for spiteful and ignorant jealousy. This book is the best of the lot!

THE THIRD OF THE THREE BOOKS TELLING THE STORY OF THE LRP'S ROLE IN THE VIETNAM WAR. TOLD BY ONE WHO WAS THERE FOR MORE THAN ONE TOUR. GO ON PATROL, FEEL THE TENSION AND EXPERIENCE THE FEAR AND EXCITEMENT OF COMBAT. A GREAT READ!!

This book is very informative, and includes the accounts of various LRRPs who served in the LRRPs of the 101st. This is excellent, as you get different views on the experiences. If you are interested in the LRRPs of Vietnam, then this is one you should definately add to your collection!

Six Silent Men (Book 1) is a good documentary type book on the LRRPs in Vietam. However, it is somewhat unorganized. Further, the writing is not on par with many other books on related subjects. Otherwise, the book is very informative.

The LRRPS did. Time and time again the long-range-reconnaissance-patrols went out to "see" and not be "seen", and sadly, some individuals wouldn't return home.

This is fantastic series of books covering the history and evolution of the LRRPS/LRPS/RANGERS during the Vietnam War.

Rey Martinez, Kenn Miller, and Gary Linderer interviewed a great number of the surviving members of the LRRPS/Rangers to bring their history alive. While some members were able to tap in their memories, others wouldn't touch the pain from long ago. The authors did a terrific job bringing the histories together for a strong narrative.

If anything, I found myself wanting to know more! What were they thinking? What were you feeling? I'm sure much ended up on the "editing room floor".

The "SIX SILENT MEN" books are a very honest account if the units actions. Their packed with adventure and daring. While reading their books, I was filled with tension and dread, other times I had to laugh aloud, and a few times I became misty-eyed. You feel for the teams as they "will" themselves to become invisible while on patrol.

Don't be mislead by a negative review. The reviewer misquoted the book. This I know since I pulled my copy off the shelf and checked the text. The reviewer claims the authors are liars --- NOT SO. A great number of books on the Vietnam War are written very honestly, and the publishers do "Fact Checking" before publishing these books. Read the review by Harold Nealy, who was a LRRP! His testimonial supports this fine series. If these books were embellished tales, then Vietnam Vets who served in the LRRPS/Rangers wouldn't hesitate to post a review here and let the truths be known. As you see this isn't the case.

I have never met a veteran who has panned these books. Never.

If you enjoyed this series, I would also recommend Jim Morris' WAR STORY, John Plasters' SOG, James Rowe's FIVE YEARS TO FREEDOM, Larry Chambers RECONDO, and Leigh Wade's TAN PHU.

I had the honor of meeting Kenn Miller, Jim Morris, and John Plaster (and other Vietnam Vets) two years ago. They freely answered my questions. I was going to `buy a round' when one of them said, "Put your money away kid." I was 33, and that gathering was enjoyed by all.

Read the books. You won't be disappointed! God Bless and Attack life!