Customer Reviews

Special Men

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I wish Dennis Foley could write an updated version of the
very important lessons to be learned from his great book, SPECIAL MEN. His book should be read by anyone going into
the military, and required re-reading for those who are careerists, rather
than warriors. The lessons to be learned from this book are that vital.

I enlisted two years prior to Dennis Foley. One of my mentors , Col John Paul Vann, told me the difference between a warrior and a careerist. One of Dennis Foley's mentors, the late Col David Hackworth, was the epitome of why we need more warriors and fewer careerists in our military. LTC Foley is another great example of why, as well.

SPECIAL MEN is a great autobiography, beautifully told and written. One of its lessons is how we mismanaged to lose the war in Vietnam, by losing it in America first. Sadly, recent leaders of our country learned nothing from Vietnam and are mismanaging
us in a war today that is far more important to our nation's survival than was Vietnam.

As LTC Foley points out, we cannot afford a military run as a popularity contest. We cannot afford an undisciplined military. And, he is writing primarily about the 1960s and '70s military.
What must he think of today's PC-driven, kindler/gentler bureaucratic military?

But, I know what he thinks of the young men and women serving in our
military, because a true leader and a good officer never changes. Like his mentor, David Hackworth, whom I knew, Dennis
Foley cares about his troops...honestly, deeply and always. It
shows on every page of this book.

With more Dennis Foleys running our military we'd never lose another war. But, since he's no longer in the military, and is now writing about the military, I sure hope that more folks heed his important messages.

Personally, I have a few ROTC cadets from a nearby university working for me parttime. As each graduates, he or she gets a
copy of SPECIAL MEN from me as a graduation present. It's the best I can do for them.

Foley is a professional writer, now, and it shows in the vivid clarity of his words and the mental images they evoke. He takes his own experiences in the Army (enlisted recruit to Lt. Col.) at a critical point in its existence and gives us the grunt's view, but with the insight of an outstanding staff officer. He points out the many failings of the staff and leadership in the 1960's Army (as only a grunt can) and how men like those he served with on the ground in the 101st, LRPs, and Green Berets made up for those failings. His stories of going from PFC into MCO school, into OCS are full of the details that add dimension to his later activities and service in the jungle. And he points out his own failings. A refrain that repeats itself goes along these lines: "I thought such-and-such, but how wrong I was."

He also gives insight into the workings of the upper echelons, and how good men and women in those ranks worked to shove the Army into the later 20th century. Unfortunately, he left the Army before the results of those efforts really paid off in the desert and the many interventions and peace-keeping efforts we send our people into. But for a solid, well written account of Viet Nam, and one guy's experiences there, "Special Men" is one of the best written, most balanced accounts I've read, and I've read a lot of them. For another view of the evolution of the Army in the crucial 20 years between Viet Nam and Desert Storm, I recommend Fred Franks' "Into The Storm."

Dennis grasps of the military and understanding of the soldiers really shows through. Foley as an enlisted men first, he knew what it was like to be a buck-private and always had respect for the men. I know I served under him in F Compnay, 51st LRP (Abn.) Infantry and what he wrote about the unit is sad considering its great past records of what we did during Tet 1968 that saved thousands of Allied lives. A claim that no other Lurp unit in Vietnam could come close too. For a better understanding of Lurping, read Don C. Hall's book I SERVED or check out the web site at i-served.com. Dennis is a fine example of what outstanding men can do to carry the unit, in spite of, the poor performance by a few. It's in his book. Check it out!

A good story,and a lot of facts-I was there and it was the way he said. David is an excellent writer.

"Special Men: A LRP's Recollections" is a terrific book. Dennis Foley takes us through his entire twenty year Army career in this book, but the bulk of it is spent in the first ten years of his career. I really enjoyed this memoir. It's well written in a conversational, humble voice. Foley comes across as likeable. The years prior to Vietnam were quite interesting. Foley tells us about his time as an enlisted man in Cold War Germany. He also gives quite detailed descriptions of OCS and Airborne School in the pre-Vietnam era.

One extremely unusual aspect of this story is the connection to LTC David Hackworth. Hack was famous as a warrior, author, and reporter. Foley served under Hackworth multiple times in Vietnam. It's interesting to see another view of Hack. The descriptions of combat in this book are gripping and real. The realism throughout the entire book is incredible. Foley is a very talented writer. This is a good overview of an impressive military career. Most of Foley's career was spent with special operations (LRP/Ranger/Special Forces) units. He is extremely humble about what was an amazing career. I recommend this book highly.

Although this biography focuses on Dennis Foley's tours of duty in Viet-Nam, it includes his early years in the U.S. Army during the early 1960s before Viet-Nam was a political or military issue.

Forget the war stories and combat missions. This is an excellent story about developing and training leaders both for combat and life. Dennis enlisted in the Army during 1962 after graduating from high-school with below par grades. He began his militay career as a "Private" the entry rank for all volunteers without ROTC training.

Dennis was fortunate to serve in Viet-Nam under David Hackworth, an outspoken and unconventional infantry battalion (450 - 600 men) commander in Viet-Nam who became the U.S. Army's most decorated soldier.

Also, Dennis served under Phil Gardner, the first commanding officer of the infamous and now discredited "Tiger Force," predecessor of the Long Range Patrol unit with the 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. As you may know, during 2005, some members of Tiger Force were indicted by the U.S. Army for murdering innocent Vietnamese civilians.

I remember when I first saw some Tiger Force members. I was shocked. They had pierced ears with small gold earrings. I had never seen anything so radical in Viet-Nam and it led me to become a LRRP.

Dennis rises above cliche war stories and describes the challenges faced by young soldiers and officers especially while with the 101st Airborne (and later Airmobile) Division in Viet-Nam. Fortunately for the men in his unit, Dennis was a leader unlike some officers I served with in the 101st in Viet-Nam.

I saw the side of the Army that David Hackworth criticizes in the introduction to Special Men: A LRP's Recollections. The officers in my unit were a wide-spread joke and some of us had unauthorized shoulder patches made which said "After You," a parody of "Follow Me" patches worn by students at the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School (OCS). So, everyone had different experiences in Viet-Nam.

However, Dennis tells an important story about the need for good leaders who care about their men more than careers or obtaining undeserved medals. Unfortunately, in Viet-Nam, our military leaders were inept or incompetent, still practicing World War II tactics taught at West Point Military Academny. General William "Bill" Westmoreland, commanding officer of all U.S. military units was a delusional egomaniac reporting to President Lyndon Johnson, an even greater delusional egomaniac.

In spite of officers like David Hackworth or Dennis Foley the war was doomed to failure because it was built on lies and personal ambitions.

General Nguyen Khanh, leader of Viet-Nam during January 1964 through late February 1965 places blame on General Maxwell Taylor, U.S. ambassador to South Viet-Nam. Khanh says Taylor was ignorant about guerilla war and anti-colonial insurrections. Also, Khanh says General Westmoreland (promoted with Taylor's endorsement) should not have pursued his then famous "search-and-destroy" strategy. You can watch the Khanh interview in Vietnam War Secrets, a five-disc DVD series sold by Amazon.

Khanh is not the only Westmoreland critic. General Krulak, then commander of all U.S. Marine units in Viet-Nam openly criticized and battled Westmoreland. Krulak believed "winning hearts and minds" (WHAM), was the key to winning the war. He wanted soldiers working with local villagers on infrastructure projects such as schools, dispensaries, water wells, roads, etc.

By the way, Max Taylor during the 1950s was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and forced to resign during the late 1950s after openly being criticized by President Dwight Eisenhower. As you may know, Eisenhower had been Supreme Military Commander of all Allied Forces during World War II. Eisenhower thought Taylor was dumb, to put it kindly.

Unfortunately, the Army learned little from Viet-Nam and is still unprepared to fight unconventional wars. The problem is simple: unconventional wars require unconvential warfare units which means eliminating thousands of arm-chair officers who make a career pushing papers or commanding occupation units in Korea, Germany, Italy, England, Japan, Okinawa.

In spite of Barack Obama's election as president and the call for change in Iraq, neither President Obama, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates or any high-ranking U.S. Senators are calling for the removal of idle U.S. military units in Germany, Korea, Okinawa and Japan. Sixty-five years after the end of World War II, there are still more than 100,000 U.S. military personnel sitting around in those four countries, basically burning U.S. dollars.

We should be happy we lost the war in Viet-Nam otherwise there would be another 100,000 U.S. soldiers allegedly maintaining "peace" in that country. Thankfully, during 2011 the U.S.-installed Government of Iraq ordered all U.S. military personnel to depart. Iraq's political leaders did not want to become another South Korea.0Dennis Foley could have written a better story if he added perspective about his training and experiences. The Army was politically corrupt in Viet-Nam and little has changed.

Dennis Foley wrote a good account of his experiences but unfortunately he did place them in historical perspective.

Dennis Foley is a master in the field of writing. He is able to create vivid scenes in your mind. Reading his novels takes on the same qualities as watching a movie. He is able to describe the action and scenes in a manner that will compel you to visualize the scene in your head.

Whether you were opposed to Vietnam or anxiously cheered our men from the sidelines, this book is a must read. If you know very little about the war, this book will give you realistic insight into the battle. It is a very thought provoking novel.

When you order this novel, you may as well order his other books as well and save on shipping. The true gripping drama and details in his story will leave you craving more.

I entered flight school in 68 and went on to a year and half
of rotor work in SVN and parts, in 69. A must read. Glad I found it.
This wonderful book took me everywhere..with perfect wit.

Dennis has done it again. I think that I have read all his books, and can say without fear of contridiction that his book keeps you spell bound.

He write with the auhority of one who has been there done that. Would have given 8 stars but five was the most I could givein this rating system.

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