Team Sergeant [Mass Market Paperback]

William T. Craig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1998

TANKS IN THE WIRE!

The son of a career enlisted man, Bill Craig was a hard-bitten Korean War veteran and Special Forces brawler. In Vietnam, they called his kind of soldier a snake-eater.

Now here is Craig's unvarnished account of a military career that catapulted him to team sergeant, the pinnacle of achievement for a Special Forces operator. It also took him to the trough of anger and despair. For during Tet 1968, his camp at Lang Vei was overrun by NVA. A nearby force of Marines refused to come to the camp's aid--even though the NVA had parked a Soviet tank on Craig's command bunker and the enemy was dropping grenades down the air ducts.

The riveting description of the breakout that followed and the raw courage of men fighting to save their comrades is an inspiration for anyone venturing into harm's way.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

TANKS IN THE WIRE!

The son of a career enlisted man, Bill Craig was a hard-bitten Korean War veteran and Special Forces brawler. In Vietnam, they called his kind of soldier a snake-eater.

Now here is Craig's unvarnished account of a military career that catapulted him to team sergeant, the pinnacle of achievement for a Special Forces operator. It also took him to the trough of anger and despair. For during Tet 1968, his camp at Lang Vei was overrun by NVA. A nearby force of Marines refused to come to the camp's aid--even though the NVA had parked a Soviet tank on Craig's command bunker and the enemy was dropping grenades down the air ducts.

The riveting description of the breakout that followed and the raw courage of men fighting to save their comrades is an inspiration for anyone venturing into harm's way.

About the Author

Command Sergeant Major William T. Craig retired from the United States Army on November 1, 1976. He served thirteen years in U.S. Army Special Forces units (Green Berets); he was a veteran of the Korean conflict and fought for five years in Laos and Vietnam. His many awards and decorations include the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Ribbon with bronze campaign star, and the Vietnamese Service Ribbon with nine battle stars. A graduate of the University of Maryland with a B.A. in Far Eastern Studies, Sergeant Major Craig now resides in Lawton, Oklahoma, with his wife.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (February 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804117144
• ISBN-13: 978-0804117142
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,988,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book I ever read, July 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Team Sergeant (Mass Market Paperback)

After forcing myself through 300+ pages, I had to let others know how boring this book was. If you're looking for action, combat, courage under fire, etc., this book's got about 30 pages of it. The rest is all about his everyday life, written in excruciatingly boring detail. He takes pages to describe the school bus schedule for his kids, his wife's interest in sewing clubs, and other boring household stuff like that. He spends more time describing his efforts at manipulating and getting around the system to keep his family on Okinawa then on military action. He doesn't describe SF training, openly complains about having to return for his tours in 'Nam, and complains about just about everything else. In comparison with other great books about combat, such as James Watson's "Point Man," this is a real dud. If the choice was available, I'd have rated it 0 stars.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what you might expect, April 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Team Sergeant (Mass Market Paperback)

Sounds like my miserable Uncle relating his military career. The first 90 pages deals with 4, count em, 4 illnesses Craig contracted during his early Nam years. Very little of the book deals with any actual Vietnam experiences, and what is described, is actually quite boring. A resume of Craig reaching Sgt Major is not what I had in mind nor in yours, if what you're expecting is at least a minimal personal narrative of Special Force experiences.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A hero who likes to complain, June 7, 2007

By 

Mai Linh Nguyen (The Diaspora) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Team Sergeant (Mass Market Paperback)

Team Sergeant was certainly different from other VN war memoirs I have read. CSM Craig was no doubt a true warrior and hero. He was at Lang Vei during the famed "Tanks in the wire", "Night of the Silver Stars" attack.. What sets this book apart is his attitude. He was a brawler, complainer, and hard headed. A lot of the ways he acted you might read about in other memoirs, but I think he took these attributes to the extreme. It is surprising that the Army kept advancing him in rank to where he achieved Command Sergeant Major. He no doubt was a good soldier, but he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. So his Army success surprised me quite a bit.

I think to say CMS had an attitude problem would be an understatement. He had a poor opinion of officers, even though among those he describes are some fine ones. But those good officers were not about to make him reconsider his position on officers or the Army in general. I came away from this book thinking that CSM Craig is the kind of person that needs to be bitter about something in order to be happy, and so he was.

Like another reviewer stated, listening to the complaining at times was a little much. But it doesn't take away from the fact that this is HIS story. And that sets it apart from other memoirs. CSM Craig annoyed me, made me laugh, and impressed me all at the same time. So, while he grated sometimes, I am glad that I read this book. Primarily because it was quite a departure in some ways from many of the other VN Veteran memoirs I have read (and I have read dozens).

Therefore, my recommendation would be as follows. If you are planning on reading just one or a small number of memoirs from VN war vets, then you will probably want to overlook this one. Stick with Linderer or some of the other authors. But if you are like me and trying to cover the topic from many different perspectives, then this is a perspective you probably shouldn't miss.