Based on real incidents, this is a quintessential Vietnam war novel about the role Army Ranger units played conducting raids by small teams on the ground and directed and supported by their officers in the air. This book tracks the experiences of a young West Point graduate who volunteers for a Ranger unit in-country, learns his trade, takes care of his men, accomplishes his missions, and deals with a macho posturing, cowardly martinet of a company commander. The young officer's thoughts and emotions while coping with these challenges and his longings for the young wife left behind in the States are aptly represented. The author presents a setting in which the reader can easily experience the jungle, understand the challenges of accurate map reading over a sea of green jungle canopy, while directing troops on the ground, calling in artillery strikes, and air-to-ground fire support.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great & Healing Book,
By Tony (Robert "Buck" Forest, Forest Ranger) Foster (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Of Their Own Accord (Hardcover)
I have just finished reading Gary Dolan's book, "Of Their Own Accord". I found the reading to be realistic, factual and to the point. It carries the reader from day 1 to 365, of a young Lieutenant's life in the horrors of the Vietnam War. It further depicts the honesty, loyalty and devotion one man can feel for his fellow soldier, particularly in highly "elite" units as the U.S. Army Rangers. I was an instructor at both the Airborne and Ranger Departments of the United States Army Infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1966 through 1967, I was a soldier assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 1st Batallion and subsequently their Long Range Patrol or "LRP" unit. My third (3rd) and final tour of duty in combat was with the 2nd platoon of Company "C" Ranger 75th Infantry Airborne in Vietnam in late 1970 and mid 1971.
I know Gary Dolan; he was my platoon leader. His platoon sergeant and I both came from instructor duties with the Ranger department at Fort Benning. The book is real. The missions were real. If there is a young man out there that intends to become a young Lieutenant or team leader in today's Army Rangers, they need to read this book. "RAMBO" was fiction, this is real. As we say in the South, this is the way it "T-I-S". I finished reading the book around midnight. I immediately went into my 17 year old son's bedroom and kissed him on the forehead. It woke him up, and he ask, "Dad", what's that for?" "That's for Lieutenant Dolan, son. If it had not been for him, I would not be here and you would not be here." I strongly recommend this book. It is action packed. It is true. It was written by a very, very good man who just happens to be a West Point officer in the Untied States Army.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Real Deal about Vietnam,
By Bob Spear (Leavenworth, KS USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Of Their Own Accord (Hardcover)
Based on real incidents, this is a quintessential Vietnam war novel about the role Army Ranger units played conducting raids by small teams on the ground and directed and supported by their officers in the air. This book tracks the experiences of a young West Point graduate who volunteers for a Ranger unit in-country, learns his trade, takes care of his men, accomplishes his missions, and deals with a macho posturing, cowardly martinet of a company commander. The young officer's thoughts and emotions while coping with these challenges and his longings for the young wife left behind in the States are aptly represented.
The author does a superlative job of presenting a setting in which the reader can easily experience the jungle, understand the challenges of accurate map reading over a sea of green jungle canopy, while directing troops on the ground, calling in artillery strikes, and air-to-ground fire support. Mr. Dolan was there and did that, and it shows. We rated his book five hearts.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Duty, Honor, Country...,
By
This review is from: Of Their Own Accord (Hardcover)
I read Gary's book, "Of Their Own Accord," in the fall of 2004. Gary and I were West Point classmates (Class of '69), we went thru Airborne, Ranger and Infantry Officer Basic together at Ft. Benning, and I was his best man at his wedding. After his wedding we only saw each other twice in 30-some years; once in Saigon in 1971 and once in the late '70s when he came out to California on a business trip. Then in the summer of 2004 we made contact again, via a WP class email list, and he sent me and advance electronic "pdf" copy of his book, asking me to read it and give him my opinion. I printed it out at work, because it took almost a full ream of 8.5x11 inch paper to print out, put a couple of rubber bands around it, and then proceeded to read it a lunch every day down in a large cafeteria in our office complex. Well, all the other hundreds of regulars down there probably thought I was a very concientious worker, always bringing what looked like a very think document to lunch every day to pore over. What they did not know was that I was reading one heck of a story, based on Gary's real life experiences as a Ranger platoon leader in Vietnam, circa 1970-1971. And what a story...! Gary had what could arguably be one of the most interesting, demanding and dangerous tours of duty any Infantry lieutenant could have had in Vietnam. As a Ranger platoon leader he was responsible for six recon teams: he sometimes personally went out with them "on the ground" on missions, often flew over them in a little military version of a Piper Cub where he was "the man," listening to five radios almost simultaneuously, directiy helicopters troopships and gunships, USAF jet fighters, US Army artillery mission, even on one occasion a fire mission from a US Navy battleship..! And doing all this from the back seat of a very small and vulnerable kite of a plane, which was bobbing and weaving around in the sky dodging enemy ground fire... But his book is more than tales of derring do, it is also about leadership, about looking after your men, leading by example, doing the right thing in very dangerous circumstances... In short, Gary's conduct as Ranger platoon leader epitomized both the motto of West Point, "Duty, Honor, Country," and the Ranger motto "Sua Sprente" (Of Their Own Accord"... Gary marched to the sound of the guns, accomplished the mission and cared for and took care of his men
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