Customer Reviews

War Paint

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
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Bill Goshen served with Company F, 52nd Infantry (LRP)/I Company, 75th Infantry (Ranger) for the Big Red One. It's a miracle this guy is still alive. Grievously wounded in early 1969, Bill spent many months in hospital recovering from wounds. At Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX, Goshen was awarded the silver star. Others weren't so lucky, like Sp4 Bob Law, who threw his body on an enemy grenade to save his comrades-in-arms. There's plenty of action here, but more significant is how Goshen views the war from the grunt's perspective. Why did our political leaders throw the best of the baby-boom generation into a war in which the enemy was awarded sanctuary bases from which he could attack and to which he could retreat, lick his wounds, and return to fight again? Goshen's anger toward ticket-punching Army higher-ups and the Johnson Administration's ineptitude and disregard for the American soldier serves as biting subtext to Bill's well-written LRRP memoir. By the way, Bill's Postscript is the shortest but most beautiful chapter in the book.

Bill Goshen's new book, War Paint, is well written and comes from the heart. Though I served in Co.F/52nd Inf(LRP) and had DEROS'd before he arrived, I served with and knew many of the men in the stories and have since met others at our unit reunions. I would have proudly served with him as well. Bill does a great job of describing LRP/Ranger tactics, vividly recreates events in which he and others participated, and well describes both the best kind of patrols, and those that went badly. His book also shows how well teams fared when they received great support (which was usually) as well as how lonely 5-6 LRPs/Rangers could be when left entirely without adequate support. In either case, they "carried on with mission". War Paint is an even-handed presentation of the day-to-day lives of our teams, without being macho or macabre. It also depicts the post-war struggles which he has overcome. A good read for those who also enjoyed Gary Linderer's books and the other great LRRP/LRP/Ranger memoirs that have appeared over the past 15 years.

A great read. Makes you feel you are member of the team.
Bill Goshen was awarded the Silver Star Medal for his
action while in Viet Nam and was lucky survive the wounds
he sustained. Many books have been written about our troops
in Viet Nam but none make you feel like your feet are in a
soldiers boots like War Paint. The book should be made into
a movie.....it is that good.

An OK read about the LRRPs in Vietnam. The author served in the LRRPs in the 1968-69 period in Vietnam. Goshen shows how the LRRPs served in a much more hazardous role than the regular infantry. However, Goshen also complains at times about the role he played versus what the infantry played. He disdains his commanders for having the LRRPs do some of the duties that regular infantry of the Big Red One could have done. Well, that is what happens in the military. Admitedly, this may have been a waste, but you must follow the chain of command. I also wonder if his view that the top leadership really prevented the military from winning in Vietnam. If we became involved in Laos, Cambodia, or North Vietnam, we might have become more entagled in Southeast Asia.

This showed the role the LRRPs played in Vietnam. These soldiers performed dangerous duty and risked death for the safety of their fellow soldiers and country.