They Marched Into Sunlight: War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "THE SOLDIERS REPORTED one by one and in loose bunches, straggling into Fort Lewis from late April to the end of May 1967, all carrying..." (more)
Key Phrases: northwest balcony, rear service group, marched into sunlight, Black Lions, Lai Khe, Terry Allen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Maraniss (When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi) intertwines two compelling narratives to capture the Vietnam War at home and on the battlefield as well as, if not better than, any book yet written. The first narrative follows the soldiers of the army battalion the Black Lions, 61 of whom died in an ambush by North Vietnamese on October 17, 1967. The battle scene description is devastating, brilliantly compiled with painstakingly recreated details of the four-and-a-half-hour battle, unflinchingly drawn pictures of the damage modern ordinance inflicts and an equally unflinching record of the physical and psychological residue of battle. The second narrative centers on the October 18, 1967, riot at the University of Wisconsin at Madison when student protesters tried to stop Dow Chemical, the maker of napalm, from recruiting on campus. Here Maraniss, a Madison native and a freshman at the university at the time, successfully depicts the complicated range of motives that led students to participate in the protest: many began the day as curious observers, and the riot radicalized them against the war. The author also re-creates the sense of loss, confusion and anger of the university administrators as they were overtaken by events that would change the fundamental relationships between students and faculty. The two narratives together provide a fierce, vivid diptych of America bisected by a tragic war: a moving remembrance for those who lived through it and an illuminating lesson for a new generation trying to understand what it was all about.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-For 40 years, the Vietnam War, and its effects on American society, has been a popular topic for authors. The best of these books tend to focus on a single aspect of the conflict, a certain group involved, or a specific period of time. In that tradition, Maraniss concentrates on two events that unfolded over two days in October 1967. On the first of those days, the members of the First Division's Black Lions battalion marched into a trap in the jungles of Vietnam and paid for it dearly. On the next, a large student protest at the University of Wisconsin against Dow Chemicals, the makers of napalm, turned into a battle of its own. By picking these moments in time, while looking at events in the U.S. and in Vietnam, the author shows how the war was affecting Americans, not merely with bullets and nightsticks, but with ideas and ideals as well. One might wish that Maraniss had shown a greater willingness to take on the larger questions posed by these two events, but by bringing these disparate occurrences together and placing them in context, he has provided one of the best books to date on the Vietnam War.
Ted Westervelt, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743217802
• ISBN-13: 978-0743217804
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,522 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

278 of 281 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Perspective of a Black Lion, September 22, 2003

By	Florian J Mager (Redford, MI United States) - See all my reviews

I was the weapons platoon leader of Delta company during this operation. I was not interviewed by David Maraniss as I have been living in a black hole for the past 37 years and didn't want to be found or talk about it. I have since written and talked to Maraniss. The story of the Black Lions is factually correct and his descriptions of the soldiers involved is also correct. He brings a personal face to the participants unfettered by any political agenda and shows them as they were. Clark Welch was my company commander and his charisma and ability were so superior that Maraniss positive description hardly does justice to the man. I don't see how it could unless one was there. Maraniss portraits of the others are equally valid. Several things I was unaware of were revealed in the book. Col Triet the PAVN commander threw a regiment against us. At the time we thought it had only been a batallion. It amazes me that anyone managed to get out alive! General Hay the 1st Division commander managed to show up in the NDP when the battle was over. He was told that David Stroup the Delta company 3rd platoon leader deserved a silver star for gallantry. Hay found Stroup sitting under a tree crying as he had only 4 people left in his platoon. Hay said "This man doesn't deserve anything" and strode past. Nevertheless Hay awarded himself a silver star even though he wasn't there during the battle! If you really want to know the face of war then read this book.

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A REAL PAGE-TURNER, September 15, 2003

By A Customer

After reading Maraniss' biographies of Bill Clinton and Vince Lombardi, I expected this book to be great, and I was not disappointed. Weaving two narratives together - one dealing with the ambush of American troops in Vietnam, the other one of the first anti-war protests at the University of Wisconsin - Maraniss almost literally puts the reader right in the middle of the action in tumultuous 1967. Each story is riveting, and I was most fascinated by the fact that I was able to identify with nearly everyone in the book, whether they were a freshman protester at the University of Wisconsin or a 20-year old kid fighting in Vietnam. Maraniss' ability to convey each person's motivations and thoughts is the key to this being such a compelling book. While it will certainly be of interest to history buffs, war buffs, ex-hippies and ex-soldiers, this book really is as much about human nature and what motivates us as much as anything else. I wasn't yet born when the action in this book took place, and it was interesting for me to see what America was like 36 years ago. There are certainly many parallels to what is happening in Iraq, the decisions everyday people and people in high places are making ... The epilogue is beautiful, and gets to a central point of the book: as much as the war in Vietnam divided the country, that shared experience can serve as a bridge to bring people together, people who "fought" for America in very different ways ...

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book of the Year, October 25, 2003

By	Steve Iaco (northern new jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"They Marched into Sunlight" is without doubt the best book I've read this year, and should be a top contender for the '03 Pulitzer in History. Maraniss is an exceptionally skilled storyteller, a talent he displayed in abundance in his excellent Vince Lombardi biography, "When Pride Still Mattered." In "Sunlight," he chronicles two events that occurred half a world apart on October 17, 1967: the ambush of two under-manned companies of the U.S. First Infantry Division ("Big Red One") in Vietnam, and the violent clash between police and student demonstrators who were attempting to block Dow Chemical Co. (the maker of naplam) from recruiting on the Univ of Wisconsin campus. Maraniss adroitly weaves a coherent, engaging narrative from these disparate events (no easy task), producing a thoroughly entrancing work. There are many heart-rending stories depicted --- for example, Col. Terry Allen, son of the legendary Big Red One general in WWII, and Major David Holleder, a former West Point All-American, both of whom are slain in the battle. The painful dissolution of his marriage -- and the selfish perfidy and betrayal by his wife -- add special poignance to Allen's story.

We also learn of ironic coincidences ("connections," Maraniss calls them). For example, the improbable marriage between the son of an anti-Dow protestor and the daughter of a Vietnam ambush survivor. Or the significance of "knocks on wood." On the one hand, the popular Eddie Floyd song, hummed continually for good luck by a sergeant; on the other, the secret signal employed by the VC to trigger the deadly ambush.

Particularly with the Wisconsin story, Maraniss presents a multitude of voices and perspectives -- administrators, law enforcement officials, protest organizers (including the self-proclaimed "resident demagouge"), bystanders and apolitical students who became radicalized by horror they witness. However, in a very large cast of characters -- I found myself continually consulting the alphabetical listing at the front of the book to keep everyone straight: "Okay, that's the girl from New Jersey, who missed her French exam . . ." -- the one voice we don't hear is students' who were denied the opportunity to interview with Dow. What did they think of the takeover of the Commerce Building? Or the decision to deploy the police to clear it? What about the trammeling of THEIR rights? What happened to them later? What careers did they pursue? The viewpoint of one or two of these students would have added to the narrative.

Even in spite of that one shortcoming, "Sunlight" is a easily a five-star work, a compelling story -- actually two stories -- superbly told in the hands of Maraniss.

In closing, I want to observe that it is amazing how many people with cameo roles in the Wisconsin story would go on to greater noteriety -- Melvin Laird, Lynn and Dick Cheney, Tommy Thompson, David Keene, James Sensenbrenner, to name just a few.