Six Silent Men (101st Lrp/Rangers) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Reynel Martinez (Author) "In late May 1965, the Screaming Eagles of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division were alert for deployment to the Republic of Vietnam..." (more)
Key Phrases: hootch complex, brigade perimeter, patrol warning order, Top Smith, Lieutenant Mclsaac, Special Forces (more...)

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Product Description
"No way in hell you could survive 'out there' with six men. You couldn't live thirty minutes 'out there' with only six men."[pg. 13]

In 1965 nearly four hundred men were interviewed and only thirty-two selected for the infant LRRP Detachment of the lst Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Old-timers called it the suicide unit. Whether conducting prisoner snatches, search and destroy missions, or hunting for the enemy's secret base camps, LRRPs depended on one another 110 percent. One false step, one small mistake by one man could mean sudden death for all.

Author Reynel Martinez, himself a 101st LRRP Detachment veteran, takes us into the lives and battles of the extraordinary men for whom the brotherhood of war was and is an ever-present reality: the courage, the sacrifice, the sense of loss when one of your own dies. In the hills, valleys, and triple-canopy jungles, the ambushes, firefights, and copter crashes, LRRPs were among the best and bravest to fight in Vietnam.

From the Inside Flap
"No way in hell you could survive 'out there' with six men. You couldn't live thirty minutes 'out there' with only six men."                [pg. 13]



In 1965 nearly four hundred men were interviewed and only thirty-two selected for the infant LRRP Detachment of the lst Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Old-timers called it the suicide unit. Whether conducting prisoner snatches, search and destroy missions, or hunting for the enemy's secret base camps, LRRPs depended on one another 110 percent. One false step, one small mistake by one man could mean sudden death for all.



Author Reynel Martinez, himself a 101st LRRP Detachment veteran, takes us into the lives and battles of the extraordinary men for whom the brotherhood of war was and is an ever-present reality: the courage, the sacrifice, the sense of loss when one of your own dies. In the hills, valleys, and triple-canopy jungles, the ambushes, firefights, and copter crashes, LRRPs were among the best and bravest to fight in Vietnam.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804115664
• ISBN-13: 978-0804115667
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,107 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative but...Boring, March 20, 2003

By	Andrew A. Adams (Springville, UT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read a lot of books on Special Ops and especially Lurps in Vietnam. I haven't read a book yet that I didn't like but this one was rather boring. I have to agree with another reviewer that there "wasn't anything making me want to turn the page." If you like sit on the edge of your chair, can't put the book down for hours read this isn't it. Still the book is informative and the series is pretty good.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brave Men, October 21, 2004

By	Thomas H. Savery (Loganville, ga) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Six silent men Reynel Martinez
101st LRRP
The 101st Long Range Reconnainsce Patrols worked all over Vietnam, from I Corp in the North to the delta in the South. At times they worked with the Marines and the Special Forces. They went out in 6 man teams. The goal was to locate the enemy and target it for others to kill.
The 101st arrived in Vietnam in July 1965, at Cam Ranh bay. They were highly trained due to the efforts of Major David Hackworth, the brigade operations officer. In September, 1965, to gather intelligence, the Long Range Recon Patrol group was set up under the command of 1srt Lt. Joel Stevenson. The unit was formally established on 15 October. 337 men volunteered, and 32 were accepted.
The book relates the histories of several of the men that the author knew. This is the 1st of 3 books written about the LRRPs by the men who served with them. It covers this authors time there. Other time periods are covered by other authors. The author is the son of one of the Darby Rangers of World War II. He went around in the 1980's and got each person's story for the book. Maps would have helped in this book.

Part of the training was knowledge of the rules of 1759, of Rogers Rangers, still valid today, and in an appendix.
Doing this kind of work was new for Americans. The Special Forces had been doing it for years, and the LRRPs borrowed some of their tactics. However, the SF worked with local people on patrol It was widely expected that the LRRP all American team would not last a week in the jungle.
One problem was the headquarters would want to send the LRRPs out as bait for the North Vietnamese, and then attack the North Vietnamese when the LRRPs were attacked. This tactic was fought by the LRRPs, as they did not have the firepower to stop large groups of enemy.
The author goes into lots of detail about who was on each mission, combat loads, and training. In an appendix, is a list of a variety of weapons the LRRPs used as well as the enemy. LRRPs used the Special Forces tiger uniforms that they acquired via barter or stealing.
A bunch of times the teams were inserted into hot landing zones and had to be extracted immediately.
This included their very first mission, which was being monitored by brass all the way to Saigon. On the first mission they almost lost the classified codes used, and had to go back to retrieve them while being fired upon.
Sometimes while under fire chopper pilots refused to retrieve the teams. Braver substitute pilots had to be found. As time went on, a bonding occurred between the pilots and the LRRPs, as the pilots knew that the LRRPs would come and get them if they got shot down. The LRRPs greatly admired the pilot's bravery.

The LRRPs carried whatever weapon they wanted. Most used M-16's but some carried shotguns, grease guns from WWII, SKS's, Thompson's, whatever. They borrowed strobe lights from the chopper pilots for use in signaling.
Many of the fights were within a few feet of the enemy. Several accounts relate the enemy looking directly at the men on one side of a bush, the LRRPs on the other side, and the enemy not seeing them due to LRRP camouflage.
Choppers at the time had to descend to the ground for the men to get aboard, as ladders and harness's had not been devised yet.
There were several occasion were teams were inserted into the wrong spots and got into big trouble, as there were lots of unexpected enemy, or they were in the target zone of a B-52 arc light bomb strike.
A bunch of the LRRPs were former Special Forces people.
Special Forces camps such as Dong Tre and Tra Bang were used as jump off points for some of the teams.
Sometimes they got orders that they knew were making them bait, so they said OK to the orders, but ignored them.
Once in a while they got inserted via boat. One Vietnamese crew put them in 30 miles North of the target area, and they ran into many VC and were in the way of a B-52 strike.
Some teams had scout dogs, but the teams considered them worthless as the dogs ate and drank too much, and gave away their locations by growling and whining. One dog kept biting the team members and mysteriously got fragged. (Killed by a grenade).
Sometimes they had time to fish and used "Dupont lures" (M-26 grenades.)
One mission was up north near Duc Pho, near Nui Dang hill, where Marine Carlos Hathcock got his 2500 yard sniper kill using a 50 caliber machine gun. Hathcock was a legend with the 101st too.
There were lots of people killed in this book. A lot of medals were given, Medals of Honor, Silver Stars. One person had acquired 13 purple hearts.
On one mission, they were flying for an insertion and spotted troops on the ground. They radioed this and were told that there were no friendlies in the area. They called in an air strike and found out later that the target was a group of American troops who had been inserted in the wrong landing zone.
May 1966 was the second generation of LRRPs, as the originals were being sent home. The 3rd generation came a year later. In 1967. Some men kept extending, staying overseas 5 and 6 years. LRRP troops were recruited for SF duty, and visa versa.
One mission they were on was to snatch a prisoner. He was a high ranking VC and they were in a no shooting mode, so as not to kill the potential prisoner. Shooting started immediately, and they got the prisoner they wanted plus a bunch of others.
Several funny incidents in local bars are included. One Lt had a pet bird that he used to take to the bar and buy drinks for. He told the bird to attack, at which point th bird would run out on his arm and squawk at the crowd. The bird always passed out. At another bar, they ran into a bunch of Koreans. There was a face off, and finally a Korean grabbed a beer out of a LRRPs hand, drank half of it, and handed it back. The LRRP finished it and the party was on. Other times they took beer back to base with them, a no-no. They had arguments with MP's trying to take the beer away. A Marine major was giving a bunch of static right after they had returned from a mission. The LRRPs listened to this for awhile, and one in the back finally yelled out "let's shoot the MF!". The Marine major advanced in the other direction quickly.
In July 1967, the LRRPs were running missions from the Tra Bong Special Forces camp. The author liked the Montagnard rations better than his own. Theirs was fish heads and rice, and hot peppers. The author did not envy the SF as they always had VC spies among their troops.
The author also went to the Recondo school while there, and participated in 10 mile runs with a 40 lb pack, plus weapons.
Men like Top Smith were idolized for his leadership ability. He never raised his voice or gave orders, just suggestions. He defended his men from headquarters. So did Superspade.

There was a mission where they called in an air strike and the planes and choppers came and shot the target up. There was a VC 51 cal machine gun that was shooting at the aircraft. Strike after strike came in, and the VC with the 51 cal kept shooting and wounded a couple of the planes. The LRRPs were impressed with the VC gunners bravery and cheered him on. After several passes, the aircraft finally silenced the machine gun.
Weather and leeches were a constant problem. They were on a mission when a typhoon came over them.
The monsoon season kept them wet and cold all the time. Electrical storms got so bad that it would set off the claymore mines and trip flares.
One man in their group was a medic. He was one of 3 brothers. He got killed on Nov 1, 1967, exactly 17 years to the day as his older brother, who died in Korea. He was one of the authors best friends.
An incident is related where the unit is out in the boonies and comes to a hamlet with a restaurant. They order a meal, and while eating a VC group comes in and orders lunch too. Both sides eat and leave, in opposite directions.


At one time the LRRP. s were working out of Song Be, on the Cambodian border. At least once they got picked up for extraction on the Cambodian side.
On leave in the states, he meets one of his team members for some drinks and go to a bar. A good looking girl sits with them. The author knows the girl has something on her mind. He has something on his mind. Both keep drinking. The author felt something was wrong. She finished her mixed drink and finally asked, "Well, how many babies did you kill in Vietnam"? Thinking this over, the author finally replied, "Not near enough. That's why I'm going back!". End of relationship.
Within 48 hours of landing back in Vietnam, he was in the bush again, in action.

They caught a VC paymaster with a bunch of gold leaf, and turned him in to the Vietnamese. Superspade turned the guy over to the Vietnamese. A few days later, the author saw the VC out. He had bought himself ort of prison. After returning from leave, he noted to Superspade how unfair the situation was, letting the VC paymaster go. Superspade showed the author his new gold teeth and said that the VC paymaster paid for them. He had kept a bunch of the VC money. He also noted that he saw the VC paymaster in the jungle later. The paymaster was arrogant to Superspade, thinking he had bought Superspade's silence. Fatal mistake.
The book ends after Tet, and the elimination of the 1st Brigade LRRPs as an independent organization.

There is an epilogue explaining where surviving members went.

A good book that would be better with maps.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book with faults., December 11, 2001

By A Customer

Six Silent Men (Book 1) is a good documentary type book on the LRRPs in Vietam. However, it is somewhat unorganized. Further, the writing is not on par with many other books on related subjects. Otherwise, the book is very informative.