Where We Were in Vietnam: A Comprehensive Guide to the Firebases, Military Installations and Naval Vessels of the Vietnam War, 1945-1975 (Paperback)

~ Michael P. Kelley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...belongs on the bookshelf of anyone wishing to study the U.S. ground war in Vietnam." -- Keith W. Nolan - Author: Ripcord, Sappers in the Wire, Operation Buffalo and The Battle for Saigon

"If you can't find it in these pages, it can't be found." -- Joseph L. Galloway - Co-author: We Were Soldiers Once...and Young

"If you need a fact about the Vietnam War, look here first!" -- Eric Hammel - Historian and author: Khe Sanh: Siege in the Clouds--An Oral History and Fire in the Streets: The Battle for Hue--Tet 1968

"It's an incredible resource and will sit prominently among my research materials on the Vietnam War." -- David Hackworth - Author: Vietnam Primer, About Face and Steel My Soldiers' Hearts

... has done everyone who served in Vietnam a great service with his monumental research. -- Joseph L. Galloway, Co-author of We Were Soldiers Once...and Young

If you need a fact about the Vietnam War, look here first. -- Eric Hammel, author Khe Sahn, Fire in the Streets

It's an incredible resource and will sit prominently among my research materials on the Vietnam War -- David Hackworth, author Vietnam Primer, About Face & Steel My Soldiers' Hearts

Product Description

Where We Were represents more than seven years of exhaustive research by author, artist, and Vietnam veteran Michael Kelley. With more than 10,000 entries, it covers the entire Indochina Theater including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and both North and South Vietnam.

Wherever possible, it includes the following for each firebase and military installation: Standard and a.k.a. names, origin of names, grid coordinates, relative location, dates built and dismantled, major units occupying, dates of major attacks, unique features, alternate grids, and province and military region.

Plus: Detailed maps and grid zone overlays; airfields and heliports; seaports and other docking facilities; significant terrain features; signal sites, ops, quarries, and engineer camps; U.S. Navy and Army ships and warships; U.S. military order of battle; Internet resource listings; guide to researching the Vietnam War; extensive glossary of terms and minutiae; and more...

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Product Details

• Paperback: 848 pages
• Publisher: Hellgate Press; 1ST edition (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555716253
• ISBN-13: 978-1555716257
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #383,827 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best On My Bookshelf, August 20, 2002

By	John Eastman (South Orleans, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Mr. Kelly has produced one of the finest referrence books ever compiled about the Vietnam War. I am amazed at his depth of research. I sat with the book and challenged it by thinking of some of the most obscure places I was at in Vietnam that I believed would be overlooked by any reasearcher. He had not only located everyone of them by the nicknames given them by our troops but also gave their proper Vietnamese title!
I have worked with Vietnam Veterans for the past nineteen years primarily in securing benefits for them from the Depatment of Veterans' Affairs. This book is a godsend to anyone assiting vetrans in the VA claims process. It is a one stop reference in the art of obtaining information (locations, unit and personal military records) necessary to support a claim for benefits. It is far more valuable then Stanton's " Vietnam Order of Battle".
This is the book that every Vietnam Vietnam veteran or human service agency that provides service to Vietnam Veterans should own. I have a very large collection, over 180 lineal feet of shelving, of fiction and non-fiction books about Vietnam and the men and women who fought there. I now consider Mike Kelley's non-ficiton work the "Best on my bookshelf'.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this while it is still in print, August 15, 2002

By	Stephen Sossaman (San Francisco CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In addition to tons of raw data, there are suggestions for further research, unit web sites, a glossary, as well as information on acquiring maps and (if you're flush with cash) some unit rosters and unit reports).Like any reference work, no reader will need most of it, but the parts that matter to you or me are worth the price (we still like dictionaries and phonebooks, ignoring most of the entries). As Michael Kelley himself writes, readers will surely find many errors and omissions; veterans checking out their own unit and AO can help make the next edition even more useful. The book is rich with unexpectedly interesting material.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your own personal piece of the National Archives., July 27, 2002

By	Mark D. Raab (REISTERSTOWN, MD USA) - See all my reviews

As an Army veteran who served three tours in Vietnam and Cambodia, is a student of Southeast Asian history and one who has well over 200 non-fiction books related to Vietnam in his library, I believe that "Where We Were" is surely one of the best reference resources that I own.

For those who served in Vietnam or those with a interest in the history of the U.S. involvement there, "Where We Were" is an indispensable piece for your library. This book is a monumental compilation of firebases, landing zones, airfields and navel vessels with over 10,000 entries. Not only do most of these entries have grid coordinates but the author has taken the effort to triangulate many of their locations with other know sites such as towns, firebases, airfields, etc. This makes looking up specific sites on a map a very simple matter. No other book I own goes to this detail to make it so useful. This book is nothing short of outstanding. Its like having a piece of the National Archives right on your bookshelf.

And if that wasn't enough, there is a fairly comprehensive Internet guide and as well as a recommended reading list. These are real bonuses for those intent on doing further research. The writing of this book was, in this reader's opinion, a true labor of love. It is a must for those who were there and for the serious researcher. My hat goes off to Mr. Kelly for this painstaking piece of history.