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Title: Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat by James R. McDonough ISBN: 0-89141-800-8 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An Example of the Indirect Approach
Comment: After graduating from West Point in 1969, he chose the Infantry and volunteered for Vietnam. This book tells of his experience as a lieutenant in a combat zone, a fortified camp that protected a Vietnamese village. It is about the experience of one platoon leader in combat.
The camp was surrounded by booby traps and an enemy hidden in daytime. They were able to repel assaults, but took their share of losses. The landing zone for helicopters was outside the perimeter; it was their sole link to headquarters, and their supply line.
Their stay there came to an end when their enemy shelled the neighboring village, causing many casualties. The villagers began moving away, negating the need for their camp. They were moved away to a new area. I think the enemy got a new leader, one who read B.H. Liddell Hart's book "Strategy" and used the "indirect approach" to eliminate the camp.
Rating: 5
Summary: Candid and riveting memoir
Comment: Lt. McDonough writes of his experiences in Viet Nam in such straight forward language with little embellishment and an honest and humble attitude. This is one of the best written depictions of combat I've ever read. His experiences commanding a platoon in the heart of VC country surpass anything that has been portrayed by Hollywood in terms of the difficulty of the mission and the horror of day to day survival in a combat situation. This is one gritty and tough account of day to day life in the Viet Nam war that should be widely read. Ranks right up there with Philp Caputo ,Michael Herr, Tim O'Brien and Tobias Wolff as a contribution to the definitive written record of grunt life in the war.
Rating: 5
Summary: A very different kind of war story.
Comment: Lieutenant Colonel James McDonough has written a truly different memoir of his experiences in Vietnam. I believe that this is because McDonough is a different type of leader and individual. His account of his personal experience in Vietnam is not glorified or gory, it is a more emotional recollection of the things that he did, good and bad, while serving as platoon leader in Vietnam. This book is a must for young military officers as well as those considering military service. There is no bravado in this book, because there is nothing fantastic about killing another man, or trying to help civilians who have been needlessly attacked. The book has a very real quality to it, which I found at different times both unsettling and moving. McDonough is not a killer, he is a soldier and an officer. While he may often silently question the purpose of the things he did or was ordered to do in Vietnam, he never hesitated in carrying out his responsibilities as platoon leader. Although he may have been afraid, he was still responsible for 25 other men who were even more afraid than he was. Overall, one of the best memoirs I have ever read.
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Title: Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer ISBN: 0061030864 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 03 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach by Dandridge M. Malone ISBN: 0891411739 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1983 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Defense of Hill 781: An Allegory of Modern Mechanized Combat by James R. McDonough ISBN: 0891414754 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Company Commander by Charles B. MacDonald ISBN: 1580800386 Publisher: Burford Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Challenge of Command: Reading for Military Excellence (West Point Military History Series) by Roger H. Nye ISBN: 0399528040 Publisher: Perigee Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1986 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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