Project Reality Forums

Hey guys! What are some Vietnam themed books that you have read that you really liked?

Marshalling the Faithful
Firebirds
We Were Soldiers Once, And Young

I haven't read it myself yet, but I heard "DMZ Diary" is pretty good.

Firebirds seconded.

Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but the tradoc RPG field manual is a very interesting read. I think every good PR player should read this, as a good deal of it carries over to the game:
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/rpg-7.pdf

A Rumor of War- Philip Caputo, i think was the author, cant remember.

One of the few books i picked up on my own and finished


According to Wikipedia it was made into a TV mini series on MTV in the 80's

https://www.realitymod.com/forum/f487-p ... books.html

Check that thread out. Has some good ones listed there.

Fields of Fire. I read it in the bathtub over the summer... lol. It made each bath(sometimes I get lazy and take baths instead of showers when I have nothing going on... sue me) last like 4 hours. Couldn't put it down. Some great characters and based on James Webbs personal stories to some degree.

What I posted about it in the other thread:

Easy to read, some great logic throughout. I particularly enjoyed the ending where there is a discussion about the difference between objecting to serve thus serving prison time and running away to Canada... The idea that running away is a slap in the face to your country, abandoning it in its time of need, whereas refusing to serve and instead going to jail is both getting your message across and at the same time meeting the consequences. Trust me though, it was talked about much more eloquently in the book

Snake Pilot

Can't believe no one has mentioned...

dispatches, Dispatches (book) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia lots of films ripped stories from it.

Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills, Carlos Hathcock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia a snipers must have. Sniping with a Browning 50 cal.

If I Die in a Combat_Zone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Die_in_a_Combat_Zone,_Box_Me_Up_and_Ship_Me_Home well regarded gunt story.

Not read Firebirds so added to my order wishlist on amazon. But reviews say chickenhawk is better which I read in the 80s.

maverick551 wrote:Snake Pilot

similiar sort of book 'Chicken Hawk' is a good read too

Animal.Mother wrote:similiar sort of book 'Chicken Hawk' is a good read too

I came in to suggest that. Chicken Hawk is an awesome read.

To The Limit - Tom Johnson

Awesome book about a huey pilot in Vietnam.



Walking Point - Watson and Dockery

Very interesting book on the SEALs in Vietnam. Talks a bit about Watson's involvement in the Phoenix Program.



Steel My Soldier's Hearts - David Hackworth

This book is basically Hackworth's argument that we could have won the Vietnam war through superior firepower. He isn't a modern-era COIN officer, and I think this book is very insightful in terms of showing why exactly the US military lost the Vietnam war.

I know I have more on my shelf at home, those are just the ones I most remember.

I've mentioned in a thread before that SOG by J. Plaster is the best book I've ever read. Astonishing accounts of what MACV/SOG teams did in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. None of this Black Ops horseshit like stealing Hinds and what not.

Rouge Warrior is a good one.

Amazon.com: Rogue Warrior (9780671795931): Richard Marcinko: Books

I would consider most of it fiction, but who knows maybe the guy really was a bad ***.

Dispatches, by Michael Herr, seconded.

I loved that book. Read the book and then go watch, FMJ, Apocalypse Now, Platoon etc etc over again and you'll see how much they borrowed from Michael Herr's field notes.

The man has a writing style that is second to none. If you ever had an interest in what the Vietnam war was like, and are tired of hollywood movies and don't know or have the heart to ask a vet, read Dispatches

..Downs from the left pocket of his tiger suit and ups from the right, one to cut the trail for him and the other to send him down it. He told me that they cooled things out just right for him, that he could see that old jungle at night..

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien is a great Vietnam book.

It's got plenty of military content which people like us enjoy, as well as being simply a great piece of literature.
It's a sort of pseudo-autobiography as well, since O'Brien served in Vietnam himself.

Combat medic vietnam is a great read. It tells the story of 10 medics and corpmen who were awarded the Medal of Honor.
Amazon.com: Combat Medic: Vietnam: Combat Medic: Vietnam (9780671736910): Craig Roberts: Books

Namsense: Surviving the Vietnam War with the 101st Airborne Division
by Arthur Wiknik Jr.

This book is amazing. Simply, jaw-droppingly amazing. It offers such a candid account of the Vietnam War, including the politics and inner-infighting between the servicemen during the war. Absolutely great, I love this book, and it opened my eyes to so many new aspects about the Vietnam War.

But if you were only going to get one book about the Aussie involvement...



During the battle D Company 6 RAR, despite being heavily outnumbered, fought off a large Viet Cong assault of regimental strength. Eighteen Australians were killed and 24 wounded, while at least 245 Viet Cong were killed.