Latest Book Received

Thanks for your comments guys. I am half way through the first one already. I will write some reviews about these.

First one finished, second one started. Interesting contrasts in the accounts. Both of these guys were in the 716th MP Battalion, but they had differing experiences in some ways, the first serving 1966-67, while the second was in Saigon 1969-70. The most notable difference is that Saigon was much more lawless following the Tet Offensive, with consequently greater pressures placed on the MPs. With some exceptions, 6-hour shifts for patrols and guard duty were the norm 66-67; by 1969 they were doing 12-hour shifts as a matter of course, in spite of having 2 additional companies in the Battalion (added in 1967). The pressure was such that some of the line infantry guys who transferred to the MPs actually requested to go back to the boonies where they only had to face the VC rather than stay in an environment where they were getting hated on by all and sundry around the clock every day, and having to deal with constant threats from the VC as well. Christensen is the more entertaining read, although the other book has very perceptive insights on how the MPs operated, and it is also only volume 1, with Holland going on to serve in an airborne unit. Loren W. Christensen seemed to spend far more of his time dealing with drug arrests than David S. Holland did, and Christensen points to a sea change in policing due to complexities resulting from racial tensions after Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968. "You're arresting me because I'm black!" "No, we're arresting you because you've been AWOL for three months" etc. If you want just one book on the Saigon MPs, go for Christensen's although I learned a lot from Holland's book too.

OTB, did either of these deal with the assault on Saigon and tan sanut air base during Tet? The gentleman I met was there
during Tet, hence his mention of the jeep portees.

Both books sound good.

Holland left Saigon in September 1967 to transfer to an airborne unit while Christensen was still Stateside at the time of the Tet Offensive, on assignment guarding a missile base in Florida, but various of the men he went through MP training with were killed in that offensive. I have another book on order about the battle of Saigon which should hopefully fill the gap. Holland was a company supply and weapons officer, so he goes into all the ordinance they used. He mentions the 716th was heavily armed even in 1967 - they had jeeps with M-60 and 50-calibre pintle mounts and they were occasionally used on patrol.

If my cranial region was in better working order, I would have read in your reviews that neither one of the MPs were there during Tet.
Going to have pay closer attention before posting. Sorry.

Sam

No worries

Finds from my latest trip to Wellington:







And the diary of a VC surgeon who was killed in action:



I already have the Vietnamese edition, which I found in Saigon, so I'll be able to do the parallel text thing and read the original alongside the English:

Can't believe the incredible finds. Ever done a count of how
many Vietnam books you have? I had no idea there was that
much in print, let alone where in the world you are finding
these beauties! Great!

Thanks Sam - I have a row of shelves of Vietnam books in the garage.



I am going to have to make more room as I have run out of shelf space here.

My latest book arrived in the letterbox just as I was going out to lunch: Battle of Saigon book, Saigon beer, and a bánh mì at the local Saigon café.

Nolan also wrote a book on the mini-Tet offensive in Saigon, which looks good:

https://www.mrfa.org/art-books-and-articles/house-to-house-playing-the-enemys-game-in-saigon-may-1968-keith-nolan/

Nice review of the MP books.

Hardbound copies of Nolan's The Battle for Saigon have been hard to find, at least at one time. It is a great book. I have read it at least three times.

Tom

I bought two new books recently. 

The first, Death in the Highlands: The Seige of Special Forces Camp Plei Me by J. Keith Saliba. is sort of a sequel to We Were Soldiers Once and Young  by Moore and Galloway. Speaking of Galloway, he gives it very favorable comments. I don't think anyone's recommendation on a Vietnam book would carry any more weight with me than Joe Galloway's. 



I should remember to take the photo before I put a Mylar cover on the dust jacket. 

The other book is another Osprey, Vietnam 1972: Quang Tri by Charles D. Melson. It looks interesting, even though the original illustrations are a bit too cartoonish for my tastes.



I have not read either book yet. I am in the midst of another right now. Hopefully, I will get to reading one or both soon.

Tom

I like all the eyewitness accounts in Nolan's book. Those two look good. That second cover looks like my recent game.

But your figures and terrain look better than that. No offense to the artist. Just my opinion.

Tom

Found in Wellington over the weekend:

A book I didn't buy. I spotted this in the window of a second-hand bookshop in Wellington on Saturday and went in to have a look at it.

A very disappointing book. It is mainly about film-making and says very little about his tour of duty in Vietnam.

Also, it turns out that he had already been to Vietnam prior to doing military service: in 1966, on a volunteer service abroad programme, he took up a position as an English teacher in Cholon.

He covers this in just one paragraph.

Maybe he was holding this material back for another book about his Vietnam years, but this is a disappointing read if you want to find out about his time spent in Vietnam.

There is however a lot of detail about his career in the film industry and about the making of the film Platoon.

You guys find a lot of interesting books!

The guy on front cover of Osprey Quang Tri book looks like me after a bad dice roll!

A couple of books I found in Wellington over the weekend.


A slightly misleading title on this one: it is actually devoted to the various NZ infantry companies that did tours of duty in the ANZAC battalion in Vietnam from 1967 to 1971. Its author is Lieutenant Colonel Tony Powell, MC, NZIR, NZSAS (retired). It is a hardback coffee table book with lots of photos, most of which I haven't seen before (including some of local VC units), but also covers every operation over that period.

And when are figure manufacturers going to make some NZ figures as cool as this Maori driver with the shades and a flax headband?


And I found this account of a remarkable woman's life, telling about coming of age in the war, which Oliver Stone based "Heaven & Earth" on. Having skimmed through the book, her life looks way more complex than the Hollywood version in the film.

Two recent charity store finds:



This one looks like it is a lively read - I read the introduction and the author is a rambunctious character.



And this is a very detailed reference work packed with colour photos and lots of good colour artwork for modelling purposes.

You find of lot of out of the ordinary books, OTB. A good book scout.

Tom

Two new books that arrived today from England:



Robert Sweatmon is probably most famous for acting in the Barney the Dinosaur TV series, and has also had parts in Walker Texas Ranger, among others. Around 69-70 he was a mechanised infantryman, and was part of a recon mission into Cambodia prior to Operation Lam Son 719. This one has a nice collection of photos taken by the author from the top of his M113 etc.



Peter Clark was deployed with the 1st Infantry Division in 1966. This one looks like it is full of action and has various sketches he drew out in the field.

And some recent second-hand acquisitions:



A New Zealand memoir - I pounced on this because there aren't that many. This guy's nickname was "Sas" because he was in the SAS before going to Vietnam with an infantry battalion. The cover photo is his load-out for patrol: on the first patrol his section leader dumped his blooper on him because he preferred using LAWs, so the author went into action with two weapons, one slung on each shoulder and he found he liked the added firepower, so he stuck with it throughout his tour. It has a great collection of colour photos he took. Figure manufacturers please note the black tie - commonly used as a sweat scarf by Kiwi troops. Also note the lighter-coloured NZ shirt.



Not many books on Laotian veterans either, so I was happy to get this one too.



And a very in-depth memoir. Looking forward to reading this - I have the impression it is going to be another "Once A Warrior King".

Oh man those are some good finds! Never heard of any of them, so looking forwards to some reviews.