Dak To by Edward F. Murphy

Title: Dak To: The 173rd Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam’s Central Highlands, June-November 1967
Author: Edward F. Murphy
Publisher: Presidio Press, Novato CA 1993 (1st hardback edition)
ISBN 0 89141 129 0


Summary:
This book, on the face of it a unit history, takes you right down to ground level with some of the US Airborne’s finest as they engage NVA units in the Central Highlands. The emphasis is on fighting men in the firing line, and there is a lot of excitement and no shortage of horror as two determined forces clash under the jungle canopy, climaxing with the battle for Hill 875.

Thoughts:
I can feel a certain tug and pull between the author and the publisher in this volume. Presidio was trying to market it to sell, while the author had bigger plans. Consequently, the title is a misnomer and, although the book does focus on the 173rd Airborne’s actions in the Central Highlands in 1967, it is in fact a unit history that covers the Brigade’s presence in Vietnam from its arrival in 1965 to its withdrawal in 1971. There is even an appendix providing a quite detailed history of the 173rd Airborne’s origins in the 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne) in the Pacific Theater in WWII. The sheer number of names of those involved in the firefights was the most confusing element of the book (although there is a list of the key figures in the appendices), and it could have done with some more maps as some of the descriptions of the firefights in highland terrain were also confusing, but overall this is a very good reference for anyone wanting a single-volume reference on the 173rd Airborne in the Vietnam War

Rating: ****