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Forsaken Warriors

4.25 of 5 stars 4.25 · rating details · 4 ratings · 1 review

An inside account of the South Vietnamese elites who strove to carry on the war against the Communists during the U.S. Army's withdrawal . . .The book is a personal memoir of the author's service as a US Army advisor during the end-stages of America's involvement in Vietnam. During the period 1970-71, the US was beginning to draw down its combat forces, and the new watchwo...more An inside account of the South Vietnamese elites who strove to carry on the war against the Communists during the U.S. Army's withdrawal . . .The book is a personal memoir of the author's service as a US Army advisor during the end-stages of America's involvement in Vietnam. During the period 1970-71, the US was beginning to draw down its combat forces, and the new watchword was Vietnamization. It was the period when the will of the US to prosecute the war had slipped, and transferring responsibility to the South Vietnamese was the only remaining hope for victory. The author served as a US Army advisor to South Vietnamese Ranger and Airborne units during this critical period. The units that the author advised spearheaded several campaigns in South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, as the US combat units withdrew. Often outnumbered and outgunned, the elite ranger and airborne units fought Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units in some of the most difficult terrain in Southeast Asia, ranging from the legendary U Minh forest and Mo So mountains in the Mekong Delta, to the rugged hills of southern Laos. The role of the small US advisory teams is fully explained in the narrative. With little support from higher headquarters, these teams accompanied the Vietnamese units on highly dangerous combat operations over which they had no command or control authority. When US advisors were restricted from accompanying South Vietnamese forces on cross-border operations in Cambodia and especially Laos, the South Vietnamese forces were badly mauled, raising concerns about their readiness and training, and their ability to operate without their US advisors. As a result, a major effort was placed on training these forces while the clock continued to run on the US withdrawal. Having served with a US infantry battalion during the peak years of the US involvement in Vietnam, Robert Tonsetic-the acclaimed author of Days of Valor-is able to view the war through two different prisms and offer criticisms and an awareness of why the South Vietnamese armed forces were ultimately defeated.(less)

ebook, 256 pages

Published December 10th 2009 by Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors (first published 2009)

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Dec 11, 2010 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It was a good look @ the US advisory effort in Vietnam @ the battalion level.

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Feb 18, 2013 Joe marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Feb 07, 2013 El rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: vietnam-war

Oct 16, 2012 Lee marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Aug 04, 2012 Ming rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jan 25, 2012 Casemate Publishers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vietnam-war

Oct 15, 2010 Liam marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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About Robert Tonsetic

Robert Tonsetic, PhD, was born in Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he entered the Army as an infantry lieutenant. During the Vietnam War, he served as a light infantry company commander and as an advisor to Vietnamese Ranger and Airborne units. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star for extraordinary heroism during the 1968 Tet and May offen...more

More about Robert Tonsetic...

Books by Robert Tonsetic

Days of Valor: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War

1781: The Decisive Year Of The Revolutionary War

Warriors: An Infantryman's Memoir of Vietnam

Warriors (An Infantryman's Memoir of Vietnam, The Bravest Men in the Bloodiest Year of the War)

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