Harry Rothmann's Blog, page 4

October 25, 2018

Band of Brothers

Today is the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt. It was immortalized in Shakespeare’s “Henry V.” There may be some here who have read it. The phrase ‘Band of Brothers’ perhaps made most famous not in reading Shakespeare but watching the HBO series is now used prominently in many waysHenry V. But here is a Hollywood rendition of the words in Shakespeare’s play... https://youtu.be/bvFHRNGYfuo.
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Published on October 25, 2018 07:54

August 22, 2018

Kirkus Review

Here's the latest review of Warriors and Fools from Kirkus Magazine....

A military history book analyzes the source of America’s failures in the Vietnam War.
People have been arguing about what went wrong in the Vietnam War since before it ended. Some say it was an unwinnable conflict from the start and that the United States should never have gotten involved. Others believe that the American military could easily have won the war, but its hands were tied by civilian leaders who didn’t have the stomach for more aggressive tactics. Rothmann (None Will Surpass, 2014), a West Point graduate, retired Army colonel, and a veteran soldier who led infantry units into combat in Vietnam, has his own theories: “Leader misjudgments and miscalculations were not the only reasons for this failure...they were more a result of personal faults and a lack of trust, honesty, and understanding among and between American civilian leaders and their military counterparts.” Furthermore, neither the U.S. military commanders nor the nation’s civilian leaders had an adequate understanding or respect for their adversary, an expertly organized and dedicated force that pursued its clear goals through subterfuge and strategy. The author uses firsthand accounts from both sides to analyze the conflict from its beginnings in 1950s Cold War politics to the Fall of Saigon in 1975. He also critiques the (incorrect) lessons that American leaders took from the Vietnam War and how these have been applied to the country’s subsequent conflicts. Rothmann writes in an accessible prose that reads mostly as general history (with a few of his own reflections and opinions scattered throughout): “I missed much of the sixties in America....My wife had been closer to it. She related that she had a tough time getting a place to stay while I was in Vietnam. No one in her hometown in New Jersey would rent a place for her to stay since she was a soldier’s wife whose husband was away at war.” At nearly 700 pages, this comprehensive, rigorous volume spreads the blame around fairly evenly and justifiably. In the author’s view, there’s no one-sentence explanation for America’s loss in Vietnam. He’s here to lead readers unflinchingly into the nuances.
A thought-provoking, well-researched diagnosis of the Vietnam War.
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Published on August 22, 2018 12:35 Tags: reveiw

March 10, 2015

50th Anniversary of Vietnam War

This past Sunday marked the 50th Anniversary of the commitment of US ground forces to the Vietnam War. Our book, "None Will Surpass" tells the story of the members of the West Point Class of 1967 and their role in that War. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JV829QA
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Published on March 10, 2015 08:23 Tags: vietnam-war

May 19, 2014

Memorial Day

For any of you on Goodreads who like books about the experiences of veterans on Memorial Day, I have just published my first and only book called "None Will Surpass". It's about the extraordinary service of the West Point Class of 1967 in the Vietnam War, the rebuilding of the Army in the 1970s and its renewal and success in Panama and the First Gulf War. The proceeds of any sales will go to the Class Fund for the continuance of its oral history. The details of the book are on Bookreads. Hope you enjoy. None Will Surpass
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Published on May 19, 2014 16:25