A Sniper's Journey: The Truth About the Man Behind the Rifle

by Gary D. Mitchell, Michael Hirsh, Douglas Valentine (Foreword)

A former U.S. Army sharp-shooter describes how his talent as a sniper led to his role as a long-range assassin as part of American intelligence operations, the impact of his missions on his later military career and civilian life, and the guilt and PTSD that nearly destroyed him.

Genres: Military Fiction, Biography, Nonfiction, Memoir, War

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Kyla Squires · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting book on military psychology.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book. I picked it up thinking it would be about snipers. This is because the title of the book is a sniper's journey. It did talk about his war experience through most of the book, but the overall story was how the war is affecting him still today with PTSD. It was good to hear the voice of someone who struggles with this and how he copes with this on a daily basis. It makes me respect veterans even more.

[Ckw538 · Rating 1 out of 5]

If i could give negative stars then this book would get a few of those. The book is a poorly written story about how he went on three sniping missions and then it goes into his PTSD crappy life. He should have stopped at the end of the Vietnam war and then had himself an almost worth of print book. Even better he should have never shared this crap of a story with anyone.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Sniper's Journey: The Truth About the Man Behind the Rifle by Gary D. Mitchell with William Hirsch (Penguin 2006) (616.85212). Gary D. Mitchell was an army sniper in Vietnam who went on to become an asset for the intelligence agencies. My rating 7/10, finished 2007.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting things from the Amazone

sniper???

not a bad read and moving in places but the guy was not a true sniper but just a good marksman unfortunate enough to get roped into carrying out just a few 'sniper' type shootings, he would probably been rejected if properly screened for sniping, nevertheless a good representation of a SOLDIERS journey

sztucki

---

Been there, Done that!

My husband was a Sniper in Vietnam in 1971 and we had been married a year and 7 months when he went to Vietnam. By the way, he was drafted.

I personally learned a great deal about how there missions went and what was going through their minds that I never thought of. I know the struggles first hand for the Soldier and the wives. It's very simple, unless you've been there, make no comments. Our Vets have nothing to prove to anyone. They have already proved the kind of men they are.

loved the book and I was grateful to catch a glimpse of a Snipers Journey. I can only imagine how hard it was for Mr. Mitchell to tell what he did tell, much less the things he will never tell, as I know this is true for my husband also. The PTSD is real and the horrendous nightmares never go away, even after 42 years. I know the truth. Welcome Home, Mr. Mitchell. Great Book for those of us that GET IT!!!

paula starnes

---

Not really about a sniper

This was an ok story but would like to have known more about the sniper training, and the "black" ops being performed. The book hints of CIA involvment and Project Phoenix, but there is no further explanation.

As far as I could tell he only had 7 or 8 confirmed kills in Vietnam. The book description made it sound like he was a career army sniper, but mainly he was a truck driver, and motor pool sergeant. Nothing wrong with that, but a little marksmanship training and being helicoptered out to the target is not really being a sniper.

The book also tells alot more about his family life than I was interested in. He had no real training like real snipers have, and someone just used this young kid to accomplish rogue killings because he was too stupid to get out of it.

While he also served in Desert Storm, it was not a sniper. The last half of the book dealt mainly with his relationship with his wife, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and counseling. BORING! Finally, the book includes resources and articles about PTSD, also boring, unnecessary, and out of place in a book about a sniper.

James R. Mckinley

---

Great Insight Into the Creation of a Sniper

This book is, in a word, disturbing. It provides insightful look into how both a young Texas boy is transformed into a killer, and how the CIA/US government manipulates minds to get their dirty work done. Great read. Thoroughly enjoyed!

---

It just got real

It takes a special brand of courage to operate as a sniper in combat - but Gary Mitchell displayed greater courage in telling his story. This book is absorbing and is the first 'real' portrayal of post traumatic stress syndrome that I have read.

---

A must-read for all who desire to know what it was like to get caught up in one of Vietnam’s ‘black budget’ wars within a war. Gary Mitchell’s account is riveting and revealing. And his living with the aftermath is heroic. Simply put, often those who know about these ‘wars within wars’ don’t tell. Gary is telling. America would be wise to listen.”—Brig. Gen Ezell Ware, Jr. (CA, Ret.)

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, 3½ stars; I really didn't expect this book to be that good, nearly left it in the free box. I'm glad I took it anyway...

[Nate Shaeffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Sniper's Journey: The Truth About the Man Behind the Rifle by Gary D. Mitchell, is the story of how Gary (referred to as Mitch mostly in the story) enlisted in the army at age 19, as an engineer to work on trucks and other vehicles. But when the Vietnam War kicks into full gear, he is selected to go into combat in Southern Vietnam. He begins his military career the same as most new enlistees, a simple private with an M16. After a few months in country, he is selected to go to marksman school where he is unaware that he being trained as a sniper. After he completes these courses, he is sent on various assassination missions while in Vietnam. His experiences in combat, and the guilt he felt for killing the people, as a sniper, caused him to develop PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), similar to a lot of Vietnam veterans. This case of PTSD eventually causes troubles at home, and in later years when he is taking part in the Desert Storm operations.

This book's book jacket sparked my interest because it kind of leaves you on a cliff-hanger, where it seems like trouble is bound to come upon him. The cover work fits the theme of the book and what it's about. The title of the story isn't that much of a creative one, but it fits the theme well.

The author's purpose of writing his story is to share his experience in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Also, to possibly sow the effects that war can have on some people. I believe the intended audience of this book is people who are interested in the Vietnam War, or even just snipers in war. The author is 100% qualified to write about his story because he experienced all of the events he is explaining in the book. Gary D. Mitchell wrote the intense battle scenes very well, and in great detail, because of his experiences in Vietnam.

If there was one thing I didn't like about this book, it's its title. The reason being Mitch was only a sniper in Vietnam, not while he was in Saudi-Arabia. While I do understand that those few missions in Vietnam could've effected him, I found that most of the story took place not in the sniper environment. I would probably only change the title to something maybe something along the lines of "A Vietnam War Story".

I would recommend this book for people who are interested in war, or even just interested in the effects of war, such as PTSD.

[Fred · Rating 2 out of 5]

"A Sniper's Journey" is a page turner and an easy read. What I liked about the books was the fluid style of the authors and that it covered aspects of the war in Vietnam that I had never read before. But it is written in such a quick summary fashion that the boredom, mental anguish, fear, exhaustion, etc., that Mr. Mitchell experienced while in combat didn't come through on the pages for me. I felt that I never really got to know Mr. Mitchell or his comrades-in-arms.

Where the book does succeed is with Mr. Mitchell describing how his service and what he went through affected his life well after the war. For me, this was the only time in the book that I was moved. And it is very noble of the authors to have an appendix dedicated to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and its effects.

If you are looking at this book to give a detailed account of a sniper's actions in Vietnam, you may be disappointed. However, if you are looking for a book to show the psychological impacts of what war does to our service members, then it is a must read.

Regardless of your views of Mr. Mitchell's actions, he still has to be commended for his service and how difficult it must have been for him to relive those events to put them to paper. For that, I give him 5 stars.

[Sarah Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy read. It gave an interesting perspective into how the military trained and used snipers during Vietnam. This book also gives a first hand account of what it's like living with PTSD.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some good stories in the book, but for some reason, it didn't capture my attention like most autobiographies do.