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Last Stand at Khe Sanh: The U.S. Marines' Finest Hour in Vietnam
In a remote mountain stronghold in 1968, six thousand US Marines awoke one January morning to find themselves surrounded by 20,000 enemy troops. Their only road to the coast was cut, and bad weather and enemy fire threatened their fragile air lifeline. The siege of Khe Sanh—the Vietnam War's epic confrontation—was under way. For seventy-seven days, the Marines and a contingent of US Army Special Forces endured artillery barrages, sniper fire, ground assaults, and ambushes. Air Force, Marine, and Navy pilots braved perilous flying conditions to deliver supplies, evacuate casualties, and stem the North Vietnamese Army's onslaught. As President Lyndon B. Johnson weighed the use of tactical nuclear weapons, Americans watched the shocking drama unfold on nightly newscasts. Through it all, the bloodied defenders of Khe Sanh held firm and prepared for an Alamo-like last stand. Now, Gregg Jones takes readers into the trenches and bunkers at Khe Sanh to tell the story of this extraordinary moment in American history. Last Stand at Khe Sanh captures the exceptional courage and brotherhood that sustained the American fighting men throughout the ordeal. It brings to life an unforgettable cast of characters—young high school dropouts and rootless rebels in search of John Wayne glory; grizzled Korean War veterans; daredevil pilots; gritty platoon leaders and company commanders; and courageous Navy surgeons who volunteered to serve in combat with the storied Marines. Drawing on in-depth interviews with siege survivors, thousands of pages of archival documents, and scores of oral history accounts, Gregg Jones delivers a poignant and heart-pounding narrative worthy of the heroic defense of Khe Sanh.
400 pages, Hardcover
Published April 22, 2014
165 people are currently reading
797 people want to read
About the author
Gregg Jones
4 books35 followersGregg Jones is an award-winning author, historian, investigative journalist, and foreign correspondent. He has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a fellow at the Kluge Center and Black Mountain Institute, and a Botstiber Foundation grant recipient. His latest work is a biography of Ben Kuroki, the first Japanese American combat hero of World War II. MOST HONORABLE SON: A Forgotten Hero's Fight Against Fascism and Hate During World War II will be released by Kensington Publishing on July 23, 2024. Jones is also the author of three previous nonfiction books. HONOR IN THE DUST: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and The Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream (NAL/Penguin, 2012) was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. LAST STAND AT KHE SANH: The U.S. Marines' Finest Hour in Vietnam (Da Capo/Perseus, 2014) received the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award for Distinguished Nonfiction. His first book, RED REVOLUTION: Inside the Philippine Guerrilla Movement (Westview, 1989), was praised by James Fallows in The Atlantic as a work of "prodigious, often brave reporting" and "an engrossing and highly informative book."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
June 5, 2022
This is a book that belongs to the category of combat memoirs that I classify as dangerous. Its purpose is to foster patriotism and to glorify the American Marines who fought at Khe Sanh. We should not glorify fighting. We should condemn it.
Jones is exceptionally vivid in his descriptions of the Marines's heroism and suffering, to the point that it becomes easy to forget that the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong had suffered just as much, if not more, in their hands. That there is nothing heroic about being a superpower aggressor in the civil war of a small, weak country. Just like many civilians, and even the Communists, I sympathize with the American draftees who were sent to Vietnam against their will. However, the Marines were all volunteers, which makes them look even less heroic in my eyes.
As if the excessive praise the author bestows upon the Marines and the status of martyrs that he assigns them are not enough, his attitude to the battle of Khe Sanh, and to the Vietnam conflict in general, is that it does not matter why the tragedy at Khe Sanh happened or why America got involved in Vietnam in the first place. He places the courage and sacrifice of the Marines above what are, according to him, trivial questions. I find this to be ridiculous.
It is true that the struggle of the Americans at Khe Sanh, which became the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam conflict, should not be forgotten, but what is even more important is to painstakingly analyze the strategical and tactical mistakes that the MACV commanders committed and the general decision-making that entangled America in the Vietnam disaster to avoid as many similar scenarios in the future as possible. No one can bring the killed Marines of Khe Sanh back to life, but lessons can, and should, be learned from the American experience. Jones's dismissive attitude toward such vital matters is frustrating and exposes him as a person who aspires to write history without having mastered the thinking process and objectivity of a true historian.
Samuel Johnson said it a long time ago: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." "It is enough to know that the hundreds of Khe Sanh dead whose names are etched into the wall heeded the call of their country, and they went to Vietnam with the best of intentions," writes Jones with pathos. Heeded the call of their country to do what? The American behavior in Vietnam, from the bombing of North Vietnamese civilians to the napalm, to the dreadful defoliation program, was ignoble, ruthless, and destructive. The American government intervened in Vietnam not because the Vietnam conflict posed a threat to the security of the overseas superpower or because it genuinely wanted to help the South Vietnamese people escape Communist rule, but because it was afraid of losing face in the eyes of its allies. Winning in Vietnam was a matter of saving America's reputation as the defender of the free world. I believe that those who cite America's good intentions as a justification for what it did to Vietnam and its people just do not want to face the truth.
Jones disparages war critics and news correspondents for their seeing in Khe Sanh yet more proof for the strategic folly and tactical deceptions of the Vietnam conflict. It is frustrating to read his attempts to portray the battle as something necessary and heroic, as a triumph of American spirit, while in reality, 6,000 American Marines were forced to defend an isolated base that General Westmoreland had deemed indispensable because his reputation as an MACV commander would be damaged if he allowed Dien Bien Phu to repeat itself. Hundreds of Americans were sacrificed for this purpose, and the base was still abandoned eventually. Khe Sanh embodied everything foolish, disorganized, costly, and massively deadly about the American involvement in Vietnam. It was not only a psychological victory for the North Vietnamese, but it also became the Dien Bien Phu of the Americans – no less shameful that the siege that finally made the French colonial oppressors leave Vietnam. Khe Sanh and Tet weighed heavily on the war-weary American psyche in the winter and spring of 1968, and the abandonment of the combat base and outposts less than three months after the siege impacted morale negatively.
Khe Sanh was an agony for both sides. Jones evokes the smell and taste of the battle through the perspective of individual soldiers, which makes his narrative even more terrifying. The idea of people dying by the hundreds for nothing is tragic.
I also firmly disagree with the author's claim that Khe Sanh was not deliberately used by the Communists' as diversion. Khe Sanh was a diversion. This is evident in intelligence reports gathered before the Tet Offensive and in Communist documents. Jones is just reluctant to face the fact that the MACV disregarded all the intelligence that the American and South Vietnamese intelligence services collected and presented to them, and let the American Marines and soldiers be butchered at Khe Sanh and in Saigon and Hue. His denial of what has been proven by many other historians demonstrates that he bends facts to his theories.
LAST STAND AT KHE SANH is a biased, inaccurate account of the siege of Khe Sanh. Jones's goal is to play on its American readers' patriotic feelings and promote the idea that the American intervention in Vietnam was heroic. This book offers a one-sided perspective that avoids the important questions about war that the bloodbath at Khe Sanh raises. I do not recommend it.
Jones is exceptionally vivid in his descriptions of the Marines's heroism and suffering, to the point that it becomes easy to forget that the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong had suffered just as much, if not more, in their hands. That there is nothing heroic about being a superpower aggressor in the civil war of a small, weak country. Just like many civilians, and even the Communists, I sympathize with the American draftees who were sent to Vietnam against their will. However, the Marines were all volunteers, which makes them look even less heroic in my eyes.
As if the excessive praise the author bestows upon the Marines and the status of martyrs that he assigns them are not enough, his attitude to the battle of Khe Sanh, and to the Vietnam conflict in general, is that it does not matter why the tragedy at Khe Sanh happened or why America got involved in Vietnam in the first place. He places the courage and sacrifice of the Marines above what are, according to him, trivial questions. I find this to be ridiculous.
It is true that the struggle of the Americans at Khe Sanh, which became the longest and one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam conflict, should not be forgotten, but what is even more important is to painstakingly analyze the strategical and tactical mistakes that the MACV commanders committed and the general decision-making that entangled America in the Vietnam disaster to avoid as many similar scenarios in the future as possible. No one can bring the killed Marines of Khe Sanh back to life, but lessons can, and should, be learned from the American experience. Jones's dismissive attitude toward such vital matters is frustrating and exposes him as a person who aspires to write history without having mastered the thinking process and objectivity of a true historian.
Samuel Johnson said it a long time ago: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." "It is enough to know that the hundreds of Khe Sanh dead whose names are etched into the wall heeded the call of their country, and they went to Vietnam with the best of intentions," writes Jones with pathos. Heeded the call of their country to do what? The American behavior in Vietnam, from the bombing of North Vietnamese civilians to the napalm, to the dreadful defoliation program, was ignoble, ruthless, and destructive. The American government intervened in Vietnam not because the Vietnam conflict posed a threat to the security of the overseas superpower or because it genuinely wanted to help the South Vietnamese people escape Communist rule, but because it was afraid of losing face in the eyes of its allies. Winning in Vietnam was a matter of saving America's reputation as the defender of the free world. I believe that those who cite America's good intentions as a justification for what it did to Vietnam and its people just do not want to face the truth.
Jones disparages war critics and news correspondents for their seeing in Khe Sanh yet more proof for the strategic folly and tactical deceptions of the Vietnam conflict. It is frustrating to read his attempts to portray the battle as something necessary and heroic, as a triumph of American spirit, while in reality, 6,000 American Marines were forced to defend an isolated base that General Westmoreland had deemed indispensable because his reputation as an MACV commander would be damaged if he allowed Dien Bien Phu to repeat itself. Hundreds of Americans were sacrificed for this purpose, and the base was still abandoned eventually. Khe Sanh embodied everything foolish, disorganized, costly, and massively deadly about the American involvement in Vietnam. It was not only a psychological victory for the North Vietnamese, but it also became the Dien Bien Phu of the Americans – no less shameful that the siege that finally made the French colonial oppressors leave Vietnam. Khe Sanh and Tet weighed heavily on the war-weary American psyche in the winter and spring of 1968, and the abandonment of the combat base and outposts less than three months after the siege impacted morale negatively.
Khe Sanh was an agony for both sides. Jones evokes the smell and taste of the battle through the perspective of individual soldiers, which makes his narrative even more terrifying. The idea of people dying by the hundreds for nothing is tragic.
I also firmly disagree with the author's claim that Khe Sanh was not deliberately used by the Communists' as diversion. Khe Sanh was a diversion. This is evident in intelligence reports gathered before the Tet Offensive and in Communist documents. Jones is just reluctant to face the fact that the MACV disregarded all the intelligence that the American and South Vietnamese intelligence services collected and presented to them, and let the American Marines and soldiers be butchered at Khe Sanh and in Saigon and Hue. His denial of what has been proven by many other historians demonstrates that he bends facts to his theories.
LAST STAND AT KHE SANH is a biased, inaccurate account of the siege of Khe Sanh. Jones's goal is to play on its American readers' patriotic feelings and promote the idea that the American intervention in Vietnam was heroic. This book offers a one-sided perspective that avoids the important questions about war that the bloodbath at Khe Sanh raises. I do not recommend it.
September 6, 2016
This is not about Should we have been there. In my own mind, I answered that question a long time ago. Gregg Jones answers it too, but sub silentio, writing repeatedly that it doesn’t matter. Instead, this a book about mostly young men, Marines and Corpsmen, chaplains and even a conscientious objector, who defended a series of hills around Khe Sanh in Vietnam in the Winter of 1968 with enormous sacrifice and bravery, because other men deemed Khe Sanh important enough that these men should die for it. For months they fought and died. Then it was over. Both sides claimed victory at Khe Sanh, but it was the North Vietnamese who fled. And then the order came down: abandon the hills. Just like that. Dennis Mannion, who was there, thought, “We never gave back Tarawa or Iwo Jima.”
So now you know whether you should read this or not. It has a limited audience; namely, those of us who enjoy reading about brave men in war. And, okay, this might be an appropriate time to bring up a pedantic point, a reader’s advisory I learned while reading this. Some of the stories were so gripping, I’d go rushing off to find Marines who work with me to tell them what I’d read. When retelling the story of a combat surgeon who removes a pipe-looking fuse assembly (essentially a live bomb) from the gut of a wounded Marine, don’t call the wounded Marine a soldier. Just don’t. You'll be corrected.
There are stories of the battle and a much-appreciated (by me) epilogue about what’s become of the survivors. There are pictures of the battle, and pictures of the men at reunions. So you can read about Corpsman John Cicala crawling, grievously wounded, to safety, hoping he makes it; and then see his smiling face fifty years later, and you can see he’s okay.
The author quotes from a movie about Khe Sanh, a sentence that reads like a two-line poem:
Without a witness,
They just disappear.
Now they can’t disappear. Ken Warner, Dr. Edward Feldman, Dr. James Finnegan, Steve Weise, William Dabney, Steve Weise, Ken Pipes, David Powell, Ken Korkow, Don Shanley, Jonathon Nathaniel Spicer. Some are names in Granite. Some are witnesses. In case you didn't hear it when you came home, if you came home: Thank you.
So now you know whether you should read this or not. It has a limited audience; namely, those of us who enjoy reading about brave men in war. And, okay, this might be an appropriate time to bring up a pedantic point, a reader’s advisory I learned while reading this. Some of the stories were so gripping, I’d go rushing off to find Marines who work with me to tell them what I’d read. When retelling the story of a combat surgeon who removes a pipe-looking fuse assembly (essentially a live bomb) from the gut of a wounded Marine, don’t call the wounded Marine a soldier. Just don’t. You'll be corrected.
There are stories of the battle and a much-appreciated (by me) epilogue about what’s become of the survivors. There are pictures of the battle, and pictures of the men at reunions. So you can read about Corpsman John Cicala crawling, grievously wounded, to safety, hoping he makes it; and then see his smiling face fifty years later, and you can see he’s okay.
The author quotes from a movie about Khe Sanh, a sentence that reads like a two-line poem:
Without a witness,
They just disappear.
Now they can’t disappear. Ken Warner, Dr. Edward Feldman, Dr. James Finnegan, Steve Weise, William Dabney, Steve Weise, Ken Pipes, David Powell, Ken Korkow, Don Shanley, Jonathon Nathaniel Spicer. Some are names in Granite. Some are witnesses. In case you didn't hear it when you came home, if you came home: Thank you.
December 1, 2017
Certainly one of the best books I read in 2017 and would list this in my personal top 3 for the year and top 5 of all books I have read on the subject of war.
I have taken this book on as a personal trilogy to be combined with my next two books: In Reflection by Robert S. McNamara, and Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster. This book felt more like a continuation to Dr. Bernard B. Fall’s work of “Street Without Joy” and “Hell In A Very Small Place: The Battle for Dien Bien Phu.” The tragedy that lay within these pages are many, the valor recorded is above reproach, and the ability of the human being to find a way to survive is gut wrenching. In good conscience, I could not just dive into “In Reflection” as I believed it prudent first to read of something related to the Tet Offensive era which is the era to which SecDef McNamara departed his position from the Pentagon on 29 February 1968. This book is simply a book for the ages – there were “good” wars, and there have been avoidable wars – to the Betrayed Generation of Americans who served with dignity and honor – I as a Marine welcome you home now and always for the suffering you endured.
Mr. Gregg Jones fully researched this work and deserves all the credit that can be provided in discussing the evolution of the Vietnam War in brief, the battle as it began, and the Tet Offensive to which it was linked. To my Gunnery Sergeant who served in Khe Sanh and to the memory of our Persian Gulf War experience – this book I read on your behalf.
Semper Fidelis
I have taken this book on as a personal trilogy to be combined with my next two books: In Reflection by Robert S. McNamara, and Dereliction of Duty by H.R. McMaster. This book felt more like a continuation to Dr. Bernard B. Fall’s work of “Street Without Joy” and “Hell In A Very Small Place: The Battle for Dien Bien Phu.” The tragedy that lay within these pages are many, the valor recorded is above reproach, and the ability of the human being to find a way to survive is gut wrenching. In good conscience, I could not just dive into “In Reflection” as I believed it prudent first to read of something related to the Tet Offensive era which is the era to which SecDef McNamara departed his position from the Pentagon on 29 February 1968. This book is simply a book for the ages – there were “good” wars, and there have been avoidable wars – to the Betrayed Generation of Americans who served with dignity and honor – I as a Marine welcome you home now and always for the suffering you endured.
Mr. Gregg Jones fully researched this work and deserves all the credit that can be provided in discussing the evolution of the Vietnam War in brief, the battle as it began, and the Tet Offensive to which it was linked. To my Gunnery Sergeant who served in Khe Sanh and to the memory of our Persian Gulf War experience – this book I read on your behalf.
Semper Fidelis
September 8, 2021
The battle for Khe Sanh combat base near the DMZ went on for three months in 1968, overlapping the Tet offensive in South Vietnamese cities. Hundreds of marines were killed and thousands wounded as the NVA occupied the surrounding territory and denied road access to the base and nearby outposts.
In this book, Jones does an expert job of collating the individual marines' stories, moving in chronological order through the different battles, with each marine-participant allocated a paragraph or two. This is engaging, and lets the reader feel something of how it was to be under fire, to see comrades killed or wounded. But it also wears thin after a while--being hit by grenade fragments in January at hill 881 is exactly the same as being hit by grenade fragments a month later at the combat base. This is because we don't really get to know the marines except for basic background info: where they're from, what they did before joining the marines, what they do while in-country. To me, this points up the bigger lesson from this book and this battle: all these brave, highly-trained and motivated marines defended Khe Sanh because it was their job and they were ordered to. If one asks the question, 'why defend it?', the answer seems to be, because it was there. When the battle was mostly over, when the NVA had retreated, except for small, covert units, the US abandoned the base for a better one just to the east. It would have been difficult to evacuate Khe Sanh during the battle, but it would have comparatively safe and easy to do so when intelligence revealed the approach of two NVA divisions, but before the enemy troops were dug in, had stockpiled material, and were ready to engage. Even after the battle had begun, it should have been possible to abandon Khe Sanh with fewer casualties than were experienced in two months under siege; American air superiority meant that the NVA generally attacked at night or in inclement weather. It may be that General Westmoreland decided to hold onto Khe Sanh because there was no good base to fall back to, it may be because the General believed it was an opportunity to deal a crippling blow to the enemy (which it did--the two NVA divisions laying siege suffered a high percentage of casualties), or a skeptical person might think the decision was political--Westmoreland did not want the President, the Press, or the Public to think he was retreating, especially when he and the President had been assuring America that the war was winding down. (Nobody told Ho Chi Minh.)
The even bigger lesson, now that we've finished replaying the Vietnam war in Afghanistan, is that repeated victory in local battles is not a sign that the populace has converted to our way of thinking or way of life. In Vietnam, the President and General Westmoreland were at the top of a chain of liars and fools who constant told their superiors what they wanted to hear: the people are behind us, the local military is getting stronger and is well motivated, the local politicians have the respect of the people, the insurgents have been disrupted and are losing their support, and any day now we can leave them to stand proudly on their own. I'd like to say this time we've learned our lesson, but history says otherwise.
In this book, Jones does an expert job of collating the individual marines' stories, moving in chronological order through the different battles, with each marine-participant allocated a paragraph or two. This is engaging, and lets the reader feel something of how it was to be under fire, to see comrades killed or wounded. But it also wears thin after a while--being hit by grenade fragments in January at hill 881 is exactly the same as being hit by grenade fragments a month later at the combat base. This is because we don't really get to know the marines except for basic background info: where they're from, what they did before joining the marines, what they do while in-country. To me, this points up the bigger lesson from this book and this battle: all these brave, highly-trained and motivated marines defended Khe Sanh because it was their job and they were ordered to. If one asks the question, 'why defend it?', the answer seems to be, because it was there. When the battle was mostly over, when the NVA had retreated, except for small, covert units, the US abandoned the base for a better one just to the east. It would have been difficult to evacuate Khe Sanh during the battle, but it would have comparatively safe and easy to do so when intelligence revealed the approach of two NVA divisions, but before the enemy troops were dug in, had stockpiled material, and were ready to engage. Even after the battle had begun, it should have been possible to abandon Khe Sanh with fewer casualties than were experienced in two months under siege; American air superiority meant that the NVA generally attacked at night or in inclement weather. It may be that General Westmoreland decided to hold onto Khe Sanh because there was no good base to fall back to, it may be because the General believed it was an opportunity to deal a crippling blow to the enemy (which it did--the two NVA divisions laying siege suffered a high percentage of casualties), or a skeptical person might think the decision was political--Westmoreland did not want the President, the Press, or the Public to think he was retreating, especially when he and the President had been assuring America that the war was winding down. (Nobody told Ho Chi Minh.)
The even bigger lesson, now that we've finished replaying the Vietnam war in Afghanistan, is that repeated victory in local battles is not a sign that the populace has converted to our way of thinking or way of life. In Vietnam, the President and General Westmoreland were at the top of a chain of liars and fools who constant told their superiors what they wanted to hear: the people are behind us, the local military is getting stronger and is well motivated, the local politicians have the respect of the people, the insurgents have been disrupted and are losing their support, and any day now we can leave them to stand proudly on their own. I'd like to say this time we've learned our lesson, but history says otherwise.
April 17, 2014
Last Stand at Khe Sanh, The Marines Finest Hour In Vietnam. By Gregg Jones
Over the years I've read quite of few books and articles about Khe Sanh, but never one like Last Stand at Khe Sanh. Gregg Jones takes the reader through the battles on the surrounding hills and then down into the red mud of the base camp. Through extensive interviews and research he follows the passion, sweat and tears of the men who lived and died. He draws the reader into the heroic actions of these men, mostly in their late teens or early twenties. By caring enough to look into the lives of these individuals, Mr. Jones weaves a narrative of interviews and history the reader can’t help but feel as though they are in VietNam fighting along side these courageous Marines. Gregg Jones once wrote "he hopes his book will contribute in some small way in the keeping alive the memory of the brave service rendered in the defense of Khe Sanh". As having served there I know he has accomplished his goal and more. History buffs, students of war, family, friends and those who are interested in learning, you will not be disappointed.
Over the years I've read quite of few books and articles about Khe Sanh, but never one like Last Stand at Khe Sanh. Gregg Jones takes the reader through the battles on the surrounding hills and then down into the red mud of the base camp. Through extensive interviews and research he follows the passion, sweat and tears of the men who lived and died. He draws the reader into the heroic actions of these men, mostly in their late teens or early twenties. By caring enough to look into the lives of these individuals, Mr. Jones weaves a narrative of interviews and history the reader can’t help but feel as though they are in VietNam fighting along side these courageous Marines. Gregg Jones once wrote "he hopes his book will contribute in some small way in the keeping alive the memory of the brave service rendered in the defense of Khe Sanh". As having served there I know he has accomplished his goal and more. History buffs, students of war, family, friends and those who are interested in learning, you will not be disappointed.
May 9, 2014
Gregg Jones has given us an extremely detailed view of the daily life in the gripping 77 day siege of Khe Sanh in early 1968. This is one of the best accounts of how we managed to survive constant mortar, rocket and artillery attacks, as well as line probing by a nearly invisible enemy, and lack of food and water for months on end. Gregg puts the reader right in the middle of the action, as it actually happened, based on personal interviews and extensive research. This is a must read for everyone with an interest in history. And a recollection of the Marines plight in a high, remote, lonely piece of ground that would eventually end up being abandoned. All at the expense of those wounded and killed in a seemingly unworthy defense of a piece of ground that Westmoreland deemed not worth keeping.
May 10, 2021
Bloody and real. The book tells the tale from the perspective of often young marines fighting a war that was ultimately unwinable. Many characters get a cursory description and more often than not that is a cue for their untimely demise or horrible maiming.
The end gets a little sappy but it feels like it is from the heart, so the genuine respect and sorrow more than make up for the patriotic sentimentality that for many non-Americans is simplistic and a little off-putting.
The book explicitly makes no real attempt to cover the battles from the NVA point if view, which would have added more dimensions to the work. However, given the detailed nature of the writer this may be a blessing.
A heartfelt and honest description from a one sided view, but a worthy read in the historic events and the everyday people caught in them.
The end gets a little sappy but it feels like it is from the heart, so the genuine respect and sorrow more than make up for the patriotic sentimentality that for many non-Americans is simplistic and a little off-putting.
The book explicitly makes no real attempt to cover the battles from the NVA point if view, which would have added more dimensions to the work. However, given the detailed nature of the writer this may be a blessing.
A heartfelt and honest description from a one sided view, but a worthy read in the historic events and the everyday people caught in them.
December 20, 2016
The Last Stand at Khe Sanh was an intriguing read that documented the 77 day siege of the Marine basecamp. It seems like the author took the after action reports about the events and then humanized the report and breaking it down to squad level action to make it more readable. I especially like how he listed names of personnel and followed them through the battle where they either portrayed valor or shows how they died. My close friend, Doc Cecala was wounded during an ambush while on a patrol with B 1/26; most of his platoon was killed and at least half of the second which came to reinforce them. Shot in the shoulder and legs, he managed to crawl back to the gates of the firebase and be rescued.
The book also does justice to the hill fights surrounding the base, showing how they worked through their difficulties: ground attacks, incoming, lack of water, food and ammunition.
Once finished, the reader is able to review the action taken by the American leadership and gage whether or not they did the right thing. Mr. Jones also documents the action within the white house and discussions between President Johnson, McNamara and Westmorland and how politics entered into their decisions.
Highly recommended for those wanting to learn more about one of the monumental battles of the Vietnam War. Great job Gregg Jones for putting it all together for us.
John Podlaski, author
"Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel" and "When Can I Stop Running?"
The book also does justice to the hill fights surrounding the base, showing how they worked through their difficulties: ground attacks, incoming, lack of water, food and ammunition.
Once finished, the reader is able to review the action taken by the American leadership and gage whether or not they did the right thing. Mr. Jones also documents the action within the white house and discussions between President Johnson, McNamara and Westmorland and how politics entered into their decisions.
Highly recommended for those wanting to learn more about one of the monumental battles of the Vietnam War. Great job Gregg Jones for putting it all together for us.
John Podlaski, author
"Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel" and "When Can I Stop Running?"
May 11, 2014
Last Stand at Khe Sanh is a most honorable salute to the sacrifice, heroism and courage of our boys from Pawnee, Scranton, Yonkers, Wilmington and thousands of other small towns that produce our nation’s finest. There is a reason why they are called “The Few and The Proud”. As a photo-journalist it has been my good fortune to be with Marines in Beirut, Anbar and Jalalabad. The professionalism and esprit de corps of the Devil Dogs is an amazing thing to behold. Politics and policy aside, their stories must be researched, told and passed on. I don’t know if the idea of “American Exceptionalism” crossed Gregg’s mind as he intimately interviewed the men who survived such a harrowing ordeal, but this reader came away with the thought that they were handed an ugly, dirty, seemingly impossible assignment, not only fulfilling it against all odds, but doing so with bravery and valor. I thank Gregg not only for the deeply-researched story of the 77-day siege, but all the historical tidbits like the backstory of Dien Bien Phu, Muscle Shoals, Super Gaggle, Johnson, McNamara and Westmoreland that enriched a story we should never forget. Semper Fi to all Marines and especially those who survived, thank you for informing us and reminding us of your special duty. -- Mike Theiler
May 8, 2018
This book has a good mix of on-ground conflict accounts and chain of command decision making, but these two story arcs aren’t interspersed very well. The ground battles and fire fights are told in vivid detail, thus might be too much to handle for novice readers of military action. The analysis of why Khe Sanh was strategic, then abandoned, was difficult for the U.S. soldiers (and me) to understand. But this statement would be true for the whole conflict itself. Domino theory and containment still make little sense to me regarding Vietnam. From the Vietnam-ESE point of view, America was just another in a long line of occupation forces (i.e. China, France, and Japan).
Note to audiobook listeners: Narrator William Hughes inexplicably pronounced Vietnamese as two separate words, like “Vietnam” and, as an afterthought, “ese”. Imagine listening to a book about Chinese history and hearing “China-ese” literally hundreds of times. It detracts from the narrative to such a degree that I think I should have taken the time to read the book myself.
Note to audiobook listeners: Narrator William Hughes inexplicably pronounced Vietnamese as two separate words, like “Vietnam” and, as an afterthought, “ese”. Imagine listening to a book about Chinese history and hearing “China-ese” literally hundreds of times. It detracts from the narrative to such a degree that I think I should have taken the time to read the book myself.
October 21, 2017
Jones does an astounding job at his singular goal of recounting the siege of Khe Sanh from the perspective of the men who were there. Stitching together interviews with veterans and after action reports, he blows away the fog of war to depict the terror of night assaults by the NVA, and hunking in the trenches and bunkers waiting for your number to come up.
There's a little bit of stage setting, with just enough gestures at the context: The Tet Offensive, Bernard Fall's release of Hell in a Very Small Place, LBJ, and interservice rivalry, to make sense of the story, but mostly he sticks close to the men and their experiences. Jones rates Khe Sanh a limited tactical victory. American air and artillery devastated the NVA regulars, and while giving up the base was a strategic embarrassment, a more secure location a few miles away continued to control the NW corner of South Vietnam.
There's a little bit of stage setting, with just enough gestures at the context: The Tet Offensive, Bernard Fall's release of Hell in a Very Small Place, LBJ, and interservice rivalry, to make sense of the story, but mostly he sticks close to the men and their experiences. Jones rates Khe Sanh a limited tactical victory. American air and artillery devastated the NVA regulars, and while giving up the base was a strategic embarrassment, a more secure location a few miles away continued to control the NW corner of South Vietnam.
August 16, 2024
An up close look at a the personal heroism and national folly of the siege of Khe Sanh.
July 7, 2014
There are numerous books, articles and films about the largest battle of the Vietnam War, Khe Sanh. Although it was fought almost half a century ago and is not well known among younger generations, those who came of age during the Vietnam War are at least familiar with the name. Gregg Jones wanted to take a specific point of view in his narrative about the critical four months of the Battle, from January through April 1968, and that was to “capture the experience of ordinary young Americans thrown into these extraordinary events in Vietnam”. Jones more than succeeds in achieving this goal.
Jones conducted over ninety interviews of participants in the battle and researched numerous primary resources. He adeptly places this high stakes battle in the larger context of the chronological and strategic course of the war, giving meaning to the fears President Johnson and his senior military leaders had regarding the possibility of defeat. He also lays out the geographical value of Khe Sanh. Located in the northwest corner of South Vietnam just below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and astride the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Khe Sanh was a vital listening post and interdiction point for disrupting the flow of men and material from North Vietnam to the battlefields in the south. The tactical and strategic intentions of the iconic North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap and his counterpart, General William Westmoreland, and the historical debate surrounding them are described and discussed throughout the book. But the core of Jones’s narrative is the tactical build up of Giap’s forces and the American’s realization of this buildup and their commensurate tactical responses, all culminating in a four-month battle and seventy-seven day siege.
Jones focuses on the principal actors in the unfolding drama, the eighteen, nineteen and twenty-year old enlisted Marines and their “older”, by two to four years, Lieutenant and Captain leaders. The 7,000 Marines at Khe Sanh and the surrounding hilltop fortresses soon find themselves cut off and isolated, capable of being resupplied solely though by air. Outnumbered three to one and constantly bombarded and besieged by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), the Americans dug in and fought back with air power and grit. Jones breaks down the struggle into its core elements—the warrior-to-warrior contact between the NVA and the Marines. Here we learn of the crude brutality of the fighting, the horrendous day-to-day struggle for survival by men on both sides, and the impartiality of the cruel hand of fate as good, young men are cut down. Taking a page from Ernie Pyle’s Brave Men, Jones introduces us to these men, most too young to legally vote or drink. We learn where they are from, tidbits about their families, their accomplishments and their aspirations. Too frequently they are killed or seriously wounded as the battles rage on, day after day, night after night. There is no respite save death or serious injury. Jones personalizes the fighting. We understand who these men are and we grieve for those killed and wounded, and we celebrate those who live on.
Last Stand at Khe Sanh is a fast, hard, necessary read. The living and dead who fought there endured a type of combat that rivaled any in American history for pure savagery. For those killed and their families, the battle resulted in permanent tragedy. In the Epilogue, Jones tells us how life turned out for many of Khe Sanh’s survivors. All were deeply affected by the experience. Some struggled, ultimately finding peace through a broad array of means—counseling, meaningful work, denial of their experiences, reconnecting with other Khe Sanh veterans and in a few heartbreaking cases, suicide. What we are not told, and it is perhaps not yet possible and would have been beyond the scope of this effort, is what did the NVA personnel experience, how did they cope, what were their individual and collective tragedies and triumphs?
Jones confirms the universality of young Americans thrown into desperate combat thousands of miles from home. Faced with death, they fought ferociously for each other and for survival. They accepted their lot and responded with extraordinary resourcefulness and bravery. While caught in a maelstrom of merciless destruction, they reflected the best and worst humans have to offer—fear, camaraderie, loyalty, brutality, humor, and a devotion to survival. We also see how we, as a nation, generally treat these true heroes—we remain purposefully ignorant of their sacrifices, preoccupied with our own lives. This is a truism of our modern wars, whether it be the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Jones conducted over ninety interviews of participants in the battle and researched numerous primary resources. He adeptly places this high stakes battle in the larger context of the chronological and strategic course of the war, giving meaning to the fears President Johnson and his senior military leaders had regarding the possibility of defeat. He also lays out the geographical value of Khe Sanh. Located in the northwest corner of South Vietnam just below the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), and astride the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Khe Sanh was a vital listening post and interdiction point for disrupting the flow of men and material from North Vietnam to the battlefields in the south. The tactical and strategic intentions of the iconic North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap and his counterpart, General William Westmoreland, and the historical debate surrounding them are described and discussed throughout the book. But the core of Jones’s narrative is the tactical build up of Giap’s forces and the American’s realization of this buildup and their commensurate tactical responses, all culminating in a four-month battle and seventy-seven day siege.
Jones focuses on the principal actors in the unfolding drama, the eighteen, nineteen and twenty-year old enlisted Marines and their “older”, by two to four years, Lieutenant and Captain leaders. The 7,000 Marines at Khe Sanh and the surrounding hilltop fortresses soon find themselves cut off and isolated, capable of being resupplied solely though by air. Outnumbered three to one and constantly bombarded and besieged by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), the Americans dug in and fought back with air power and grit. Jones breaks down the struggle into its core elements—the warrior-to-warrior contact between the NVA and the Marines. Here we learn of the crude brutality of the fighting, the horrendous day-to-day struggle for survival by men on both sides, and the impartiality of the cruel hand of fate as good, young men are cut down. Taking a page from Ernie Pyle’s Brave Men, Jones introduces us to these men, most too young to legally vote or drink. We learn where they are from, tidbits about their families, their accomplishments and their aspirations. Too frequently they are killed or seriously wounded as the battles rage on, day after day, night after night. There is no respite save death or serious injury. Jones personalizes the fighting. We understand who these men are and we grieve for those killed and wounded, and we celebrate those who live on.
Last Stand at Khe Sanh is a fast, hard, necessary read. The living and dead who fought there endured a type of combat that rivaled any in American history for pure savagery. For those killed and their families, the battle resulted in permanent tragedy. In the Epilogue, Jones tells us how life turned out for many of Khe Sanh’s survivors. All were deeply affected by the experience. Some struggled, ultimately finding peace through a broad array of means—counseling, meaningful work, denial of their experiences, reconnecting with other Khe Sanh veterans and in a few heartbreaking cases, suicide. What we are not told, and it is perhaps not yet possible and would have been beyond the scope of this effort, is what did the NVA personnel experience, how did they cope, what were their individual and collective tragedies and triumphs?
Jones confirms the universality of young Americans thrown into desperate combat thousands of miles from home. Faced with death, they fought ferociously for each other and for survival. They accepted their lot and responded with extraordinary resourcefulness and bravery. While caught in a maelstrom of merciless destruction, they reflected the best and worst humans have to offer—fear, camaraderie, loyalty, brutality, humor, and a devotion to survival. We also see how we, as a nation, generally treat these true heroes—we remain purposefully ignorant of their sacrifices, preoccupied with our own lives. This is a truism of our modern wars, whether it be the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan.
April 13, 2014
For those of us there, the Khe Sanh siege in the first four months of 1968 was a life-altering experience. Gregg Jones has masterfully written an account of the time when most of the world -- and in particular the United States -- was mesmerized by television reports and the printed word emanating from the "besieged combat base." Mr. Jones captures it all -- the fears, the heroics, the tactics, the errors and the successes -- of close combat with a ferocious and determined foe 46 years ago. While no reader can ever be transported physically to a battlefield, this author's unique skills can get you as close as possible to a place where one of the oldest axioms of war came into play -- the role of fortune. Often at Khe Sanh, it was not skill or talent that kept one alive; it was the gods of fate that ruled the days and the nights. Much like Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy on the fighting in Europe in World War Two, Last Stand at Khe Sanh focuses less on the higher-ups and the decision makers and instead brings the reader into the world of men on the ground and in the air during the largest and longest battle of the Vietnam War. The author takes you back to a place where "dig deeper" was the operative phrase for months and where the shouted word "incoming" took years off one's life or ended it instantly. A remarkable book.
May 29, 2021
A hard, bruising description of one of Vietnam War's most famous battles, built around individual narratives linked together to build a compelling story of the battle. While the author clearly has a deeper historical understanding of the battle than this book conveys, given that the purpose of the book seems to be to relate the experience of the battle from the American perspective, I appreciated his occasional commentary on the broader impact of the battle.
I couldn't help but think how the 6000 Marines were essentially stranded on the hills of Khe Sanh, seemingly almost as an enticement for the North Vietnamese. The importance of the battle became more about generating a battle, rather than the tactical or even the strategic importance of the hills themselves. Somewhere towards the end of the book, someone comments that "We never gave back Iwo Jima." I'm sure that having the back and forth of fought for land being determined by forces outside of those immediately relevant to those doing the fighting must have been maddeningly frustrating.
I couldn't help but think how the 6000 Marines were essentially stranded on the hills of Khe Sanh, seemingly almost as an enticement for the North Vietnamese. The importance of the battle became more about generating a battle, rather than the tactical or even the strategic importance of the hills themselves. Somewhere towards the end of the book, someone comments that "We never gave back Iwo Jima." I'm sure that having the back and forth of fought for land being determined by forces outside of those immediately relevant to those doing the fighting must have been maddeningly frustrating.
October 27, 2017
Finally a book about Vietnam that recognizes the heroics and hard fought-for survival of one of the key battles of that war. Gregg Jones' research is meticulous and drawn from the very mouths of those who served on that patch of forsaken hilltop in 1968.
If ever there was a question about the courage of 18-22 year old Marines, this book lays that to rest. An account often so painful, it is hard to read, and yet it portrays a side to that war that few who did not go and fight would want to read, as it puts to shame those who "piled on" when the troops returned to the states. Courage like that was never seen in the protesting streets of America, then or now. "Last Stand at Khe Sanh" should be required reading for anyone whose hangnails accounts for a bad day.
Hats off to Gregg Jones for his diligent recording of a hard season in a long ago but still relevant war.
If ever there was a question about the courage of 18-22 year old Marines, this book lays that to rest. An account often so painful, it is hard to read, and yet it portrays a side to that war that few who did not go and fight would want to read, as it puts to shame those who "piled on" when the troops returned to the states. Courage like that was never seen in the protesting streets of America, then or now. "Last Stand at Khe Sanh" should be required reading for anyone whose hangnails accounts for a bad day.
Hats off to Gregg Jones for his diligent recording of a hard season in a long ago but still relevant war.
December 24, 2017
Heart breaking. But read you should.
The lives lost of so many young men and the effects of that loss is still with us today.
The story isn't so much about who and why were involved but a story of bravery and heroes.
The struggles that were faced by these young men and the hidden wounds they brought back home.
The characters are people who you want as friends and hopefully are willing to put your life in their hands.
Great men, proud men who, along with others, gave their lives so we could live in a free country.
These men should always be remembered and Mr. Jones's book does this well.
Thank you for writing about these brave men and the sacrifice they and their families have made.
The lives lost of so many young men and the effects of that loss is still with us today.
The story isn't so much about who and why were involved but a story of bravery and heroes.
The struggles that were faced by these young men and the hidden wounds they brought back home.
The characters are people who you want as friends and hopefully are willing to put your life in their hands.
Great men, proud men who, along with others, gave their lives so we could live in a free country.
These men should always be remembered and Mr. Jones's book does this well.
Thank you for writing about these brave men and the sacrifice they and their families have made.
September 7, 2020
This book is an outstanding chronicle of the siege of the marine base at Khe Sanh. Roughly 6,000 marines held off 20,000+ North Vietnamese troops over 77 days from December 1967-March 1968. According to the author, Gregg Jones, debate on who won this battle or the war or who is to blame seems indecent. "It is enough to know that the hundreds of Khe Sahn dead whose names are etched into the wall heeded the call of their country, and they went to Vietnam with the best of intentions." The courage and bravery of the men who fought at Khe Sahn are extraordinary.
November 27, 2022
an impressive war story narrated in a way to include as many personal stories as possible. a showcase of a vain effort (or, as they say, their finest hour). From the reading, getting a higher-level view of the battle is hard to make the final judgment: what's the goal? what's the leadership been trying to achieve? was it a success by any measure?
March 1, 2025
I liked this book. I always realized that Vietnam wasn't lost by the soldiers or marines, but by the politicians. What a terrible price the marines paid to keep a hilltop through a siege only to abandon it three months after surviving it made no sense to me. What a kick in the gut it must have felt to the men who fought and died for it, yet America does it over and over again. Americans should always remember if the prize isn't worth keeping, then it's not worth dying for.
May 7, 2025
This book was enthralling. I’ve never read such a description of the awfulness of war. I couldn’t put it down. This was one of those books I would read late into the night thinking “let me just finish this chapter and then I’ll go to bed”.
November 24, 2024
Great Read
Enjoyed this book very much, each battle was described through those who fought and survived this terrible event. I highly recommend
Enjoyed this book very much, each battle was described through those who fought and survived this terrible event. I highly recommend
November 29, 2024
Very good. I enjoyed it an excellent addition to the history of the Vietnam war.
August 22, 2025
excellent narrative on the experience of the troopers at Khe Sahn. focused on the men who fought and died there.
August 2, 2025
Good historical rendition of a chaotic conflict. Frustrating that the battle seemed to be all for nothing in the end.
March 6, 2024
My Father—who passed away in 2015 from Agent Orange related health complications—was one of the United States Marines that served during the Vietnam War. He survived the siege at Khe Sanh, but was ultimately a casualty of the war’s chemical legacy.
He rarely spoke of the war, but when he did, his stories were often about his memories of the siege at Khe Sanh. I recall his stories of pilots risking their lives to bring the Marines desperately needed supplies, often crashing and being bombarded by mortar fire. He refused to eat Vienna Sausage, telling me that he’d had his last of them at Khe Sanh (apparently, it was all he and others had to eat for some time). He recalled eating dry coffee grounds to stay awake—water was rationed, so brewing coffee would have been a luxury. I always got the sense that he was editing the things he told me, sparing the worse memories, but I could see it behind his eyes as they glistened with tears—that’s when he would go quiet.
This book gave me the brutal context and texture that my Daddy chose to keep to private. Often, in reading this detailed, historic work, I found convergences with Daddy’s recollections, and couldn’t help but imagine him I’m in the background of this book, and unnamed combat engineer, a volunteer U.S. Marine, experiencing everything this excellent book presents.
I don’t know if it helped me understand my Daddy more, but I feel like it did. I felt pride, awe, and pity for these Marines (as well, their NVA counterparts) and this hellish combat base and the outposts in the hills surrounding it. I won’t say I fully understand why they were there—it still seems so confusing, and an extraordinary waste of young lives—this does not lessen their sacrifices and suffering. This book only enhances the swelling pride I feel when the star and stripes flow in the spring winds above my home—when I hear the wind crack the fabric, I feel my Daddy near, and now, due to this wonderful historical work, I will carry a more dense knowledge of where his deep love for the flag came from. It also reminds me that our leaders can and will send their countrymen to fight and die in poorly planned operations, with pitiful provisions—this frustrates me, and this book left me with this irritation yet again.
This book was hard to read at times—gory, painful, and jarring—and made me feel helpless, angry, and ashamed of my countrymen that clammer for “civil war” across modern channels (many who likely have never served a day in the mud and blood of actual warfare). My father wanted to spare me and my children the terror and lingering grief of war, and this book has helped me understand why held those strong convictions.
May I find inspiration to discover my own bravery in the sacrifices of these U.S. Marines (sent to fight and die in this confusing, cruel war), especially during difficult times. With great effort, may we all seek peaceful solutions to their end, and only wage war when all else has failed, when it is absolutely necessary, and may we enter it with remorse.
He rarely spoke of the war, but when he did, his stories were often about his memories of the siege at Khe Sanh. I recall his stories of pilots risking their lives to bring the Marines desperately needed supplies, often crashing and being bombarded by mortar fire. He refused to eat Vienna Sausage, telling me that he’d had his last of them at Khe Sanh (apparently, it was all he and others had to eat for some time). He recalled eating dry coffee grounds to stay awake—water was rationed, so brewing coffee would have been a luxury. I always got the sense that he was editing the things he told me, sparing the worse memories, but I could see it behind his eyes as they glistened with tears—that’s when he would go quiet.
This book gave me the brutal context and texture that my Daddy chose to keep to private. Often, in reading this detailed, historic work, I found convergences with Daddy’s recollections, and couldn’t help but imagine him I’m in the background of this book, and unnamed combat engineer, a volunteer U.S. Marine, experiencing everything this excellent book presents.
I don’t know if it helped me understand my Daddy more, but I feel like it did. I felt pride, awe, and pity for these Marines (as well, their NVA counterparts) and this hellish combat base and the outposts in the hills surrounding it. I won’t say I fully understand why they were there—it still seems so confusing, and an extraordinary waste of young lives—this does not lessen their sacrifices and suffering. This book only enhances the swelling pride I feel when the star and stripes flow in the spring winds above my home—when I hear the wind crack the fabric, I feel my Daddy near, and now, due to this wonderful historical work, I will carry a more dense knowledge of where his deep love for the flag came from. It also reminds me that our leaders can and will send their countrymen to fight and die in poorly planned operations, with pitiful provisions—this frustrates me, and this book left me with this irritation yet again.
This book was hard to read at times—gory, painful, and jarring—and made me feel helpless, angry, and ashamed of my countrymen that clammer for “civil war” across modern channels (many who likely have never served a day in the mud and blood of actual warfare). My father wanted to spare me and my children the terror and lingering grief of war, and this book has helped me understand why held those strong convictions.
May I find inspiration to discover my own bravery in the sacrifices of these U.S. Marines (sent to fight and die in this confusing, cruel war), especially during difficult times. With great effort, may we all seek peaceful solutions to their end, and only wage war when all else has failed, when it is absolutely necessary, and may we enter it with remorse.
June 13, 2014
I heard Gregg Jones on Tom Ashbrook's On Point radio show and knew I needed to read this. Khe Sahn was in the northern part of South Vietnam near the DMZ. It's purpose was to interdict the supplies and manpower coming down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The battle at Khe Sanh from late 1967 through the spring of 1968 was the biggest set piece battle that North Vietnam engaged in with the US and South Vietnam. Gregg Jones follows the experience of a group of soldiers through 77 days from January into April 1968. The NVA had laid siege to the Khe Sanh combat base and the nearby hills (861, 881 North and 881 South).
"With 20,000 North Vietnamese soldiers now surrounding the 6,000 Americans at Khe Sanh, and another 20,000 enemy troops nearby, General William Westmoreland was marshaling every conceivable weapon for a decisive confrontation." (Loc 1416) The combat base was effectively cut off from the overland supply route and could only be resupplied by air. The dug in NVA would shoot mortars and rockets at the air strip every time a plane or helicopter approached. We read the stories of the men who lived and died making that stand.
The Tet offensive took place at the same time as the siege at Khe Sanh leaving open the question as to how intent General Giap was in truly overrunning the base. Was it merely a feint to tie down American resources so the Tet offensive could more effectively foment the revolution in South Vietnam? "From the beginning, the Marines had questioned General Westmoreland's decision to tie down a combat company, and, eventually, a reinforced regiment, at such a remote location. The siege had amplified the questions about the strategic wisdom of Westmoreland's commitment to Khe Sanh..."(Loc 5453)
Jones touches on these points enough to set the stage for the story he is telling. His primary focus is on experiences of the kids and young men who were at Khe Sanh; he does a remarkable job at that. I was draft age in 1970, was against the war, and took a student deferment; but I was never one of the people who were mad; who spat, jeered, and rallied against the returning veterans. After reading this, I realize just how misguided, wrong actually, that jeering approach was. The draftees were doing what they were told to do; and they did it magnificently well. As Jones points out
"In the rising light of an early September morning, standing before the gleaming walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with all the profound loss these granite panels embody, questiong about who won or lost at Khe Sanh and wheter it was a ruse seem indecent. So, too, are the political debates over why America lost the war, and who is to blame. It is enough to know that hundreds of Khe Sanh dead whose names are etched into the wall heeded the call of their country, and they went to Vietnam with the best intentions."(Loc 5804).
The battle at Khe Sanh from late 1967 through the spring of 1968 was the biggest set piece battle that North Vietnam engaged in with the US and South Vietnam. Gregg Jones follows the experience of a group of soldiers through 77 days from January into April 1968. The NVA had laid siege to the Khe Sanh combat base and the nearby hills (861, 881 North and 881 South).
"With 20,000 North Vietnamese soldiers now surrounding the 6,000 Americans at Khe Sanh, and another 20,000 enemy troops nearby, General William Westmoreland was marshaling every conceivable weapon for a decisive confrontation." (Loc 1416) The combat base was effectively cut off from the overland supply route and could only be resupplied by air. The dug in NVA would shoot mortars and rockets at the air strip every time a plane or helicopter approached. We read the stories of the men who lived and died making that stand.
The Tet offensive took place at the same time as the siege at Khe Sanh leaving open the question as to how intent General Giap was in truly overrunning the base. Was it merely a feint to tie down American resources so the Tet offensive could more effectively foment the revolution in South Vietnam? "From the beginning, the Marines had questioned General Westmoreland's decision to tie down a combat company, and, eventually, a reinforced regiment, at such a remote location. The siege had amplified the questions about the strategic wisdom of Westmoreland's commitment to Khe Sanh..."(Loc 5453)
Jones touches on these points enough to set the stage for the story he is telling. His primary focus is on experiences of the kids and young men who were at Khe Sanh; he does a remarkable job at that. I was draft age in 1970, was against the war, and took a student deferment; but I was never one of the people who were mad; who spat, jeered, and rallied against the returning veterans. After reading this, I realize just how misguided, wrong actually, that jeering approach was. The draftees were doing what they were told to do; and they did it magnificently well. As Jones points out
"In the rising light of an early September morning, standing before the gleaming walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, with all the profound loss these granite panels embody, questiong about who won or lost at Khe Sanh and wheter it was a ruse seem indecent. So, too, are the political debates over why America lost the war, and who is to blame. It is enough to know that hundreds of Khe Sanh dead whose names are etched into the wall heeded the call of their country, and they went to Vietnam with the best intentions."(Loc 5804).
June 10, 2023
War is never a good thing. As I look back I wish we had never gone to Vietnam. We should have just let them kill each other. They did anyway. Now that our government has started becoming like North Vietnam. I believe it was a good book and made the men that fought in Khe Sanh very peronal. People should know the truth as best possible about war. The good, evil and pain of war. The men were heroes to each other as what really matters. By the way the Marine Corps did draft during the Vietnam War. I saw it personally when I was being sworn into the Marine Corps. I saw them tell two guys that was suppose to go into the Army was now in the Marines. That is how they filled their quota. I meet many in the Marine Corps in 1968,69 and 70 that had been drafted. When you were drafted or joined the service back then you belonged to the US government. If you tried to run away from the draft or service you could in up in prison back then. Most young men didn't really want to be there in a war but when you were you did the best to stay alive and go home. They became heroes by doing their duty. Whether it was a right war or not it lies on the shoulders of the government and leaders. When you are in a life or death situation for a time you make friends. When you are survivors of a war with people you become brothers and sisters. Only those who served understand that. If you have never been there you would not understand that. I believe Gregg Jones did that by showing the survivors years later and how they dealt with the war in their heads. It will never leave. He showed the personal fear and sadness of the warriors. Their human side. He also touched on the fear and sadness of the (NVA)North Vietnamese. They were also doing what they were told by their leaders. Whether you agree with war or not it has been around as long as man has been around and it will be here until Jesus Christ comes back. If you have never been to war you can have an opinion on it, but you will never really understand until you have been there. It was a documentary so I read it to see what my brothers went through in Khe Sanh. I joined the Marine Corps in 1968 at the age of 19. I served in the 1st Marine Div. south of Da Nang, Vietnam in 1969-70. Thank you Gregg Jones for not hiding the fear, pain and gore of war. The USA needs to know how terrible war really is so they never treat those that had the guts to serve their country is treated the way the Vietnam Veterans were when they came home. No matter how you felt about his book which I thought it was good. The next time you see a sevice person... Tell them thank you.
November 5, 2020
This is a difficult book to read without more context of the Vietnam War. The author clearly states his narrow focus in the introduction. However, I read it without a lot of context, and it made the book harder to follow.
The book does an excellent job of explaining the hardships, death, injury, and misery of the Marines who endured the seige at Khe Sanh. Similar to The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Tapper, Jones does a good job of providing some background on as many Marines who died as possible. The difference, is quite different, in that Jones is able to follow the lives of the Marines much further into the future - including the accounts of Marines who later committed suicide. He interviewed a Marine who has struggled with why he survived when so many others died. The Marine realizes that he survived so that those who died would not be forgotten.
I read this book after reading Robert Coram's Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine. As part of Krulak's biography, he highlighted the major Marine actions that still define the service: 1) the battle of belleau wood, 2) the battle of Guadacanal, 3) the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir, 4) the seige at Khe Sanh, and 5) the second battle of Fallujah. I've subsequently read This Kind of War: The Classic Military History of the Korean War about the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir. The seige at Khe Sanh is similar in the horrible conditions, death and injury. The seige at Khe Sanh is completely different in that the Marines were told to just sit on a hill like sitting ducks. At least in the retreat, Marines were doing something - fighting their way out. At Khe Sanh, they were target practice for the NVA artillery.
The book does an excellent job of explaining the hardships, death, injury, and misery of the Marines who endured the seige at Khe Sanh. Similar to The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Tapper, Jones does a good job of providing some background on as many Marines who died as possible. The difference, is quite different, in that Jones is able to follow the lives of the Marines much further into the future - including the accounts of Marines who later committed suicide. He interviewed a Marine who has struggled with why he survived when so many others died. The Marine realizes that he survived so that those who died would not be forgotten.
I read this book after reading Robert Coram's Brute: The Life of Victor Krulak, U.S. Marine. As part of Krulak's biography, he highlighted the major Marine actions that still define the service: 1) the battle of belleau wood, 2) the battle of Guadacanal, 3) the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir, 4) the seige at Khe Sanh, and 5) the second battle of Fallujah. I've subsequently read This Kind of War: The Classic Military History of the Korean War about the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir. The seige at Khe Sanh is similar in the horrible conditions, death and injury. The seige at Khe Sanh is completely different in that the Marines were told to just sit on a hill like sitting ducks. At least in the retreat, Marines were doing something - fighting their way out. At Khe Sanh, they were target practice for the NVA artillery.
February 4, 2015
I don't read an awful lot of "war books". This one interested me on a couple levels but let me down a bit on one of those levels.
1968 was a shitty year for the US Military. Vietnam was headed to the crapper what with Khe Sahn, Tet, the NVA doing pretty much whatever they felt and not minding that they were getting killed at a ratio of about 14,000 to 1 because they were True Believers, plus it had worked with theFrench, why should we be different? There was also the Pueblo in '68. All in all a crap year for us. Worse yet, Johnson running from Washington left us with Nixon. Oy.
This was a surprisingly easy read for the genre it falls into. Not falling overly much into the "lingo" trap, assuming the reader can picture an M105-B, sub IV Horoblaster Ray gun in their minds eye. Still, there was a lot of Googling going on, specific weaponry, planes, helicopters, etc.. Down to earth language, decent maps and LOTS of personal stories direct from the mouths of the Marines involved. I have a lot of Marines on my mother's side of my family, but my favorite uncle on that side was Army Special Forces. Khe Sahn was a Marine base, but had an outpost of Special Forces right outside, in the actual town of Khe Sahn. At one point during the siege, the bad guys were overrunning the town, the Army forces called for artillery support, or relief of some sort and the marine commander flat refused to send help until it was too late. A lot of Green Berets died needlessly that day. I need to find out if my uncle was anywhere near that day.If he was, and was and any part of the NVA slaughter because the Marine commander left them hanging, I'm going to punch the next marine I see right in the balls.
Aside from that, the author does a decent job keeping the siege in historical perspective, relating it to other events in the war, and around the world that affected American policy. But only a decent job. The strength of the story told here is in the individual heroics and the complete horror of living through the siege. Read this if that kind of thing is your cup of tea. But don't read it for any in depth discussion of US war policy in Vietnam.
1968 was a shitty year for the US Military. Vietnam was headed to the crapper what with Khe Sahn, Tet, the NVA doing pretty much whatever they felt and not minding that they were getting killed at a ratio of about 14,000 to 1 because they were True Believers, plus it had worked with theFrench, why should we be different? There was also the Pueblo in '68. All in all a crap year for us. Worse yet, Johnson running from Washington left us with Nixon. Oy.
This was a surprisingly easy read for the genre it falls into. Not falling overly much into the "lingo" trap, assuming the reader can picture an M105-B, sub IV Horoblaster Ray gun in their minds eye. Still, there was a lot of Googling going on, specific weaponry, planes, helicopters, etc.. Down to earth language, decent maps and LOTS of personal stories direct from the mouths of the Marines involved. I have a lot of Marines on my mother's side of my family, but my favorite uncle on that side was Army Special Forces. Khe Sahn was a Marine base, but had an outpost of Special Forces right outside, in the actual town of Khe Sahn. At one point during the siege, the bad guys were overrunning the town, the Army forces called for artillery support, or relief of some sort and the marine commander flat refused to send help until it was too late. A lot of Green Berets died needlessly that day. I need to find out if my uncle was anywhere near that day.If he was, and was and any part of the NVA slaughter because the Marine commander left them hanging, I'm going to punch the next marine I see right in the balls.
Aside from that, the author does a decent job keeping the siege in historical perspective, relating it to other events in the war, and around the world that affected American policy. But only a decent job. The strength of the story told here is in the individual heroics and the complete horror of living through the siege. Read this if that kind of thing is your cup of tea. But don't read it for any in depth discussion of US war policy in Vietnam.
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