Death in the Jungle: Diary of a Navy Seal

by Gary R. Smith, Alan Maki

This is the riveting combat diary of Navy SEAL Gary Smith who,during his 32 months in Vietnam, engaged in 257 combat missions. This book is a realistic look at the men, the weapons and the tactics of the guerrilla war fought by Smith and his fellow SEALs in the canals and swamps of Vietnam. Includes 16 pages of never-before-published photos.

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

352 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1994

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Diary of a Navy SEALs tour in Vietnam.

Not at all like the usual narrative we get in these things. It was refreshing.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mission-by-mission breakdown of Smith's tour in Vietnam. An interested read in a format I have not seen before in a military biography or memoir.

Not every mission is covered, just the ones that stuck in the author's memory. Each description is an insight into how operations were planned and executed. A great resource for anyone unfamiliar with logistics and planning procedures. Unlike some rather dry as dust books I've read before, Smith makes that part of his time in Vietnam interesting. To quote Ripley, "Believe it or Not"!

He also gives a bit of his personal downtime after the team returns to base. Smith provides us with the typical drinking and pranks pulled on each other in that environment, but he also gives us a look into how all of it was necessary to deal with the death and other fallout from their actions. Brutally honest without being maudlin or exploitive.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in Military History, Biographies, or the Vietnam War.

Find it! Buy it! READ IT!

[Edmond Gagnon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written account of what U.S. soldiers and especially the Navy Seals went through in Viet Nam. I wasn't aware of their role in that war. Their elite training obviously contributed to their survival rate, where many other 'trained' soldiers weren't so lucky.
It's completely insane, reading about how they spent hours and even days in waist deep muck and swamp water, waiting to surprise the enemy. They had to endure mosquitos, snakes and even crocodiles, while trying not to be discovered by an enemy who often outnumbered them.
The authors do an excellent job in describing the Seals dangerous missions as well as their every day life stationed in a hostile country on the other side of the world.

[DOUGLAS ARMSTRONG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Safe Return from NAM

Unless you had been to NAM you will not receive the full power of what Mr. Smith is writing about. I thought the story brought you right on patrol with the platoon and right in line with the Seals.
Great book!

[Ken Tuckey · Rating 3 out of 5]

DIJ:DNS

Interesting read but written in schoolboy manner. I remember being in the same mental frame many years ago. The story needs an editor with combat experience to build it into a factual but exciting story.

[Gary Trembath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read

A good, matter of fact book that details a SEAL's tour in Vietnam and the consequent actions he and his team members were involved in. Entertaining and informative.

[Muhammad Sutton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally enjoy stories from the Navy SEALs in Vietnam, but this book was not on par with others. There was not much action as far as the actual war was concerned. The author seemed to emphasize detailing how much he drank in Vietnam just as much as he talked about how much he fought.

Moreover, the book seemed forced; there was no flow to the book, and there seemed to be no direction. The author kind of just threw out stories from Vietnam and expected the people to just buy the book because he was a Navy SEAL.

[Nick Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read the book Death in the Jungle Diary of a Navy Seal It was a very interesting read. It follows a man who trains to be a Navy Seal, and about his time in the Vietnam war. This book real does a good job in going into great deal about training as a Navy Seal. I think the authors purposes for writing this book was to inform the reader about war. Why i think this is because it sates many facts about the Vietnam war and training about being a Navy Seal.

I think the theme for this book is war is bad. It shows many times in this book that war is bad like in this quote " There was a honorably mangled body with an arm missing just laying there everyone just seemed to ignore it." This is just one of the many examples that this book gave me on why war is bad. As you read this book you will see the many challenges the man had to face in order to become a Navy Seal and the challenges he face when he was off fighting. Some of the challenges he face when he was in training are describe well in this quote. " We were forced out of the ocean and to lay in the sand and roll around and take hand fulls of sand and put them down our shirts." That mused have been hard to go though.

I think the style is this book is descriptive. It was very effective and I even learned a few things reading this book. Why i think this is because it gives dates and times. It also gives very good information on these dates and times. There are many facts that are stated in this book such as things that happen in the war and also the facts of the training that you have to go though to become a Navy Seal the book says that this book is a true story and all the facts are true the only things that are changed are the names for security reasons. One of the dates are in this quote. " November 1st 1955 the war started and many men were shipped out."

I really enjoyed this book, if you are someone who enjoys military books and story's you will enjoy this book. They did a good job giving fact and it seemed like every chapter was a new story so that can really keep you interested when reading this book. I would recommend this book to anyone of my friends. It earns a 5/5 rating and there is not much i would change about this book. I am not much of a reader so this does not remind me of other books but it does remind me of the movie Black Hawk Down with was a good book/movie and i would recommend checking that out as well.

[Alec Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

My opinion on this book was it was very exciting, and with every chapter being a new mission, there was always something that got me excited. The thing I liked about this book was every chapter was like a new story. I really don't have anything I disliked about this book. There is only one book that I read that was like this story. I think the theme of the story of this book is war is a bad thing even though it is sometimes what is the best think. I think what the author is trying to say is don't think of the bad guy as having a family, but think of your family and your friends family. I think the purpose of this book is to inform the reader about war. I think his writing style worked. I think the style of writing for this book is description, I think this because it tells about a particular time.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vietnam war book by a SEAL. Interesting as there used to not be so many books about SEALS. Before Richard Marcinko all you would hear about was "frogmen", which was the term for UDT/SEALs by the general public.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great narrative about a SEAL's first tour in Vietnam. Even managed to make the boring parts of missions engaging with his story-telling abilities and metaphors. Immersive and realistic.

[Bonnie Dieffenbacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of a navy seal during the Vie tNam War.