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Naval Institute Special Warfare Series
Night of the Silver Stars: The Battle of Lang Vei
The first full account of the now legendary stand by Special Forces team A-101 at the tiny Vietnamese compound of Lang Vei.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 4, 2022
This is one of the many accounts of the Vietnam conflict whose main purpose is to feed and foster Americans' fascination with the war that inflicted lasting damage on their country and provoked a violent wave of social turmoil in the 1960s.
In his book, William Phillips shoulders a difficult task – recreating the battle of Lang Vei at the lowest possible level, that of the individual soldier. Military historians, I have noticed, usually prefer to recreate battles at the unit level because the movement of larger bodies of men, as opposed to the movement of separate soldiers, allows for much more orderliness, and historians love orderliness. However, the unit- or formation-level perspective, while great for understanding tactics and strategy, is detached from the perspective of the soldiers, who are the ones who fought and suffered the most in the whole chain of command. This is why Phillips chooses the more challenging path and dives deep into the accounts of those who defended the Lang Vei Special Forces camp in February 1968, which tell an incredible tale of survival.
The battle of Lang Vei is not among the widely known battles of the Vietnam conflict because it was overshadowed by the concurrent battle of Khe Sanh. It involved a few Green Berets and the Montagnards, as the indigenous South Vietnamese troops were called, under their command, but it is notable for the exceptional ferocity of the North Vietnamese Army force's attack and the fact that it was the first battle in which the enemy used armor. Although the armor consisted of Soviet PT 76 tanks, which were not impressive when compared to the American tanks and armored vehicles, their appearance caused the American morale to drop and the media to speculate that the defense of Khe Sanh and the north provinces of South Vietnam might prove more challenging and costly than American commanders believed and to make references to the siege of Dien Bien Phu.
Phillips has studied official combat reports, the reminiscences of senior commanders, and the recollections of the survivors to give insight in the reasons for the camp's unpreparedness for an armored assault, the inadequacy of the artillery support, and the failure to execute relief plans. As he points out, the MACV commanders were the ones responsible for the shock effect that the appearance of the PT 76 tanks had on the Americans at Lang Vei. A South Vietnamese reconnaissance team operating in Laos reported seeing tank tracks and hearing tank engines, and a Laotian battalion nearby reported that it was hit and overrun by tanks, but the MACV disregarded this evidence. To the justified indignation of those who risked their lives to collect this intelligence, the MACV commanders reasoned, in what they believed to be a logical manner, that since the North Vietnamese Army had not used armor in Vietnam so far, it would not do so now. Only the Special Forces took certain precautionary measures, such as sending a company of Montagnard irregulars and a hundred anti-tank weapons. As the author narrates, most of the anti-tank weapons proved defective when fired at close range at advancing tanks, though.
I found Phillips's narrative confusing and difficult to follow because it constantly jumps from one perspective to another randomly. While this approach well conveys the chaos that a battle is at the lowest level and the uncertainty and isolation each participant felt as he fought to survive, it is frustrating to read and makes information nearly impossible to process.
I liked that the author does not skip the larger context of the battle and that he analyzes how the higher levels of command reacted to the North Vietnamese attack. It is interesting to see the contrast between the commanders, who were concerned about strategy and policy, and the Green Berets, who were just hoping to survive. However, I think that Phillips's admiration for the American soldiers is over the top. The Green Berets in his story are martyrs and the North Vietnamese are the embodiment of evil. As I mentioned in the beginning, though, his is a work that aims to fuel the American public's patriotism, so pro-American bias is expected.
NIGHT OF THE SILVER STARS attracts with its promise of a story of the Green Beret's extraordinary tenacity and courage in the face of adversity. Phillips does a decent job capturing the personalities of the Lang Vei fighters whom he interviewed, but his account of the battle is flawed. He often repeats materiel and information and the technical terms and acronyms throughout the text are not explained well. This book also suffers from a lack of maps, which contributes to the confusion that the unstructured narrative creates. There are not many accounts of the battle of Lang Vei, so a reader interested in this battle might enjoy it despite the shortcomings. Those who would like a well-written combat memoir might be disappointed, though.
In his book, William Phillips shoulders a difficult task – recreating the battle of Lang Vei at the lowest possible level, that of the individual soldier. Military historians, I have noticed, usually prefer to recreate battles at the unit level because the movement of larger bodies of men, as opposed to the movement of separate soldiers, allows for much more orderliness, and historians love orderliness. However, the unit- or formation-level perspective, while great for understanding tactics and strategy, is detached from the perspective of the soldiers, who are the ones who fought and suffered the most in the whole chain of command. This is why Phillips chooses the more challenging path and dives deep into the accounts of those who defended the Lang Vei Special Forces camp in February 1968, which tell an incredible tale of survival.
The battle of Lang Vei is not among the widely known battles of the Vietnam conflict because it was overshadowed by the concurrent battle of Khe Sanh. It involved a few Green Berets and the Montagnards, as the indigenous South Vietnamese troops were called, under their command, but it is notable for the exceptional ferocity of the North Vietnamese Army force's attack and the fact that it was the first battle in which the enemy used armor. Although the armor consisted of Soviet PT 76 tanks, which were not impressive when compared to the American tanks and armored vehicles, their appearance caused the American morale to drop and the media to speculate that the defense of Khe Sanh and the north provinces of South Vietnam might prove more challenging and costly than American commanders believed and to make references to the siege of Dien Bien Phu.
Phillips has studied official combat reports, the reminiscences of senior commanders, and the recollections of the survivors to give insight in the reasons for the camp's unpreparedness for an armored assault, the inadequacy of the artillery support, and the failure to execute relief plans. As he points out, the MACV commanders were the ones responsible for the shock effect that the appearance of the PT 76 tanks had on the Americans at Lang Vei. A South Vietnamese reconnaissance team operating in Laos reported seeing tank tracks and hearing tank engines, and a Laotian battalion nearby reported that it was hit and overrun by tanks, but the MACV disregarded this evidence. To the justified indignation of those who risked their lives to collect this intelligence, the MACV commanders reasoned, in what they believed to be a logical manner, that since the North Vietnamese Army had not used armor in Vietnam so far, it would not do so now. Only the Special Forces took certain precautionary measures, such as sending a company of Montagnard irregulars and a hundred anti-tank weapons. As the author narrates, most of the anti-tank weapons proved defective when fired at close range at advancing tanks, though.
I found Phillips's narrative confusing and difficult to follow because it constantly jumps from one perspective to another randomly. While this approach well conveys the chaos that a battle is at the lowest level and the uncertainty and isolation each participant felt as he fought to survive, it is frustrating to read and makes information nearly impossible to process.
I liked that the author does not skip the larger context of the battle and that he analyzes how the higher levels of command reacted to the North Vietnamese attack. It is interesting to see the contrast between the commanders, who were concerned about strategy and policy, and the Green Berets, who were just hoping to survive. However, I think that Phillips's admiration for the American soldiers is over the top. The Green Berets in his story are martyrs and the North Vietnamese are the embodiment of evil. As I mentioned in the beginning, though, his is a work that aims to fuel the American public's patriotism, so pro-American bias is expected.
NIGHT OF THE SILVER STARS attracts with its promise of a story of the Green Beret's extraordinary tenacity and courage in the face of adversity. Phillips does a decent job capturing the personalities of the Lang Vei fighters whom he interviewed, but his account of the battle is flawed. He often repeats materiel and information and the technical terms and acronyms throughout the text are not explained well. This book also suffers from a lack of maps, which contributes to the confusion that the unstructured narrative creates. There are not many accounts of the battle of Lang Vei, so a reader interested in this battle might enjoy it despite the shortcomings. Those who would like a well-written combat memoir might be disappointed, though.
September 15, 2014
Lang Vei is one of those little battles that make up the fractal FUBAR of the Vietnam War. On the night of February 6th, 1968, a massive NVA force including tanks attacked a small Special Forces outpost near Khe Sanh held by 24 Americans and several hundred Montagnards of the Civil Irregular Defense Group. In the intense battle that followed, seven Americans were killed, three captured, and all but one wounded. All of them were decorated for valor, including a Medal of Honor and 17 Silver Stars.
Philips does an admirable job contextualizing Lang Vei in the larger picture of the Battle of Khe Sanh. He draws upon interviews with the survivors and radio transcripts of the attack to depict the chaos of battle, and the desperate struggle of the men trapped within the Tactical Operations Bunker, and the post-battle blamesharing. Who should have given the A teams antitank weapons? Who should've mounted a rescue operation? The final chapter is dedicated to the struggles of Phillip's aunt, who lost a son MIA at Lang Vei, and the personal experience of those who searched for clear answers about the dead and missing in the late 70s. I'd like to give this book a higher rating, but despite the quality of the research and writing, it never quite rises above good to great, and as a minor and very unusual skirmish, is not much like the rest of the vietnam War.
Philips does an admirable job contextualizing Lang Vei in the larger picture of the Battle of Khe Sanh. He draws upon interviews with the survivors and radio transcripts of the attack to depict the chaos of battle, and the desperate struggle of the men trapped within the Tactical Operations Bunker, and the post-battle blamesharing. Who should have given the A teams antitank weapons? Who should've mounted a rescue operation? The final chapter is dedicated to the struggles of Phillip's aunt, who lost a son MIA at Lang Vei, and the personal experience of those who searched for clear answers about the dead and missing in the late 70s. I'd like to give this book a higher rating, but despite the quality of the research and writing, it never quite rises above good to great, and as a minor and very unusual skirmish, is not much like the rest of the vietnam War.
October 4, 2010
I expected more from this book, as it was written by an experienced Marine officer. It's not that he didn't do his homework: lots of research and a certain number of personal interviews provide the reader with enough facts regarding the Lang Vei fight. The problem lies in the actual account of the battle, which I found detached and unfocused. I would also like to have seen a little more detail from the author's interviews with survivors. In spite of the foregoing, I believe that the book is an honest effort at impartially detailing the events pertaining to the battle of Lang Vei and therefore worth the read.
July 11, 2012
An compelling narration of one of Vietnam's most important and unknown battles.
November 3, 2019
Rated: 12 Excellent! The Battle of Lang Vei, Vietnam – Special Forces
Read it twice.
Read it twice.
April 6, 2021
A story that definitely needs to be told and heard. Book reads a little like a textbook, and the timeline isn’t fluid. Important history, nonetheless. Quick read.
September 2, 2012
"Night of the Silver Stars" is about the Battle of Lang Vei which occurred during the American Indo-China War on 6/7 February 1968. Lang Vei was a Green Beret outpost between Khe Sanh and the Laotian border and its attack by the North Vietnamese army was one of the opening moves of the Tet offensive. It was the first combat during the war that involved the use of tanks by the NVA and came as a complete surprise to the U.S. forces involved. There were 24 Green Berets involved in the desperate fight (as well as a number of indigenous combat soldiers)and all but one were either killed or wounded. Several Green Berets were trapped in an underground bunker which was repeatedly assaulted unsuccessfully by the NVA who failed to take it even after using shaped charges. Those Green Berets involved received one medal of honor and numberous other decorations for their ordeal.
The courage of those who fought in the war was never recognized much at the time and more and more as time elapses Vietnam is becoming just another American forgotten war like Korea. We send our best people into these situations, the perform incredibly, we leave them there too long and then forget their courage. "Night of the Silver Stars" is the kind of book which reminds us what they did and perhaps reminds us that we should think twice about sending them in in the first place.
At the end of the book, there is a section about a mother of one of the Green Berets who was listed as missing in action. Normally it would have been a rather boring chronology but was actually very engrossing as she went through the various procedures, protocols and red tape over the years as her son's status was changed from missing to deceased. It was the first example I've read of the anguish that the next of kin went through and still do in regard to their missing soldiers.
This would make a first rate movie about heroism in Vietnam but we'll never see it. Sad thing!!!
The courage of those who fought in the war was never recognized much at the time and more and more as time elapses Vietnam is becoming just another American forgotten war like Korea. We send our best people into these situations, the perform incredibly, we leave them there too long and then forget their courage. "Night of the Silver Stars" is the kind of book which reminds us what they did and perhaps reminds us that we should think twice about sending them in in the first place.
At the end of the book, there is a section about a mother of one of the Green Berets who was listed as missing in action. Normally it would have been a rather boring chronology but was actually very engrossing as she went through the various procedures, protocols and red tape over the years as her son's status was changed from missing to deceased. It was the first example I've read of the anguish that the next of kin went through and still do in regard to their missing soldiers.
This would make a first rate movie about heroism in Vietnam but we'll never see it. Sad thing!!!
May 6, 2013
I love non fiction Vietnam books but this one is was pretty dry reading....
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews