A Hundred Miles of Bad Road

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Overview

Dwight Birdwell's coming of age took place, as it did for many young men of the sixties, in Vietnam. There he fought the war from the command cupola of an M48 Patton tank, an experience far removed from the stereotypical grunt in the rice paddies. The M48 was fifty-two tons of hell on wheels, equipped with a .50-caliber machine gun and a 90mm main gun, and Birdwell's hard-charging unit was responsible for securing the main supply route between Saigon and Tay Ninh. After extensive interviews with Birdwell, ...
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More About This Book

Overview

Dwight Birdwell's coming of age took place, as it did for many young men of the sixties, in Vietnam. There he fought the war from the command cupola of an M48 Patton tank, an experience far removed from the stereotypical grunt in the rice paddies. The M48 was fifty-two tons of hell on wheels, equipped with a .50-caliber machine gun and a 90mm main gun, and Birdwell's hard-charging unit was responsible for securing the main supply route between Saigon and Tay Ninh. After extensive interviews with Birdwell, acclaimed Vietnam War historian Keith William Nolan transports the reader to the confident days of 1967 when Dwight Birdwell, then nineteen years old and raring for a fight, was first assigned to Troop C 3d Squadron, 4th Cavalry (25th Division) - a time when there really seemed to be a light shining at the end of the tunnel. Then came the Tet offensive and everything changed. Birdwell won the Silver Star and Purple Heart on January 31, 1968, when the tanks and armored personnel carriers of C/3/4th Cav smashed headlong into the communist regiment that had broken through the wire at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Tet was an allied victory. The decimated Viet Cong, reinforced by North Vietnamese Army regulars, refused to admit it though. Birdwell was wounded two more times, and won a second Silver Star in a little battle-wrecked hamlet called An Duc on the Fourth of July 1968. The pressure was relentless. Demoralized by heavy losses and the realization that the politicians and generals didn't really know how to win the war, the only goal for many of the troops became survival. By the time Birdwell rotated out, malingering, marijuana, and all the other problems that were to wreck the Army in Vietnam had taken root, and Birdwell himself had reached the verge of combat fatigue.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Ordered by his parents to leave home after graduating from high school in 1966, Birdwella part-Cherokee honor student who was something of a teenage hellionjoined the Army and volunteered for Vietnam. He was assigned to a tank unit north of Saigon, and eventually was caught in the Tet Offensive of 1968. Now, 20 years later and with the help of Nolan (Battle for Hue, etc.), he presents an illuminating, intimately nuanced view of life as a common soldier in Vietnam. The battle scenes here are riveting. In one episode set during the Battle of Tan Son Nhut, a hysterical crewman gets hold of a battlefield intercom microphone and begins screaming orders that would further endanger the imperiled squadron. Frantic, Birdwell forces the man to silence by holding a pistol to his head. The lulls between the combat are no less interesting. In another startling scene, Birdwell overhears some cynical officers discussing how they will help one another's careers by recommending each other for prestigiousand undeserveddecorations. Elsewhere, Birdwell's unit is tracked down in the field by moped-riding prostitutes who set up shop in foxholes. Reflecting on his wartime experiences and their aftermath, Birdwell, who became a lawyer and, for a time, Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation, says: "When I die, if there's anyone around who remembers me, the only thing I want them to say is that I was a soldier." With this fine work, he has guaranteed himself that honor, and more. Photos. (Sept.)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780891416289
  • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 6/1/1997
  • Pages: 256
  • Product dimensions: 5.82 (w) x 8.78 (h) x 0.98 (d)

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 2 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 11, 2000

    Outstanding is the only word to describe this book!

    Outstanding is the only word to describe this book! It is hard to understand how any person could survive the many difficult situations described in this fine work, and continue to function in a meaningful manner. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of the authors to commit this remarkable story to print.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 23, 2000

    As the War Changed

    The final two pages of the book were probably the most honest assessment of a good number of those who returned. Book was an easy reader as it kept you personally involved in the story as you read it. Author shared problems with equipment, personnel and the way the war was run. He also shared how friendships were made and how long lasting they could be. Interesting to see how people reacted in the middle of conflicts. All vets knew people just like those in this story. Enjoyed the ride in the tank with the author. But in twelve months we say how the war changed and how it affected the soldiers and yet we stayed over there another five years.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
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