'A stirring tribute to the valor of Marines in Vietnam.' ( Nathaniel Fick, New York Times bestselling author of One Bullet Away)
Thursday, October 12, 1967:
Marine Lance Corporal Kevin Cahill stepped onto a trail deep in the remote Hai Lang National Forest in South Vietnam. Following Cahill were the Marines of Charlie Company, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division. They would find hell on earth under the jungle canopy. Ambushed, surrounded, outnumbered, out-gunned, and quickly running low on ammunition, the marines of Operation Medina fought toe-to-toe with a ferocious, determined opponent.
Based on extensive interviews with survivors of Operation Medina, as well as with the friends and families of the men who didn't make it back, Lions of Medina takes readers through the tragedy and triumphs of war, and into the heart of a close-knit group of warriors who fought, bled, and died together, and the spirit of loyalty and camaraderie that binds them to this day.
RD388
Posted November 15, 2009
The book was wonderful to read. It shows one of the truest and bravest stories about Nam.
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Posted August 2, 2009
Very good reading. Reminds me of my days in the Nam in '67 with the 7th MARINES.
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Posted February 12, 2009
LIONS OF MEDINA<BR/><BR/>When I came home from Vietnam over 41 years ago, my family, my friends, no one I knew wanted to talk about the war. They never brought it up, so I didn¿t either. For me, as for most veterans who had returned, the war experience was kept underground.<BR/><BR/>About 15 years later, I happened to see the start of "The Deer Hunter" (Best Picture ¿ 1978) on TV. I reached to turn the channel, but decided I¿d watch just a bit more. Soon I was glued to the set, not because I had ever been a VC prisoner trapped in a bamboo cage with a large snake, but because the movie resurrected a whole set of memories about that time in my life.<BR/><BR/>Soon I found myself engrossed in the war, reading book after book about its conduct, from Jim Webb¿s novel "Fields of Fire" (1978) to Lt. General Phillip Davidson¿s excellent study of the strategies pursued by both sides "Vietnam at War: The History 1946-75"(1988). However, nowhere did I find an account that really took me back to Vietnam the way I remembered it ¿ that is, not until this year when I found "Lions of Medina."<BR/><BR/>"Lions of Medina" tells the stories of selected men of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines from boot camp or OCS through combat operations and back to less than welcoming receptions in the States. The author Doyle Glass has done his homework. He has interviewed many veterans or the families and friends of those who where killed in action. He has listened well; he has learned Marine organization, weapons, terminology and jargon; he has gathered relevant photos and maps; and he has produced a work that, for me, accurately evokes the most intense period of my life. I think it would do the same for many other veterans and would be a useful introduction to anyone who wanted to know more about what the Vietnam War was like at ground level.<BR/><BR/>The climax of the book is an account of Charlie Company¿s ordeal in October 1967 on a multi-battalion search and destroy operation, named Operation Medina. Description of the steep terrain and almost impenetrable, old growth, triple canopy vegetation should be enough by itself to make anyone familiar with infantry tactical movements thankful they weren¿t there. Added to Charlie Company¿s challenges were large NVA units that were much more at home in the Hai Lang Forest Reserve, about 12 miles south of Quang Tri City, than were the Marine units.<BR/><BR/>The book is a worthwhile tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the many young Marines killed and wounded on this and other operations in Vietnam. Glass, at the outset, quotes John Stuart Mill: ¿War is an ugly thing, but it is not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.¿<BR/><BR/>This is a fitting dedication for this book and for the men whose stories it tells.
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Overview
'A stirring tribute to the valor of Marines in Vietnam.' ( Nathaniel Fick, New York Times bestselling author of One Bullet Away)
Thursday, October 12, 1967:
Marine Lance Corporal Kevin Cahill stepped onto a trail deep in the remote Hai Lang National Forest in South Vietnam. Following Cahill were the Marines of Charlie Company, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division. They would find hell on earth under the jungle canopy. Ambushed,...