Want a NOOK? Explore Now
In some of the most frank, vivid prose to come out of the war, author Nicholas Warr describes with urgency and outrage the Marines' savage house-to-house fighting, ordered without air, naval, or artillery support by officers with no experience in this type of deadly combat. Sparing few in the telling, including himself, Warr's shocking firsthand narrative of these desperate suicide charges, which devastated whole companies, takes the wraps off an incident that many would prefer to keep hidden. His account is sure to ignite heated debate among historians and military professionals.
Despite senseless rules of engagement and unspeakable carnage, there were unforgettable acts of courage and self-sacrifice performed by ordinary men asked to accomplish the impossible, and Warr is at his best relating these stories. For example, there's the grenade-throwing mortarman who in a rage wipes out two machine-gun emplacements that had pinned down an entire company for days, and the fortunate grunt with thick glasses who stumbles blindly--without receiving a scratch--across a street littered with the dead and dying who hadn't made it. In describing the most vicious urban combat since World War II, this account offers an unparalleled view of how a small unit commander copes with the conflicting demands and responsibilities thrust upon him by the enemy, his men, and the chain of command.
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction Jack Shulimson xv
1 A Conversation with a Dead Dog 1
2 The Longest Night 10
3 Lang Co Village: In the Eye of the Storm 29
4 Phu Bai: Mess Hall Chow 39
5 Wading through Deep Shit 50
6 The Citadel 60
7 Whiskey Boats on the Perfume River 77
8 The Backdoor Approach 86
9 Phase Line Green 98
10 Coping with Disaster: A Dead Dog Day Afternoon 121
11 Life Is Renewed in the City of Death 131
12 The Return of Heavy Firepower 145
13 Snipers' Lair 155
14 The Night Movement 173
15 Coke-Bottle Glasses 181
16 Prisoner of War 197
17 The Effectiveness of Chemical Warfare 207
18 Aftermath, and a Dying Pig 217
Epilogue: Commanding Officer's Comments 229
Index 233
Anonymous
Posted March 21, 2013
Cvtbgrbtyughnrbdtmdehkedhkdddggybvcvthnbdrwfvujhxddnmynyhggdvvvt
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.DOCPROCNWK
Posted February 1, 2013
Just as I remembered back when I was a YOUNG jAR-RINE at Dong Ha,RVN IN 1967-1968 DURING Tet.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 21, 2010
I have three or four dozen first hand accounts about the Vietnam War. My own experience was first hand. What is most interesting about Warr's account is the loss of most of his platoon command in taking back Hue during the Tet offensive. The isolation he felt after the loss and his Company Commander relegating him to observer status leaves him in a situation not often seen within war's many sided scenarios. I found his descriptions to be real and his tone set the sense of loss that he felt. A very worthwhile read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted July 24, 2008
This account from a (then) 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines during the Battle for Hue city during and right after the Tet Offensive of 1968 depictes the conditions, step by step of that epic battle. However, more importantly, he honestly describes the effects (psychologically) of having his life continuously threatened and witnessing the horror and terror of war on a daily basis. He clearly describes how the trauma of living through life threatening situation after threatening situation turns you into a sort of robot, sort of catatonic from the continuous stream of paralyzing fear as well as the almost non stop overload of gruesome scenes invading ones senses. This man was clearly very marked by his experience in Vietnam, and obviously has a tremendous amount of sensitivity towards the human condition, espcially after having witnessed how bad it can get. After reading his book, you really appreciate the fact that there are countless unsung heros in Vietnam that have been lost to history and time, but whose feats are truely heroic in every sense.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 23, 2003
Phase Line Green is an outstanding read, gripping and compelling true story of the Marines battle for Hue. I couldnt put it down a must read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 24, 2002
I am a Vietnam vet, and have read several books about Vietnam. They are all, very good, but this one is, by far, my favorite! I just finished reading 'Chickenhawk'...excellent book. I believe the people in the movie industry would do well bringing 'Phaseline Green' to the screen. Dan Hopp
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted December 26, 1999
Just finished reading this book this evening. As an Army officer in Vietnam in 1969-70, my tour was quiet compared to Tet '68. Writer tells of another example of not letting us win with the facilities we had at our disposal. One thinks of just the Marines lost from the writers company before the use of heavy weapons was approved. We all had to deal with the approval by the province chief before we could take action. That sucked. To be successful, we had to cheat i.e. Laos and Cambodia. I will always remember the saying 'In War there are no Rules'. I feel that the company commander did lose confidence in the writer and that was why he was not used as replacement leader until there was no one left. Writer did apologize for some things that happened. This really made this a heartwarming book. I feel that this also helped him with the battle that many had after returning home from Vietnam. Being down in III Corp, it was interesting to read about the situation in an area of Vietnam I was not familiar with.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted April 28, 2013
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
The bloody, month-long battle for the Citadel in Hue during 1968 pitted U.S. Marines against an entrenched, numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force. By official U.S. accounts it was a tactical and moral victory for the Marines and the United States. But a survivor's compulsion to square official accounts with his contrasting experience has produced an entirely different perspective of the battle, the most controversial to emerge from the Vietnam War in decades.
In some...