To the Sound of the Guns: 1st Battalion, 27th Marines from Hawaii to Vietnam 1966-1968

To the Sound of the Guns: 1st Battalion, 27th Marines from Hawaii to Vietnam 1966-1968

To the Sound of the Guns: 1st Battalion, 27th Marines from Hawaii to Vietnam 1966-1968

To the Sound of the Guns: 1st Battalion, 27th Marines from Hawaii to Vietnam 1966-1968

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Overview

To The Sound Of The Guns: 1st Battalion, 27th Marines from Hawaii to Vietnam 1966-1968 (Paperback - Perfect Bound Blk/Wht Edition)

Vietnam 1968, the Year of the Monkey...

This is the little-known history of the men of 1/27, a 5th Marine Division battalion of Iwo Jima World War II fame--their seven-month story of sacrifice, camaraderie, and bravery.

Compiled and authored by one of them, To The Sound Of The Guns is the journey of 1st Battalion, 27th Marines--an undermanned maneuver Battalion--in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968, their participation in the Hue City area and in Operation Allen Brook. One hundred and twelve of these men gave up all their tomorrows, their memories forever etched in Marine Corps history.

As a result of countless combat engagements, the Marines of 1/27 were awarded almost 700 Purple Hearts, rallying to their battle cry, "To the Sound of the Guns."

Grady T. Birdsong enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966, serving two combat tours in Vietnam in 1968-1969. He is the author of A Fortunate Passage: Two Families' Journey into the Heartland, and co-author of The Miracle Workers of South Boulder Road: Healing the Signature Wounds of War with Colonel Bob Fischer, USMC (Ret).

"Grady Birdsong's book is a combination of well-researched operational history and a moving and deeply personal account of the author's own combat experiences in Vietnam. It is both history and story. The places, the events, and most especially, the Marines and Sailors of whom the author writes, become vividly real, transporting the reader to that distant place and time. A highly recommended addition to the record of the U.S. Marines in the Vietnam War."

- Colonel Len Blasiol, USMC (Ret)

Coauthor, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year 1968

Published by the History and Museums Division

Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, Washington, D.C.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780997606843
Publisher: Birdquill LLC
Publication date: 02/10/2019
Pages: 434
Sales rank: 690,952
Product dimensions: 7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.88(d)

About the Author

Grady Thane Birdsong was raised in Kansas and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1966. After serving two combat tours in the Northern I Corps region of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and along the DMZ in 1969, he enjoyed a successful career traveling the world as an executive in engineering, marketing, and business development in the telecommunications/data, information technology, and the optical/fiber systems industries. Grady is the author of A Fortunate Passage: Two Families' Journey into the Heartland, which received two EVVY awards from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Col. Franklin P. Eller, USMC (Ret) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 1: Training Begins in Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 2: e 1968 Tet Offensive: the Peak Year of Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Chapter 3: Arrival and Staging: Attached to 1st Marine Division . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Chapter 4: Tools of the Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Chapter 5: Deployed to Task Force X-Ray, Phu Vang District . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Chapter 6: Operation Allen Brook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Chapter 7: A Third Offensive – Altering the Paris Peace Talks – Return of

the Regimental Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Chapter 8: Casualties of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

Exhibits

Exhibit A: An Overview of the USMC Table of Organization . . . . . . . . . . 395

Exhibit B: Remembering 1/27’s KIAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Exhibit C: Enemy Activity August 1967 – July 1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402

Exhibit D: Vietnam War Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Exhibit E: Timeline of Deployment, Operations and Noteworthy

Events Involving 1/27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413

Glossary of Terms, Jargon, and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

Resources and Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

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