5 comments about Robert E. Lee (Penguin Lives).

1. Obviously, to get a REALLY good idea of who someone was, one must read more than one biography, but Roy Blount, Jr.'s "Robert E. Lee: A Life" is a pretty good start for anyone who has slight trouble wading through the heavy stuff. It keeps a lighthearted air while still managing to be extremely informative. I learned some little things about Lee, which I hadn't heard anywhere else before, and it was presented in such an enjoyable fashion. I already have two people asking to borrow this book, and I'm confident that they will come out of it with no complaints, just as I have. Enjoy. There's no way you can regret this purchase.



2. This book fails Gen. Robert E. Lee.
   
   It's noble in intent and confused in reality; like the Confederate army, half of which deserted, it greatly misses its full potential; like Lee's ability to overawe Northern generals, the topic seems to have overawed Blount; and like the Confederacy itself, it's a sadly flawed effort in defence of a doomed cause. In other words, it's a fitting portrayal of the Slave-ocracy itself, all smoke and mirrors and little substance. People who live off the labour of others are rarely noble, decent, competent or useful; that is why the Confederacy failed, not due to the shortcomings of General Lee or any of his soldiers.
   
   Again and again, Blount approaches fatal flaws in Lee's character and comes away uninspired; he writes "Lee was a great defensive general but on offense he got away with murder." It's an astute assessment. But he doesn't suggest the outcome had Lee fought a solely defensive war instead of wasting his best troops in futile attacks.
   
   Even his assessment of Lee as a "great defensive general" can be questioned. At the start of his long retreat to Appomattox Courthouse, Lee had 64,000 troops. He inflicted 63,000 casualties on Union forces; but, at Appomattox, his army was less than 10,000. Lee lost 53,000 men, or 83 percent of his army. Had the Germans lost the same proportion in Normandy in 1944, World War II would have ended by Thanksgiving.
   
   Blount touches major issues again and again, then retreats without a single thought. He spends more time psychobabbling about Lee's shoe size, a 4 1/2 C, than discussing Gettysburg. Surely, in a 206-page book about one of the great flawed figures of American history, there is more intellectual depth than to report, "We have no evidence that Lee and his wife, Mary, ever massaged each other's feet."
   
   "No one has ascribed any psychological significance to this socks fixation," Blount writes later about Lee's complaint that his wife sent only 64 pairs of socks, instead of 67 pairs. Although his soldiers often subsisted on mule meat and green corn, Blount can't find any psychobabble to explain Lee's order to have a soldier at Antietam shot for carrying a "stolen" pig. But he explains in great detail Lee's murder of a Canadian "snake" early in his career.
   
   When it comes to pure babble, Blount says Lee's joining the Confederacy "is one of the most famous American decisions." So, he compares it to the purely fictional decision by Huck Finn to help Jim, a runaway slave, to escape. Such insight is surely equivalent to saying Roosevelt's action after Pearl Harbour was inspired by Superman's decision to save Gotham. This is history? Or is it Blount's sense of humour, testing the acumen of readers hoping for anything more serious.
   
   Having wrapped up Lee's life in 163 pages, perhaps the strangest element is three Appendix afterthoughts that fill up the otherwise blank space from page 165 to the end. Maybe those pages should have been left blank for readers to fill in their own notes, observations and ideas. Or he could have psychobabbled about 'General Lee', the Dukes of Hazard car.
   
   Regardless of anyone's opinion of him, Lee deserves better.



3. I came away from this biography of Robert E. Lee feeling that the author didn't like his subject very much. It was almost like he wanted to prove that General Lee was just another man with more than his share of faults. He kept trying to pick Lee's personality apart and gave meaning to every gesture and casual comment that Lee had ever made. I felt that the historic facts in this book seemed accurate as far as I could remember from other things that I had read, but I also felt that there was not enough information given to substantiate some of the negative comments. He painted Lee as somewhat of a flirt, ignoring his wife, and being a cold and indifferent father to his children.
   
   If you want to read about General Lee, there are better biographies available.
   
   



4. In the pantheon of American history, few figures are as elusive and unknowable as Robert E. Lee, the commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia and the principal Confederate military leader in the Civil War. To try and encapsulate his life into one small, concise little book is pretty much impossible, but Roy Blount Jr. tries his best. And for that, he is to be applauded.
   
   Over the course of less than 200 pages, Blount examines Lee's life from his troubled past (Light-Horse Harry Lee, his Revolutionary War hero of a father, abandons the family and leaves his mother to raise their children), to his early military career (including brave missions for Winfield Scott during the Mexican-American War), up through his Civil War generalship and subsequent retirement to a small college to live out his last years. And Blount does it with the charm and wit that make him one of America's (and the South's) most treasured writers.
   
   Robert E. Lee, more a marble giant than a man in most other biographers' attempts, is fleshed out by Blount as a stoic, almost Calvinist man with some unusual attributes that make him more attractive than before. Blount does not try to apologize for Lee's decision to side with his state over the Federal Government, he also tries to illuminate Lee's human side with interactions with his children and various ladies other than his wife over the course of his life. The Robert E. Lee that emerges is a man who had a hard life, with little hope for more than a passing whiff of happiness, who saw his duty to his state and his class overreaching that of the nation he served so gallantly before. And he paid the price for that in the end.
   
   Blount is at his best when describing Lee's human side (such as his flirtations with other women, his relationships with his children, his care of pupils while in charge of West Point), and also in showing that Lee's military record during the Civil War was less than perfect. Indeed, the book focuses on what Blount calls Lee's "instinctive" generalship and how his inability to communicate with his subordinates cost him victory at Gettysburg. Lee's war is not a success in the end, but his image as a fatherly leader of his men helps to cement the postwar elevation to Godlike status among the defeated Southerners who clung to the ideals of the Confederacy.
   
   Robert E. Lee is too complex a figure to be summed up in the space of 200 pages, but what Blount does is provide a quick survey of his life and infuse it with enough detail to make for a great brief appreciation. In appendices to the main book, Blount also discusses Lee's humor (his fondness for a certain, almost obscene phrase a highlight) and his attitudes to slavery (Lee was sadly a product of his times, no matter how "kind" he may have been to his own slaves). Blount, a southerner himself, takes pains to show Lee in real terms, not as the demigod he has been promoted to in the wake of postwar nostalgia. Robert E. Lee was not an easy man to know, and Blount makes no attempt to act as if his is the "definitive" study. But through clever and interesting sidetracks into Lee's personality, Blount comes as close as anyone yet to getting a handle on the man behind the curtain, the real Robert E. Lee and not the myth.
   
   Roy Blount Jr., through the auspices of Penguin's Brief Lives series, gives us a portrait of Robert E. Lee than transcends the myth and looks at the facts behind the myth. The result is a man that emerges as a troubled and complicated leader of men whose failings had as much to do with his legend as his successes. Blount makes Lee human, something that other more esteemed historians seem to miss. For that, he should be commended. The Marble Giant comes alive, however briefly, and fans and detractors alike can find something to treasure in Roy Blount's honest appraisal of his life and times.



5. I like the Penquin series of short biographies but this one was too much of a strange psychohistory. As other reviewers have pointed out, author Roy Blount seems to have a need to go into details 9at fairly great legnth) such as Lee's small feet and that he liked to play games with his children where they tickled his feet. First of all, I knew this because as a Civil way buff, I have read a lot about Lee so I come across such material. However, someone who knows less about Lee who is reading a very short biography would want to know more substance and less psycho nonsense in those few pages.
   
   There is not a lot of military history but, then again, this is a short book. Still, military history is basic to an initial understanding of Lee, therefore, perhaps Blount should have been more carefully in allocating scarce page space in this short book. In general, I have enjoyed reading short biographies of historical figures I am familiar with. I have read several biographies of Grant, for example, and I found two short biographies to be worthwhile in that in the few pages, they added insights. I suppose this book is OK for someone who knows nothing about Lee but it would be better to include more of the military and political facts. However, I found that it didn't really add much to my personal understanding of Lee.

5 comments about A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey.

1. A Sense of Duty is a superbly written, multilayered story of war and remembrance set against the backdrop of the tumultuous Vietnam era. It reveals one of the least publicized and even less understood themes emerging from the Vietnam experience: the South Vietnamese contribution to the war effort and the disappointment many Vietnamese-Americans feel as a result of their countrymen's role in the conflict being minimized or simply overlooked.
   
   Not content to only detail his father's selfless sacrifice and heroic exploits as a Vietnamese Air Force pilot flying missions in support of U.S. forces, the author, Quang Pham, offers great insight into the significant, but underappreciated, role South Vietnamese forces played in stemming the tide of communist aggression. In this sweeping account of his experiences first as a child growing up in the war-wracked country of his birth and then as an immigrant facing a less-than-tolerant America, Pham's story is both timely and edifying.
   
   Given the many challenges he faced, readers would expect a cynical, even bitter Pham in A Sense of Duty. Instead we are treated on one level to an uplifting story of a young man's coming of age and emerging from his father's larger-than-life shadow. Like many of us, Pham is challenged into his adulthood to reconcile his deep respect for his father with the recognition that he needs to become his own man. After they are reunited, Pham also discovers his father's considerable flaws which cause him to recast his father in the role of human, not hero.
   
   On another level entirely, A Sense of Duty is a classic Horatio Alger story involving an immigrant shedding the identity of his country of origin, developing a love for his adopted America, and successfully pursuing the American dream.
   
   Perhaps the most improbable turn of events in this amazing story, Quang eventually seeks a career as a U.S. Marine and pays homage to his father's intense love of flying by becoming a pilot himself. Quang's story comes full circle when, like his father, he flies missions supporting Marines in ground combat. While his father's missions are in fighter and transport aircraft over the treacherous jungles and rice paddies of South Vietnam, Quang's are in helicopters over the vast, unforgiving deserts of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
   
   Quang acquits himself quite admirably as his father's son, every bit as courageous but perhaps a bit less brash. Quang exchanges the swashbuckling boldness of his fighter pilot father for the cool steadiness of the helicopter pilot he decides to become. Great stuff!
   
   For this reader, it is Quang's patriotism and, well, sense of duty that make his story such an interesting one. As a friend of Quang's, I can attest to his devotion to his adopted country and, despite some trying experiences with intolerance and bigotry, his basic belief in the American ideal and the essential goodness of the American people. It is clear from reading Pham's account of his father's 12-year struggle in communist 'reeducation' camps that the American withdrawal in 1973 left an enormous vacuum from which many thousands of South Vietnamese never emerged. For this and other more personal indignities, Vietnamese-Americans have every right to be bitter and resentful.
   
   A Sense of Duty brings to light the second and third order effects - some not evident for years down the road - of our government's foreign policy decisions. Quang Pham very ably elucidates, through his family's remarkable experiences, the downstream impact of our involvement in Vietnam on successive generations of South Vietnamese immigrants.
   
   Surprisingly, Quang is neither bitter nor resentful. He does not dwell on tragedy and disappointment. Indeed, more than just another Vietnam literary catharsis or a querulous tale of one man's exorcising his demons, A Sense of Duty inspires us to recall what makes our country great: immigrants like Quang Pham who venture to our nation's shores and who pull themselves up by the bootstraps to pursue America's bountiful opportunity. Thankfully, many, like Quang, choose the military as their springboard to success. They serve nobly and honorably, defending the many liberties of our "shining city on a hill."
   
   We certainly know where Quang gets his strength and internal fortitude! Like his father, Quang's mother demonstrates an uncommon tenacity, industriousness, and indomitable will to succeed. No whiners here! Remarkably, despite her many struggles to raise 3 children alone in her often inhospitable adopted country, Quang's mother eventually volunteers to serve for 2 years with the Peace Corps in the former Soviet Union. Incredible!
   
   It is Quang's family's selflessness that ultimately makes them so endearing. At a time when immigration remains a divisive issue in this country, we read A Sense of Duty, and we are brought together. We rally behind a great American and a proud family tradition of serving a cause greater than oneself. Finally, through the Phams we celebrate the seemingly limitless and enduring gifts immigrants continue to bestow on our great country.
   
   This is a tale of grit and determination and, in the face of much adversity, striving to succeed!
   
   Thank you for your service, Quang, and for a profoundly inspiring story!



2. Quang X. Pham's moving memoir, "A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey," reads like a modern Horation Alger success story. But more than that, it is a rare look into the difficult private lives of one fragmented and frightened family who barely made it out of Saigon during those infamous "last days." Pham's father, a South Vietnamese AF pilot, stayed behind, a victim of his own sense of duty, and paid a heavy price. In cuttingly clear and elegantly simple prose, Pham tells of his life, from the refugee camps of Guam and Arkansas to the working-class "mean streets" of Oxnard, California, and of the ceaseless toil and sacrifices made by his mother in a strange land. "A Sense of Duty" also tells of Pham's hard-won transformation from a ragged refugee boy to UCLA graduate and decorated USMC pilot and Gulf War veteran. But underneath it all is an aching yearning to know a father who was lost and then found again. Pham's story is indeed an "American Journey," one that will be read, and read again. This is more than a memoir; this is personal history at its very best.
   
   - Timothy James Bazzett, author of "Love, War & Polio: The Life and Times of Young Bill Porteous" and "Soldier Boy: At Play in the ASA"



3. What or who makes us who we are? The choices we make, our families make, or fate simply dispenses all help to create the individuals we are. However, we must make the journey of discovery to find our individual selves. Quang Pham shares with us his journey of discovery.
   
   The author was born in Vietnam and left around the fall of Saigon. His father was a pilot in the Vietnamese air force and after getting his family to safety, was not able to get out. He would spend many years in prison and re-education camps. The author grew up in the United States and would later serve in the United States Marine Corps. Pham takes us through his journey for identity as a Vietnamese American, a family member, and as an individual.
   
   Is he Vietnamese, American, or Vietnamese-American? This is a question that flows throughout the book, which signifies a tough question. As a United States Marine, Pham honorably served our country as a helicopter pilot. He went to an American high school where he played sports and went to an American university. He delivered newspapers. Through his choices, he is just as American as anyone, but because his appearance was not as common, he spent a lot of time branded as different or non-American. Although born in Vietnam, he chose to be an American. This book gives the reader a glimpse into the struggle to determine who we are as Americans.
   
   As well as our nationality, our family provides us with insight into who we are. For Pham, his father was still in Vietnam during the author's formative years of childhood and early adulthood. Pham looks back in the narrative at what his father must have gone through and what his father had done to help get an understanding of who he is. As a fellow military pilot, he has some understanding, but he is not able to get all the information he wants as his father was trying to put the past behind him and then later, died. The author acknowledges the difference between his father and him by using the Vietnamese tradition of family name first when referring to his father, but using his first name when referring to himself. Even with differences, our families help ground us.
   
   As an individual, we have to explore what makes us different from the other members of the family and the community. The author illustrates this by discussing how other pilots are trying to give him a call sign (since he is a military aviator), but none of the names seem to reflect him. They are names that many others have had or names that reflect either a generic Asian association or the wrong ethnic association. None of these names helped identify Pham as Vietnamese or American. His eventual call sign does blend both in its simplicity.
   
   To function with any amount of clarity and sense of self, we must think about who we are. I would recommend this book not just for people who wish to understand what someone of foreign birth must go through to become an American, but I would also recommend this book for anyone who is struggling to make a personal discovery. Although our own journeys will be different, this book reassures us that others are making journeys also.



4. i enjoyed this book vey much. being a veteran of the vietnam war it helped me to understand the vietnamese side to the war more than i had before. i salute quang x pham for delivering his account in such an honest trully interesting way.
   
   semper fi



5. The book "A Sense Of Duty: My Father, My American Journey" is really an American story about coming of age and about father son relationships but with a huge twist of circumstances. We are dealing with a family torn apart by the loss of the Vietnam War and their subsequent separation. Author Quang X. Pham is shipped to the USA after the fall of Saigon with his siblings and mother. His father who is a member of the South Vietnamese Air Force stays behind doing his duty to the very end. Thus begins 12 years of imprisonment in the so called "re-education camps" while his family adjusts to a new life in America.
   
   The author deals with cultural and language issues and some degree of racism and bigoted treatment. However, the deeper issue for him is not having his father there for him. There is also his lack, at that young age, to fully realize the significance of what his father had done with his life and how well he had served his old country. The book is an eye opener for those of us who have wondered what it was like for these new comers to our shores.
   
   When his father does come to the USA after being released from the "camps" he found it tough going. His marriage fell a part and he found that all those lost years with his children, who had grown up without him, haave created a huge gap between them. His children do not really know or understanding who is or even who he was.
   
   The book follows the growing appreciation and understandings that Quang eventually gains for his dad. As he learns more about his father's past and sees his personal courage and sense of duty and what drove him to become the man he was. When the author himself wears the uniform of Marine aviator and fights in the Gulf War, he begins to gain more insights on the sacrifices that his dad had made for his own country of South Vietnam. We take this spiritual and emotional journey with the author as he gradually begins to sense what factors and motives drove his father on his own personal journey.
   
   The book also details and addresses some old history from that time period and that war. Most Americans have either forgotten or never knew about our national attitudes and polices with regard to the war and lack of regard for our allies the South Vietnamese. It may make for some interesting but uncomfortable reading.
   
   It is a well-written and poignant story that embraces two very different wars. His story unites two different generations into an emotional bridge between father and son. It is touching and deeply moving. The author does a great job of making the reader feel a part of the experience. This book receives the Military Writer's Society of America's highest book rating of FIVE STARS!
   
   This book also receives my personal endorsement!

3 comments about CIA SpyMaster.

1. Former CIA analyst Ashley here offers an account,vetted and approved by the CIA, of his conversations with Agency legend George Kisevalter, an informal, rumpled operator of Russian heritage who was the case officer for three of the CIA's biggest catches during the Cold War: Pyotr Popov,Oleg Penkovsky, and Yuri Nosenko. While Kisevalter was in his last illness, he shared his thoughts and impressions on the three cases with Ashley.
   
   Of these, I found the Nosenko case to be the most interesting. Earlier this year, the CIA published the previously classified 'Family Jewels' documents -- an over 700-pp. study commissioned by DCI Schlesinger in 1973 of CIA violations of the CIA charter and both U.S. and international law. One of the Family Jewels documents (p. 522 in the study) blandly states that "the Soviet defector YURIY NOSENKO was confined at a CIA facility from April 1964 to September 1967 while efforts were being made to establish whether he was a bona fide defector. Although his present attitude toward the Agency is quite satisfactory, the possibility exists that the press could cause undesirable publicity if it were to uncover the story."
   
   Indeed. Here, the reader will find the inside story of how the CIA subjected defector Nosenko to solitary confinement and essentially torture for several years, on the Agency's "farm" in Virginia, because it suspected him of being a KGB agent planted to dispel U.S. suspicions that the Russian agency was behind President Kennedy's assassination. The result of the CIA's full-throttle investigation of Nosenko -- he was found to be a bona fide defector after 256 interrogations and eventually released -- is less interesting than the intimidating methods that were used to reach this conclusion. He was confined to a windowless cell for two years and subjected to sleep deprivation and, he suspected, involuntary ingestion of drugs and other techniques. There can be little doubt upon reading this account that what can only be called torture has been part of the Agency's toolkit for many years, which makes one wonder if the recently revealed human rights violations at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, and "extraordinary rendition" and other violations, have been aberrant or routine practices. (The KUBARK manual which outlines the scientific basis for coercive interrogation practices dates from around the time Nosenko defected). While Kisevalter was too much the Agency insider and loyalist to make waves over the Agency's treatment of Nosenko, the old operator's sadness and disgust about Nosenko's fate are evident in Ashley's account.
   
   The Popov and Penkovsky cases are well-known, and while offering some color and intriguing anecdotes that illustrate Cold War espionage tradecraft at work, Ashley adds little to our knowledge of the results of these cases, other than to note that Penkovsky's revelations led to 10,000 pages of important data and Popov's led to over 1,000 pages. We are led to the conclusion that Popov and Penkovsky revealed much of importance without really being told what it was.
   
   An intriguing but not overly informative inside look at the shadow war of spies, double agents, and defectors during the Cold War.



2. George Kisevalter, one of 50 men awarded the CIA's Trailblazer Award, was by all accounts including this one "one of the good guys", a loyal devoted case officer who managed to get along with everyone by steering clear of agency politics and some of the more wacky individuals and schemes this era brought forth. The author is also a former CIA agent and the book obviously has been vetted and sanctioned, but this second-person memoir, readable and rich with detail, helps fill in important gaps alluded to in such classics as David Martin's "Wilderness of Mirrors" and Tom Mangold's "Cold Warrior" about the rise and fall of famed DCI James Jesus Angleton. Kisevalter at least gives passing reference and acknowledgement to the damage done by Angleton in his relentness mole witchhunts and is modest about his own critical role in finally securing the release and redemption of KGB defector Yuri Nosenko, who was secretly incarcerated for about three years because previous defector Anatoly Golitsyn convinced Angleton that Nosenko was a Russian provocateur or plant. About all he has to say about William King Harvey was that he too like everyone else in their circle drank copiously, and there is also some material about King's famous Berlin tunnel the Russians all along knew was being built, due to their English mole George Blake. Most of the book centers on how Kisevalter, of Russian descent, earlier had "handled" two of the most significant Russian defectors, the KGB's Petr Popov and Oleg Penkovsky, who mainly through their own carelessness were caught and executed by the Russians (the author comments on rumors they both were cremated alive as a warning to their cohorts, although Kisevalter tends to discount this.) This is a most significant text in Cold War espionage history, not to be missed.



3. It's only when the books come out that you can begin to understand what's been happening in our Government. And this is an excellent example. Here a knowledgeable insider writes a biography of the ultimate insider. The author Clarence Ashley was an analyst for the CIA working on Soviet strategic missile capabilities and preparing national intelligence estimates.
   
   George Kisevalter was a top case officer who ran two of the most important spy operations in the Soviet Union. He began working in intelligence activities during World War II and continued until his retirement in 1970, during this time he became as espionage genius. This book provides a behind-the-scenes look at spycraft in action, from dead drops and cutoffs to multilayered ciphers, the KGB's secret "spydust," and everything in between. It should become one of the classic books on the US-Soviet rivalry during the Cold War.

1 comments about Have Gun Will Travel.

1. After buying this book in a cooky crime book store in Melbourne, I found myself unable to do anything but read it for the following few days. 'Karel' tells an amzaing, simply-written tale about his time in Surinam during the mid-80's where he lead an army destined to break the back of the country's dictatorial government. If you like a good, factual action story that is engaging and fast moving, then I highly recommend this. The only downfall is that it wasn't long enough!

5 comments about On Point.

1. Congress should pass a law that requires everyone who has seen the movie "Platoon," to read this book, and those who had voted the movie best picture of the year, to read it twice. "On Point" is beautiful in its simplicity, and it is a realistic depiction of life in a combat unit during the height of the Vietnam War, 1968-69. Its attention to the details of daily life and the recollections of firefights and incidents are astounding, given the detrimental effect time has on memory. Hayes must have kept a good supply of paper and pens in his track to write all those letters to his mother. That's an advantage mechanized grunts had.
   Though the book reads like a field manual in places, it goes deep into the action and portrays it objectively. It is very apparent at the outset of the book that Hayes is not a professional writer, but his skills improve as the book progresses, just as his skills and prowess in the field progressed over the 12 months he was in Vietnam. This makes the book come alive and seem very honest.
   The book was criticized for not providing the emotional reactions to the tragedies of combat that he and his friends must have felt. It doesn't hint at any religious inclinations--the no-atheist-in-foxhole syndrome. But Hayes didn't deny having any, so maybe he did. Surely, he did deny that he smoked pot, drank booze, and went whore hounding. Why not touch on the most poignant thing about combat--the emotional response to life and death itself? The only really human response in the autobiography is Hayes' reactions to life in the "world" after his return. Granted, Vietnam was not the hell that the movies and novels pretend it was. It was not as intense as the endless shelling of positions in WWI, the massive invasions in WWII, or the human wave attacks of Korea. But it was a series of continuous and pervasive firefights that gradually ate up the men in infantry units. This is the book's strong point. Vietnam was a war against time--days, weeks, months, years. The enemy counted its victories one dead soldier at a time. And we tried to do the same but failed.
   Having served in Delta Company, 2d/27th Wolfhounds, a fellow battalion to the 1/5 Mech., during a similar time period, 5/68-3/69, I have to comment on a few misrepresentations made by the author. First, his statement that the mechanized infantry could stay in the field longer than regular infantry, because it could carry its own supplies on tracks, is incorrect. Both battalions of Wolfhounds were airmobile and were resupplied by helicopters daily. We got a hot breakfast and dinner in the field daily, and a fresh supply of ammo. In addition, being airmobile, we were always taking "eagle flights" and could be on top of enemy positions within minutes. Delta Company was in the field all the time and we had only one stand-down in Cu Chi during the ten months I was there, and that was for only 24 hours.
   Hayes' comment that the Cao Dai priests in Tay Ninh were all VC is incorrect. The Cao Dai religion was a communist target just as much as any other religion. In fact, Cao Daism was (and still is), a syncretism and included Catholics, Buddhists, and Taoists. During the invasion of Tay Ninh City in August 1968 (Hayes was in heavy combat in Dau Tieng during this offensive), the NVA/VC invaded the Cao Dai and Buddhist temples and paraded monks through the streets of the city, using them as human shields. Most Wolfhounds who were in this battle can confirm this fact.
   The "elephant grass" firefight changes from being a line to column formation without explanation. Also, I just can't buy Sgt. Long's ability to spot where mortar rounds would explode. If this incident took place totally in elephant grass, he wouldn't have been able to direct anyone anywhere, and no one would have been able to outrun a mortar round, no matter the flight time. My experience with mortar attacks was that the NVA would quickly decide on one target range and lay down a barrage from right to left, covering as wide an area as possible. If this is what Sgt Long was predicting, then I buy it.
   One last comment about the mechanized infantry and armor units in Vietnam: they were a curse to the Wolfhounds. They were easy targets for enemy RPG rounds. They would at times cause friendly fire because of the wild traversing fire and range of their 50-caliber machine gun. They always telegraphed our moves. They were constantly slipping their tracks in the mud and blocking roads. And, they would drop us off and retreat for fear of getting hit, just as they did in Tay Ninh City, 20-21 August 1968.
   For those interested in reading what is was like to be a Wolfhound in Vietnam (a ground-huggin' grunt), see "Traces of a Lost War," a novel by Richard Barone, also available on Amazon.com.



2. I bought this book for my father, a Vietnam Vet, and he said it was great. He was also a track (sp?) driver, about a year before this author.



3. Having read about two dozen Vietnam era books I consider myself to be fairly educated on the topic. On Point was one of the more different and unique books I have come across. Roger Hayes is explicit in detail, he literally explains everything, the countryside, equipment, soldiers, everything. This is great in one aspect but a major downfall in the other. Many other Vietnam era books avoid the detail, assume the reader isn't ignorant to the subject and write their heroin Vietnam experience. A lot of books are written this way and eventually hearing about perimeter breaches in the jungle gets boring. Readers want a little more substance and description and this book is full of it; but ultimately the books overt ness to description will be its downfall. After reading one-hundred pages or so hearing Hayes describe the type of bullets and tank tracks the Americans used gets a little insipid. I personally found it hard to read seemingly endless pages of military specs, it was just boring. For some this might be great and then I would suggest this book but for the others prepare to be bored.

   From the people I have talked to that have read this book, they either love it or hate it. The book is a little tedious, but I have to admit I learned a few things from it. The book is well suited for readers looking for a way into this genre; it explains military details that will be great for books in the future. For the experience reader, you might want to let this one slip by. The battles are great and descriptive, something you would expect out of a great Vietnam era book. But to get through those pages you need to read and copious amount of, what I feel is unnecessary detail.

   Overall On Point is a decent and solid book. At times I wanted to put it down and stop but Hayes continued to pull me back in with gripping pages set back at base and out in the jungles. Some say this is one of the greatest Vietnam genre books ever written others would definitely disagree. Like a said, it is worth the read I am positive it will teach you some things you hadn't known before and it breaks the so-so cliché of the Vietnam era's caste.




4. As a former Army draftee (Medic) who served late during the Era 1969-1971 I was taken by the humility with which Roger Hayes writes about his experiences. He does not portray himself as a hero but simply as a victim of circumstance who accepted the challenge of being drafted and like many other draftees made the most of it. The book is written in simplistic term with occasional bits of GI lingo of that time dispersed throughout which also appealed to me. It was my privelige to serve with many other GI's the majority much like Roger Hayes. He does a good job of telling the story.



5. There are darned few gems out there (A rumor of War, Caputo; In Pharoah's Army, Wolff; Survivors, Grant; Bloods, Terry; Reporting Vietnam, various) amidst the rubbish (Steel My Soldiers' Hearts, who cares; Charlie Company, various, Very Crazy, G.I., various) littering the landscape of the Vietnam War bookworld. Not to mention all of the so-so books in between. This is an odd little book because its writing style is so matter of fact and essay-like. The author recounts his Vietnam experience from beginning to end and runs through these events as if he were writing a manual. I guess that in a sense he really is. The really great thing about this is that he includes details of daily wear, routine, equipment and its everyday use that is often left out in books about Vietnam. A reader will learn a lot in the course of this book, not just about equipment either, for the author seems to be a naturally thoughtful person who has the gift of objective observation. Despite the low-key and somewhat self-effacing manner, this author, unlike most of the viet vet so-called grunts I have known, continued his field friendships when he got 'back to the world.' I think this says a lot about the sort of guy Hayes is. Years from now I think that people will realize that Vietnam, even though we lost it, was probably the 2d most important war we've fought (revolution being the first, obviously; civil not being a foreign war but a police action, ha, ha) because it was, quite simply, a thinking man's war. I mean this to include everything, the atrocities, violence, criminality, civilian murder, as well as the tactics, technology, psychology and strategy. Hayes did well in this environment because, I believe, the fellow has a good head on his shoulders. Shame on us for not having leadership with the same qualities. Never mind, read this book and see why the American soldier is known and admired best not for his brute strength and bravery but for his resourcefulness and can-do attitude. This is trite but if Hayes' account is at least 90 percent true, his conduct in the war can make us all really proud that he is an American.

2 comments about POPCORN ROAD TO PARIS... and Back.

1. I wouldn't change a word of Bob's story - his plain talking voice, his images and scenes with their deadly ironies (and to think Bob survived all that), his duty in Paris, his return home to Popcorn Road..... my God, the man is Homer and Odysseus rolled into one!



2. I always look out for any new personal accounts of the WWII. I must say that Mr. Thrasher's has surpassed my expectations. To me this was a new style of writting about WWII and he has done a supurb job for a first time author. I am thankfull that he lived to share these stories and is a vetern of our country. I encourage anyone to sit down and enjoy these short stories.

1 comments about Mosquito Victory (Bomber Crews).

1. Too short and hardly any part of it deals with the Mosquito. An interesting insight into the way the war was fought from a personal level though, where an experienced bomber pilot could be diverted from operations on the stupid idea of an armchair warrior. Other than that just a tale of a slow life towards the end of WWII in Europe.

3 comments about War in the Boats: My WWII Submarine Battles (Memories of War).

1. War in the Boats is a classic in the field of submarine history and World War Two history. It's a good read, highly entertaining, and filled with information about the war from the first person perspective of a young officer in the silent service.
   
   Inside you'll find spine-tingling stories of what it was like to serve on a diesel boat in the war. The tight confines, harsh conditions, interesting flushing systems for toilets (let's just say you didn't want to plug the bore of this breach feed weapon), stunning bravery, chance and a depth charge so close light was seen through the ship's hull.
   
   This book really puts into perspective the dangers of submarine warfare in the war and does a very nice job of presenting the history of the Pacific war without bogging the reader down.
   
   This book easily compares well to it's contemporaries such as RADM Dick O"Kane
   s Clear the Bridge and Galltain's Take her Deep!
   
   But enough! I'll ruin the book for you if I tell you more.



2. As a reader from Germany interested in history I already read a number of memoirs from German submariners and technical/historical literature on the topic. So in comparing this book with the above mentioned ones my mind just forms one question: How did this bunch win their war? And the answer: Because Japanese ASW-effectiveness was near to nonexistent. Facing an adversary as Great Britain it would have been doubtful if any of the submariners in US-boats would have survived. But this author as many others lament the high losses (about 50 boats with crew; for comparision:Germany about 700 boats, 30000 of 40000 men). At least he does not boast the 'welldeserved' victory as is typical for US-authors. And he even apologizes for his sometimes jingoistic diction being result of wartime mentality. Having said this I can admit that I enjoyed reading this book,for it is an interesting and first hand insight view of US sub warfare in WW2 and a counterweight to the standard literature centered on either technic or 'big picture' history.
   I can recommend this book with the above mentioned restrictions.
   But do read some similar books written by German submariners for balance (but not 'iron coffins', that is biased to say the least).



3. Capt. Ruhe captures the essence of the submarine officer. The frustrations, hardships and ultimate glory of the silent service are powerfully captured on every page. The patrol accounts make you feel as if you were there. Ruhe details all his daily concerns, both as a junior officer, and as the Executive officer. You get a good feel for his leadership style, and those of the other wardroom officers. I only wish he had included some of their accounts of different incidents to get a broader feel for the story. The prose is easy to read and spiced with homey wartime era ancedotes and subtle humor. I Recommend it to all Navy officers, especially Submariners and any WWII history buffs

5 comments about E-Mail to the Front: One Wife's Correspondence with Her Husband Overseas.

1. As I read this book I found myself nodding a lot and thinking "The same thing happened to us," or "We've had that exact conversation at my house." Alesia tells it to us straight--the positive, the negative, and everything in between. Plus she has a wicked sense of humor, which shows us what it takes to thrive in today's military. Bravo for Email to the Front!
   
   Marna Krajeski
   author, Household Baggage: The Moving Life of a Soldier's Wife



2. I read this book as part of research into the type of challenges I might face before I married someone in the military. Unlike so many books that seem to claim that if you bake cookies everything will feel all better, Ms. Holliday bares her soul and shows us what a real military spouse goes through on a day to day basis.
   Her emails and commentary are poignant and honest. My only criticism is that I feel she does fall a bit in the trap many military spouses fall into, that of trying to gloss things over and make them sound better than they actually are.
   Nevertheless, I think this is a wonderful book, especially for those preparing for their spouse's first deployments.



3. This book was wonderful. Very well written and hilarious! Even though deployments can be a hard time, I enjoyed that she composed this book with a light-hearted and humorous approach. I have loaned it to several of my friends and they too have delighted in her story. Excellent read, I would reccomend it to anybody, military or civilian.



4. I am an AF Veteran but also military spouse for 21 years now. I have been trying to get this book for sometime and was finally able to get my hands on a copy. Of course, it arrived when I was 3 months into yet another deployment to Iraq and I debated on whether it was a good time to read it or not.
   
   I chose to read it because the God's honest truth was I didn't think there was ever going to be a "good time" to read this.
   
   The book does not disappoint. There were many stories I could sit back in my chair and smile and think "Thank God I am not the only one that did that". Some stories made me laugh and many others made me cry.
   
   My daughter who is 18 saw the book sitting on the table and picked it up and asked if she could read it when I was done. She's grown up in this world and without having read a word of the book, commented that Military Wives were the strongest women she knew. That meant alot to me, knowing all the struggles her and I have had, which only seem to get worse when dad is off in some foreign land.
   
   Us veteran wives know that what can go wrong will go wrong when there is a deployment. We try to prepare for every crisis, and we always think we're ready, but to be honest you can never be truly ready.
   
   Thank you Ms Holliday for sharing your personal triumphs and crisis with us. And thank you for writing this book. This wife salutes you.



5. This book may be difficult to find - take the time! A fantastic read. Alesia Holliday has crafted a wonderful representation of the world many of us live in nowadays. She presents her story in an interesting format of email between herself and her husband (with narration at the beginning of each chapter to introduce the topic of that chapter). Illnesses, job changes, children, deployments, and much more. It really runs quite a course, and is highly recommended for anyone with a relative in the military, new (or experienced!) military spouse, or just someone who would like some insight into the everyday life of today's military family. Warning however! Be careful drinking hot liquids while reading this book! I have a sweatshirt that took many washings to get the stain out after laughing so hard that I completely lost control of my coffee mug. Alesia has managed to turn some very stressful moments on their ear by relating it through humor. What an extraordinary woman, and a must-have book. Keep them coming!

5 comments about The Gift of Valor: A War Story.

1. I read this book in only a few hours, because I could not bring myself to put it down. Cpl. Dunham is the definition of a hero- he sacrificed the very thing he was giving to the men he saved: LIFE. It makes me so proud to be a military wife, namely a Marine wife. And the medics who tried to save him are heroes too....this is the type of thing kids today should be learning about in History class. This is the type of book that English teachers should be assigning their class to read, not Romeo and Juliet. Cpl. Dunham is the type of hero that people should aspire to be like- if we had more people like him in this world, our country wouldn't be as bad.
   
   God bless you, Cpl. Dunham, and God bless his family for raising such an incredible human being who we will forever remain endebted to



2. This is the gripping story of the life and selfless service of Corporal Jason Dunham of the United States Marine Corps. The book takes YOU into the shoes of Jason himself, his fellow soldiers, his family, and the doctors and surgeons who nearly saved his life. Michael M. Phillips does a great job depicting the scenes in the book. You feel as if you are right there looking in on the events that occur. On the day of April 14, 2004 the lives of everyone who knew Jason Dunham even the people who didn't like the ones who have read this book. During a normal patrol of urban Iraq an insurgent sprung out of a vehicle and engaged Dunham in hand to hand combat. He then dropped a grenade and Dunham instintively dove toward it and covered it with his helmet to save the lives of the soldiers around him. In the following eight days he fought for survival. He was expected to die but on numerous occasions he bounced back and thought that he would live. Until the time when he was shipped back to the United States. His parents then had to make the choice to let him go on living on a machine or let him be in peace. The Gift of Valor is a remarkable book about the selfless service that you seldomly hear about. I would recommend this book to anyone who like a good war story and doesn't mind often military language.



3. This is an excellent book that tells the story of cpl. Dunham and Lima company in Iraq. It has a smooth introduction that breaks off into an ambush with intense second by second battle recounts and then takes a turn onto the more emotional path of Dunham's and his squads wounded tales and their path home through many hospitals. This book will emotionally drain you, but has lots of comedy relief to bring you back to life and has a ver spiritual ending. I am very glad I picked up this book at the library when I saw it sitting on a shelf where it did not belong. This book should be a bestseller and be placed on many book club reading lists. Why has this book went unnoticed? It is too good to be placed in the shadows.



4. A quick read that will help the family of this fallen Marine heal their pain. Would be a good basis for a course or discussion or analyis of how wishful thinking and hope by well meaning people falls short when they lose sight of the realities of the situation and circumstances. None of which takes anything away from the valient heart of Medal of Honor recipient Corporal Jason Dunham, USMC.



5. This is also a non-fiction book about the trials of becoming a Marine, then a leader of men, and then a victim of the tribulations of that position. I have been reading the Wall Street Journal for over 50 years, and have been ever salutory of the reporters that have produced stories for that instituion----and this is NO exception! This reporter dug up the very varied backgrounds of these Marines, and brought them into focus of a VERY controversial time in the U.S.----and the M.D.'s and nurses that played their roles in the very lives of these fighting men and women----that are on the the frontline--------so that we do not have to be.