Ronald J. Drez

Drez and Brinkley have written an amazing history of the battle for Khe Sanh in Voices of Courage. This relatively short book is peppered with contextual photos and first-hand experiences of a battle that should have been a decisive victory in the Vietnam War. The stories are raw, often emotional, and I could not put this book down. Excellent descriptions of strategy, tactics, and maneuvers lend to the history of these brave Marines and their fierce NVA enemy.

The authors argue that press show more coverage of the seige, which saw overwhelming NVA forces surround and attempt to capture the Khe Sanh base and its outpost hills, turned this significant and successful American defensive battle into a quagmire of stalemate, leading to a disengagement politically from follow-up military attacks. President Johnson lost hope, and in turn caused the military to lose initiative in the war after such a decisive battle. 6,000 US Marines and a handful of Army and ARVN troops defended the base for 77 days with tremendous help from air and artillery bombing, along with ferocious trench grenade and firefighting, and finally forced the NVA regiments to retreat out of the area.

A stellar account of this pivotal battle, and well worth a read for any warfare history reader. The photos are priceless and numerous, and make this short work a very detailed one. Four and one-half stars. show less

This is the best book I've read in a long time. The author, of course, is the Martha MacCallum who hosts "The Story with Martha MacCallum" on the Fox News channel at 7 PM EDT and 6 PM CDT. The story is about what led up to the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 and some of the Marines who fought and died there.
This long after the fact, Martha had the benefit of lots of research not available who wrote in the 20 years immediately after the battle. She has many interesting tidbits ... perhaps the most show more fascinating is that immediately after the flag was erected on Mt. Suribachi, a Catholic Chaplain offered Mass on the spot.
MacCallum also quotes John Stuart Mill as to fighting to hard to win else don't fight at all.
Knowing how the battle ended before I began to read, it was quite surprising for me to find no sense of triumph at the conclusion. No, I had a different read as I read how the many families who lost sons and husbands dealt with the notification of death and then had to make a decision about a permanent burial: either in the Pacific War Memorial in Hawaii or to bring the bodies home.
One last point, although I've always thought Harry Truman was correct to use the two nuclear devices, I am now unalterably convinced it was the right thing. The Japanese will to honor the Emperor (who is not entirely the nice guy depicted in the picture with McArthur or in the amazing economic recovery) would have caused an incredible number of deaths without the bombs. That he was directly involved in the war time decisions is something that has been covered up nicely. show less

This is a good book, you really get a sense of what D-Day was like. It's worth the read for anyone who is interested in the subject.

Splendid