Yes the movie was pretty good, but this book was fantastic.Having had the honor of meeting and knowing some people who served in Vietnam at different times, this is the one book that comes across as the most honest. These veterans, though reluctant to share with those just looking for a story and not understanding what it means to serve, fall, and die in battle, are the first to say that not every soldier in Vietnam was on drugs and not every soldier was disillusioned by the war.
What tore them up and disillusioned them was their treatment coming home when they were called "baby killers" and spit on.
Respectful of the enemy and, better yet, respectful of the American soldier this book provides a stark contrast to other works like Gustav Hasford's "The Short Timers" (which became the film "Full Metal Jacket") and movies like "Platoon" and "Apocalypse Now"
I'm not a ashamed to say it, and I'm ashamed to believe it, and I am not ashamed to teach it to my kids but for some reason in this culture we are ashamed to say we are the good guys. Our soldiers, though not perfect, are the good guys.
Media and academia is always looking for a moral equivalence in our soldiers and living with some pseudo idea that the Queens rules apply to war. As Tecumseh Sherman said: "War is all hell, you cannot refine it".
What Col. Hal Moore and Joe Galloway present in these few days in the Ia Drang Valley is the quality and bravery of soldiers when surrounded by hell.
The book also covers in depth the battle that took place after the movie ends, when a column of soldiers marching out is ambushed. The heroism on display can make you weep, and again increases your respect for the young people who serve in today's army.
Heartbreaking, yet enriching, is the end of the book that brings you up to speed on what became of the soldiers who fought in the battle and the children and wives of the fallen who went on with life after the Ia Drang Valley.
God Bless our soldiers.
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