Into Cambodia

Informationen zum Autor Keith Nolan  (1964–2009) is acknowledged as the foremost chronicler of the Vietnam War. He is the author of many Vietnam War combat histories, including Battle for Hue: Tet 1968 ; The Battle for Saigon: Tet 1968 ; Death Valley: The Summer Offensive, I Corps, August 1969 ; Ripcord: Screaming Eagles Under Siege, Vietnam 1970 ; and House to House: Playing the Enemy's Game in Saigon, May 1968 . Klappentext A vivid account of the 1970 springtime campaigns of the U.S. Army in South Vietnam along the Cambodia border, told from the soldier's perspective with detailed battlefield tales "Most of us remember [the 1970 Cambodian campaign] for the killings of four young people at Kent State. [Keith] Nolan wants us to remember that it killed a lot of young Americans in Cambodia as well."-The Capital Times "This is combat narrative at its best. Nolan has mastered the soldier's slang and weaves it expertly into the account. . . . A compelling read, and a valuable addition to the growing body of Vietnam literature."-Military Review "Lives up to the high standards of his previous books. Nolan dives deeply into his subjects by getting his hands on first-person testimony primarily through interviews with those who took part in the fighting."-The VeteranPREFACE   The focus of this manuscript is the Indochina War in the year 1970, most specifically the springtime campaigns of the U.S. Army in South Vietnam along the border with neutral (but communist-dominated) Cambodia, and the dramatic summertime offensive into Cambodia authorized by President Nixon. These were, of course, political times during which the policies of Vietnamization and Withdrawal had taken the headlines away from the battlefield. This manuscript is offered in honor of those soldiers whom history has generally bypassed. Whereas the news accounts of 1970 and the subsequent history books were dominated by the negotiations in Paris and the military withdrawals, Americans were still dying in the dust at places like Fort Defiance and Firebase Illingworth. Whereas the Cambodian Incursion is remembered for the furor over Nixon’s speech and the four dead at Kent State, in Cambodian jungles more forgotten men were dying at Rock Island East, Ph Tnaot, Landing Zone Phillips, Salty’s Cache, and along the banks of the Rach Cai Bac.   This manuscript will, hopefully, fill an historical and an emotional gap for those previously unrecognized men who lost comrades and parts of themselves on fields of fire. That I hope will serve the individual, but the subtheme of this manuscript should address the larger concern of the overall experience of the U.S. Army in Vietnam. A study of the blistering and costly campaigns along the border immediately prior to the offensive into Cambodia should acquaint one with the general tempo of the stagnated war of attrition that dominated the ground war in South Vietnam. Likewise, a study of the sweep into Cambodia reflects the larger, conventional style of operations that were periodically mounted during the war, as well as the political strings usually attached. The commentary on the decline in action and morale after Cambodia foreshadows the state of crisis that the U.S. Army was in when the cease-fire was signed.   This is my fourth book chronicling the campaigns of this misunderstood war, fought the wrong way but for noble goals, but I must make it clear that I am not a veteran. My fire is not fueled by personal experience. Rather it is fueled by a conservative, middle-class upbringing, which taught that one does not cast aside those who have bled for the republic. Nor does one judge the combat behavior and performance of soldiers according to political perceptions of the cause for which they serve. They are separate issues, and it was this deliberate blurring of the line that first sparked a commitment to this subject. When I origina...

Product details

• Authors: Keith Nolan, Keith William Nolan
• Publisher: Presidio Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 26.01.1999
• EAN: 9780891416739
• ISBN: 978-0-89141-673-9
• No. of pages: 496
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 216 mm x 28 mm
• Subject: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous