Synopses & Reviews
Here is the epic story of Vietnam and thesixties told through the events of a few tumultuous days in October 1967. David Maraniss takes the reader on an unforgettable journey to the battlefields of war and peace. With meticulous and captivating detail,
They Marched Into Sunlight brings that catastrophic time back to life while examining questions about the meaning of dissent and the official manipulation of truth, issues that are as relevant today as they were decades ago.
In a seamless narrative, Maraniss weaves together three very different worlds of that time: the death and heroism of soldiers in Vietnam, the anger and anxiety of antiwar students back home, and the confusion and obfuscating behavior of officials in Washington. In the literature of the Vietnam era, there are powerful books about soldiering, excellent analyses of American foreign policy in Southeast Asia, and many dealing with the sixties' culture of protest, but this is the first book to connect the three worlds and present them in a dramatic unity. To understand what happens to the people of this story is to understand America's anguish.
In the Long Nguyen Secret Zone of Vietnam, a renowned battalion of the First Infantry Division is marching into a devastating ambush that will leave sixty-one soldiers dead and an equal number wounded. On the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, students are staging an obstructive protest at the Commerce Building against recruiters for Dow Chemical Company, makers of napalm and Agent Orange, that ends in a bloody confrontation with club-wielding Madison police. And in Washington, President Lyndon Johnson is dealing with pressures closing in on him from all sides and lamenting to his war council, "How are we ever going to win?"
Based on thousands of primary documents and 180 on-the-record interviews, the story unfolds day by day, hour by hour, and at times minute by minute, with a rich cast of characters -- military officers, American and Viet Cong soldiers, chancellors, professors, students, police officers, businessmen, mime troupers, a president and his men, a future mayor and future vice president -- moving toward battles that forever shaped their lives and evoked cultural and political conflicts that reverberate still.
Review
"[T]wo compelling narratives...capture the Vietnam War at home and on the battlefield as well as, if not better than, any book yet written." Publishers Weekly
Review
"This is a concentrated, visceral remembrance of the Vietnam War in both its military and social dimensions." Gilbert Taylor, Booklist
Synopsis
From the author of When Pride Still Mattered ("Near perfect . . . May be the best sports biography ever published." Sports Illustrated) comes a new book on the Vietnam war.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 529-557) and index.
Synopsis
Is this man the real reason the Vietnam War was lost? How did he get there, why did he fail, and how did he last so long? Unless and until we understand General William Westmoreland, we will never understand what happened to us in Vietnam, or why. An Eagle Scout at fifteen, First Captain of his West Point class, Westmoreland fought in World War II and Korea, rising rapidly to command the 101st Airborne Division and become Superintendent at West Point, then was chosen to lead the war effort in Vietnam. That turned out to be a disaster. He failed to understand a complex war, choosing a flawed strategy, sticking to it in the face of all opposition, and misrepresenting the results when truth mattered most. In so doing he squandered four years of support by Congress, much of the media, and the American people. The tragedy of William Westmoreland provides lessons not just for Vietnam, but for Americaand#8217;s future military and political leadership. Lewis Sorleyand#8217;s definitive portrait is essential reading.
About the Author
Lewis Sorleyis a third-generation graduate of the United States Military Academy who also holds a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University. He served in Vietnam, and in the Pentagon in the offices of Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger and Army Chief of Staff General William C. Westmoreland. He also taught at West Point and the Army War College.andnbsp;He is the author of five highly-regarded works of military history.
Table of Contents
ContentsCast of CharactersA Brief Preface
BOOK ONE
1 Sailing to Vung Tau
2 Triet's March South
3 Lai Khe, South Vietnam
4 El Paso, Texas
BOOK TWO
5 Song of Napalm
6 Madison, Wisconsin
7 Soglin's Thrill
8 Sewell's Predicament
BOOK THREE
9 "What a Funny War!"
10 Guerrilla Theater
11 Johnson's Dilemma
12 No Mission Too Difficult
13 Michigan Men
14 For Want of Rice
15 "The Trees Are Moving"
16 Ambush
17 Holleder's Run
18 "The News Is All Bad"
19 The Spectacle
20 "That's All There Is?"
21 Down with Dow
22 Moments of Decision
23 Stars and Stripes
24 "Bombing Washington"
25 Body Count
26 "Tragedy Beyond Our Words"
27 A Life's Worth
28 Until the Angels Came
EpilogueNotes
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index