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图书馆 | 资料类型 | 排架号 | 子计数 | 书架位置 | 状态 | 图书预约 |
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正在检索... Central | Book | 959.704 KROHN, 1993 | 1 | Non-fiction Collection | 正在检索... 未知 | 正在检索... 不可借阅 |
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摘要
摘要
In 1968 in South Vietnam, a U.S. infantry battalion was ordered to charge a fortified North Vietnamese Army force 200 yards away over an open field with no artillery or air support. The defenders had every advantage. The Americans started moving across the field just before noon, every man a target. By the time they reached the tree line at the other side of the open field, nearly one half of the 400-man battalion was a casualty. Nine long, agonizing hours afterwards, U.S. artillery units began support fire, although the units remained desperately short of ammunition. The entrapped men saw their fate: death or captivity. Help from headquarters was neither offered or available.
The following night the battalion commander decided to make a run for it. It was a gamble with high stakes. But the battalion did make it through enemy lines to a mountaintop where the NVA could not follow. When the Lost Battalion finally escaped encirclement, after nine hours with no artillery or air support, and 30 hours of fighting against an enemy that outnumbered them three to one, the tragic episode disappeared from official memory and relevant U.S. Army records--as if nothing had happened. Krohn tells the whole story--and it tells it with the words of those present. That some of the testimony comes from those responsible is remarkable.
评论 (2)
出版社周刊评论
Krohn, who served as the unit's intelligence officer, draws an instructive comparison between two drastically different battles fought in early 1968 by the 2nd Battalion, 12th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. In the first, 2/12 successfully withstood a North Vietnamese assault on firebase LZ Ross in the Que Son Valley. Essential to that success was the abundance of artillery and air support and adequate ammunition. Monsoon weather, logistical bungling and poor command decisions at divisional level, dictated that 2/12 went into the second battle, outside of Hue City, without air or artillery support. The battalion was surrounded by the enemy and began to run out of ammunition. As casualties mounted, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Richard Sweet, decided to walk his troops out of the encirclement under the cover of darkness. Led by ``the ultimate point man,'' Private Hector L. Cammacho, the bold maneuver succeeded. Krohn, a retired lieutenant colonel, calls for stateside training in which infantry battalions practice operations after vital support systems have faltered. His first-rate account demonstrates what can happen in combat when such systems do break down. Photos. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
《图书馆杂志》(Library Journal )书评
Most Vietnam War oral histories deal more with individual experiences than specific events. The opposite is true in this book, which details a tragic military foul-up. As the Tet Offensive commenced, U.S. Marines were trapped in Hue without packs, air and artillery support, or sufficient ammunition. The 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry, was ordered to relieve them. Although a large enemy force blocked the battalion, the commanding general ordered it to proceed. Stumbling upon the North Vietnamese Army's headquarters, the battalion was surrounded and ultimately suffered 60 percent casualties. As battalion intelligence officer, Krohn is on a mission to lay blame where blame is due. Yet what should have been a scintillating war narrative becomes disjointed in the heat of his crusade. The action pauses while every order, every act by higher-ups is examined. Recommended only for libraries with special interests in the army and Vietnam.-- Richard Paul Snyder, Cty. of Los Angeles P.L., Lakewood (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
目录
| Foreword |
| America's Best Cast of the Past Curtain Raiser Reasonable Worries Operation Rawhide Rehearsing the Gladiators |
| The Death Battalion Sweet Takes Charge Historical Moment Hue's Burning Getting the Word at Camp Evans From Camp Evans to PK-17 Dead in Our Tracks Attack Now Scudder, A Miracle Man Cordite Stinks Artillery Fiasco Take a Break, Death Will Wait Day Two: Hell's Last Circle Saving the Living, Leaving the Dead Leaving TFP: Our Only Hope Hugging Jeff Helvey's Raiders TFP Heroes Not Forgotten After the Battle Is Over Forgotten Favor Repaid View from the Other Side Who Won? Who Lost? We'll Never Know Ambiguous Facts Tet, Meet Desert Storm Pascagoula Flashback Infantry Battalion Organization Where Are They Now? |
| The Presidential Unit Citation Maps Photos of Key Participants, Locations |