Description

Living and Breathing is a graphic, blow-by-blow, non-fictional account of the Vietnam war from all sides. Keith Nightingale’s accomplishments in both military and civilian life largely contribute to the excellence of Just Another Day in Vietnam as a memoir of unusual depth as well as breadth. Uniquely adopting a third-person omniscient point of view, Nightingale eschews the “I” of memoir in favor of multiple perspectives and a larger historical vision that afford equal time and weight to ally and enemy alike. Examples of the many perspectives based on real-life characters include: Hu, a VC “informant” whose false information led the Rangers straight into the jaws of a ferocious ambush; General Tanh, the COSVN commander; Major Nguyen Hiep, the 52d Ranger Commander; and Ranger POWs later returned by the North. Nightingale moreover offers the point of view of an American advisor to elite Vietnamese troops, a vital perspective regrettably underrepresented in the literature of Vietnam, including Burns’ documentary. Added to this are well-informed conjecture of enemy psychology; insight into the dedication and often misunderstood role of the elite Vietnamese Ranger forces; the intelligence acquired from debriefing captured Rangers, whose captors had told them that the entire battle had been a carefully staged attack planned by COSVN as part of a larger Total War strategy developed by the leadership of the North Vietnamese Army; and an eyewitness account by a gifted author who is a rare survivor of one of the most vicious—and heretofore forgotten—battles of the war. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction The Ground The Initiation The Beginning The Interrogation The Plan Choices The Ranger Battalion The Commander The Assembly A Proper Regiment The 175 Artillery Battery The Mortar Gunners Movement to Contact The Pickup Zone Airborne The Movement The Decision Closure Aid to Brothers Division of Responsibility The Black Lines The Bug Command Decision The Spot The Spooky The Ambush The Rain The Fog Reinforcement Softly in the Night The Plan The Shoal of Fish Fire Support Infantry and Air Air Strikes Bomb Burst Bien Hoa Control Light The VC Prisoner The Ranger Prisoners The Arc Light The B-52 Strike—Air The B-52 Strike—Ground The Return Reconstitution The General Returns To The Work

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