Hayes, Roger S.
On Point : A Rifleman's Year in the Boonies : Vietnam 1967-1968

McDonough, James
Platoon Leader

Mason, Robert Chickenhawk ARMY 1st CAV, 1965-66: Mason is another of my favorites. This memoir is the first book I read about Vietnam and has shaped my view of all the books I have read subsequently. Mason was a pilot in the First Air Cav at An Khe from 1965-66, seeing action at Ia Drang. He does a rare writing job in assuming you know nothing about helicopters, giving you a thorough grounding in UH-1's, and then not talking down to you. You will want to read the sequel . . .

O'Brien, Tim [author's website]

If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home

ARMY, 3rd Platoon, A Co., 5th Batt. 46th Inf., 1969-70: O'Brien's 1973 memoir of his Vietnam service covers his tour to Vietnam as a combat infantryman with the Americal Division in the region around My Lai, from 1969-70. It is one of the earliest books about Vietnam by a combatant. It is a very clear eyed, gripping account of his war. 

Going After Cacciato

1978, Tim O'Brien's second novel won the National Book Award. It is the tale of a soldier who decides to run away from the Vietnam War. It is a complex book, which repays careful reading. 

Northern Lights

1975 This is Tim O'Brien's first published novel. It is not in print and is difficult to find. The book is an account of two brothers in rural Minnesota. One brother returns from the war wounded, but both brothers are at loose ends and uncomfortable with each other, themselves, their lives, and their relationships, particularly with their late father.

Nuclear Age

1985.  This novel takes a look at how you would live your life if you were always cognizant of, and worried by, the threat of extinction in a nuclear war. O'Brien treats this subject very seriously, but the book is written in a comic style. 

The Things They Carried

1990 A gripping series of Vietnam stories gathered in a format of O'Brien's devising. It is not a collection of short stories, but it is not one story with a beginning and an ending. It is perhaps closest to listening to a soldier storyteller over a long period time. While you listen to his stories, you hear a bit of his personal life; he uses repetition of events and certain phrases to reinforce familiarity with the tales. Closing the book you believe you know the narrator very well. Attempting to further confuse fiction with non-fiction, Tim O'Brien gave his storyteller the name "Tim O'Brien." 

In the Lake of the Woods

1994 If you thought you knew "Tim O'Brien" after reading his last novel, now he tells you that it could all be illusion. The hero of this novel, John Wade, thinks he has erased his presence at the My Lai massacre. It isn't part of the stories he tells his wife or a part of his senate campaign. When the truth comes out, his wife finds out she doesn't know the man she married. 

Tomcat in Love

A comic novel about a professor out to exact revenge on his ex-wife.  Like all of his novels, this is unlike his other work in some important way.  With this novel, it is the tone that is different.  The main character is a Vietnam veteran.  A very funny book.  

Heinemann, Larry~online interview
Paco's Story

ARMY 25th DIV (AUTHOR): A well known, quite slim, novel, slight only in size. Paco is sort of a living ghost returned to "the world" but not of it and the character remained with me, in that when I see the book or something reminds me of it, I stop to think about Paco and where he might be . . . 

Ketwig, John
And a Hard Rain Fell : A Gi's True Story of the War in Vietnam

Smith, Tom
Easy Target : The Long, Strange Trip of a Scout Pilot in Vietnam

Published September 1996. I am told this book is quite good. 

Smith, Winnie
American Daughter Gone to War: On the Front Lines With an Army Nurse in Vietnam

NURSE: One of a handful of books by a women who were nurses in Vietnam. Written from the perspective of a decade later, it is a hard book to put down. This is one you need to read.

Tripp, Nathaniel
Father, Soldier, Son : Memoir of a Platoon Leader in Vietnam

Published January 1997. 1st Infantry Division platoon leader 1968. This is a story not just of Vietnam, but of the author's life before and after. It got good reviews, but I haven't read it. 

Van Devanter, Lynda
Home Before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam 

NURSE: A nurse's story. This is the book that made people realize there are women veteran's too and they saw very rugged service. If you are trying to understand the war, this book needs to be on your list. Like so many memoirs of the war, the trip home is in the middle of the book, not on the last page.

Walker, James W.
"Fortune Favors the Bold : A British LRP With the 101st"

1998  

Wizard, Brian Brian Wizard's Twentieth Century Anthology [author's website]

145th COMBAT AVIATION BATTALION  This must be the must unusual item on this website.  Per the author : "Five novels, a video documentary and an eleven-song music CD . . . includes  the amazing Thunderhawk video documentary ,which is composed of actual combat footage found in the first novel, Permission to Kill."    From his website guest book:  " I was a Nurse in Viet Nam 69-70 and 70-71. I have Brian's Anthology. and am 3/4 of the way through his first book, "Permission to Kill". If his other books are anything like this one, I urge Everyone to read them all! Brian has captured the reality of the fears, the dangers the shame, and the highs that we all experienced in Viet Nam at such a young age. His total honesty is refreshing. He is a true artist in the way he paints a verbal and emotional picture with his words.  Much Success, Brian! Welcome Home!!"  1998 [hardcovers+video+CD] (Big discount if you buy direct from the website above.)

Ball, Phil
Ghosts and Shadows : A Marine in Vietnam, 1967-1969

1998 

Broyles, William
Brothers in Arms: A Journey from War to Peace

MARINE LT., 1969: A provocative memoir by a soldier who admits that in certain ways he loved the war. He served in 1969 as a marine lt. in Da Nang. This book was written after his return to Vietnam about 1984. An honest readable book. 

Culbertson, John J.
Operation Tuscaloosa : 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, at an Hoa, 1967

1997 

Ehrhart, W.D.
Vietnam-Perkasie : A Combat Marine Memoir

1983 

Busted : A Vietnam Veteran in Nixon's America  

Passing Time : Memoir of a Vietnam Veteran Against the War

Sequel to "Vietnam-Perkasie" 1986

Going Back : A Poet Who Was One-A Marine Returns to Vietnam  

Going Back : An Ex-Marine Returns to Vietnam

I am a little confused about the titles here. The listing above has a similar title, but is cheaper. They may be the same book . . . 1987

Goodson, Barry L.
Cap Mot : A Marine Special Forces Unit in Vietnam, 1968-1969 (War and the Southwest Series , No 5)

Helms, Michael
The Proud Bastards

Author Keith William Nolan said of it: "The best grunt-level, tell-it-like-it-was work I've read. Captures the tedium the language, the the realities of Vietnam. The Proud Bastards is a classic."

Order from the Michael Helm's Karmicheal Press.

Henderson, Charles W.
Marshalling the Faithful : The Marines' First Year in Vietnam

Hodgins, Michael C.
Reluctant Warrior : A Marine's True Story of Duty and Heroism in Vietnam

Commander of a Marine reconnaissance platoon in I Corps late in the war. 1997

Melson, Charles D.
"The War That Would Not End : U.S. Marines in Vietnam 1971-73"

1998  [hardback]

Murphy, Edward F.
Semper Fi-Vietnam : From Da Nang to the Dmz : Marine Corps Campaigns, 1965-1975

1st Force Marine Recon.  Amazon says: "From the DMZ to the Central Highlands, their job was to provide strategic and operational intelligence to ensure the security of American units as the withdrawal of the troops progressed. Peter's accounts of silently watching huge movements of heavily armed NVA regulars, prisoner snatches, sudden-death ambushes, and extracts from fiercely fought firefights vividly capture the realities of Recon Marine warfare . . ."

Peterson, Michael E.
Combined Action Platoons : The U.S. Marines Other War in Vietnam

Puller, Lewis B.
Fortunate Son : The Autobiography of Lewis B. Puller, Jr.

This ironically titled autobiography is very popular.

  Rodriguez, Michael [purchase from the author's website]
Humidity Moon

A collection of short stories detailing the lives of Marine combat infantrymen.   Rodriguez served as a rifleman with the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam from 1966 through 1967.  Highly recommended!

Stoffey, Bob
Cleared Hot! : A Marine Combat Pilot's Vietnam Diary

Sympson, Kenneth P.  [Author's website]  [Photo gallery]
Images from the Otherland : Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam

General P.X. Kelley notes in his foreword to the book, "Because of its elatively short duration, Operation Texas has never been given its rightful place in history.  For those who were there on March 21, 1966, however, it is a day they shall always remember. In the words of Major Ernie DeFazio, who was my executive officer at the time and who had landed on the beach at Iwo Jima as a young enlisted marine over two decades before, 'Texas was the longest and toughest day of my life.'"  While in Vietnam, the author participated in numerous operations, including Starlite (August 18-24, 1965), Piranha (September 7-10, 1965), Double Eagle I (January 28-February 19, 1966), Utah (March 4-7, 1966), and Texas (March 20-25, 1966).   1995  

Trotti, John
Phantom over Vietnam : Fighter Pilot, USMC

Van Zanten, William
Don't Bunch Up : One Marine's Story and Some Notable Exceptions

Vetter, Lawrence C., Jr.
Never Without Heroes : Marine Third Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam, 1965-701996  

Warr, Nicholas
Phase Line Green : The Battle for Hue, 1968

1st Batt., 5th Marines.  An Amazon cusotmer says "I was interested since I was over there at the time and around the area and knew people in Hue at the time. It starts slow but then the author takes you in the streets. Hes real honest about his own fears, shortcomings and feelings. He does tell this like it was and I applaud him for that. Should be a must read on the war. "  1997

~Navy~

Non-fiction account of riverine warfare by a USN Vietnam veteran.  

Cummings, Dennis J. ed.
The Men Behind the Trident : Seal Team One in Vietnam (Special Warfare Series)

Fawcett, Bill (Editor)
Hunters and Shooters : An Oral History of the U.S. Navy Seals in Vietnam

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What does mean?  It is just my very subjective list of the top ten books to read about the Vietnam War.  I list them here.

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Still can't find it?  Try Battleground Books: 
Used books and scarce first editions at reasonable prices.

Other Important Websites:
The Truth About Caroline ~ a  really good Young Adult book by my niece, Stacey M. Lane Grosh
Remember Oklahoma City ~  The Civil Service and Military will NEVER forget!

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