William miller in dexter filkins the forever war, to whom he dedicated the book. The horrors of tunnel warfare are key to sebastian faulkss first world war novel, birdsong. The tunnels were used by viet cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches, and living quarters for north vietnamese fighters. He served in the 5th special forces group in vietnam in 196970 and subsequently in airborne infantry, longrange patrol and intelligence assignments until retiring after 26 years. After japan surrendered in august 1945, the british army, under the command of majorgeneral sir douglas david gracey, disarmed the japanese soldiers stationed in vietnam who then needed to be transported to japan. Usa today s bob minzesheimer recommends books by 10 authors.
Army sketch of the tunnels provides a sense of how the underground network worked. Please explore selected contributions on this page. The author, a doctor with an mfa in creative writing, never went to war. Not only did they play an important role in the tet offensive, a major north vietnamese attack on south vietnam, but also in the fall of saigon which ended the war. The members and sponsors of the korean war project. Troops nicknamed tunnel rats cleared vc and nva tunnels for enemy soldiers and booby traps. One night in late march 1944, 76 allied airmen escaped through a tunnel from their prisoner of war camp deep in occupied poland. Search the worlds most comprehensive index of fulltext books. During the course of the war, the vietnamese perfected the art of the booby trap. The most treacherous battle of world war i took place in. Melting glaciers in northern italy reveal corpses of ww1. Shop forand learn aboutantiquarian and vintage military and war books.
The vietnam war has scarred, transformed and inspired countless writers and art practitioners. Army trains soldiers to fight in tunnels north korea is known for its extensive military tunneling. Keep in mind that its not the story of a particular unit or person who explored the tunnels but an overview of the whole tunnel war. Dec 21, 2008 later in the day, after riding through the south central highlands for several hours and passing vast lands of rice fields and tea plantations, we stopped at a war memorial honoring fallen vietnamese soldiers who had died defending their land and beliefs by fighting the french, the americans, and other vietnamese between 1954 and 1975.
Vietnam war resources vietnam war music, books, memorials. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon books best sellers. While the list of books about this conflict includes hundreds of enlightening works, we pick ten of the best texts offering illuminating perspectives on the war, its context and the effects it had on vietnam. These images show dozens of inscriptions made by americas world war one doughboys soldiers inside twelve miles of secret tunnels in the forests of.
Down in the ectoplasmic circuitry where humanitys leaders are all linked up unconsciously with each other and with the masses, man, theres been this unanimous worldwide decision to trash the planet and get on to a new one. Ia drang the battle that changed the war in vietnam by harold g. A good little book, gives a good overview of tunnel warfare in vietnam. Their motto was the tongueincheek latin phrase non gratus anus rodentum not worth a rats arse in the early stages of the war. Its also about recognizing their struggles, knowing that sometimes, they bring the war home with them. Left in old weapons caches, or tied and left around corners in the various tunnel complexes dug by the viet cong, the snakes were not necessarily the most effective booby trap of the war but ranked high in terms of the fear the thought of finding one instilled.
Astoundingly, given their great length, the tunnels were dug with bare hands or very simple tools during the french occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the american war better known in this hemisphere as the vietnam war in the 1960s. Vietnam war books l z books on the war in vietnam including the tet offensive, helicopter warfare, viet cong tactics, ho chi min trail and veterans affairs. The 14 best military nonfiction books of alltime americas military. Tunnel warfare is a general name for war being conducted in tunnels and other underground cavities. The cu chi tunnels played a major role in the vietnam war. The early years of the united states army in vietnam, 19411960 1985 ronald h. Guy walters, author of a book on the famous breakout from stulag luft iii, dispels some popular misconceptions. Anyone looking for an expansive overview of the vietnam war will find much to admire here. These tunnels are approximately 200 kilometers long and were hand dug by the.
A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of vietnam kindle edition by mangold, tom. These 10 books, in addition to the ones below, were recommended multiple times. Welcome to alpha historys selection of vietnam war books. The unit, part of operation crimp, a massive allied assault, had just settled down for. Along with training thousands more troops, officials say. Sep 14, 2017 the vietnam war an intimate history by geoffrey c.
Ward introduction by ken burns and lynn novick illustrated. Vietnam, 1967 1968, 25th infantry division, 9th regiment, 4th bn, c company. Antiquarian and vintage military and war books collectors weekly. Why did the vietnamese build tunnels during the vietnam war. Dorling kindersley, dk, eyewitness and the open book logo are trade marks of dorling kindersley limited. One of the ways they did that was by using creative methods to rig booby traps to injure or kill u. The original viet cong tunnels were dug just after world war ii as vietnamese fighters attempted to throw off french colonial authority. The politics of the war just had not set in when i got there. Tunnels can be used to undermine fortifications and slip into enemy territory for a. Mar 24, 2020 online shopping for vietnam war history books in the books store. While many of continue reading vietnam war soldiers.
See also whats at wikipedia, your library, or elsewhere. Ten vietnam war novels to read council on foreign relations. In their 1985 book, the tunnels of cu chi, bbc reporters tom mangold and john penycate told the story of the american tunnel rats, a saga they learned about for the first time from the viet cong, who admired the tunnel rats as the best soldiers among the american forces. The war stemmed from americas efforts to contain the spread of communism in southeast asia. I began to see a lot of the politics you would see the racialism in the basecamp area. For a completely different take on the vietnam war e. Gordon l rottman entered the us army in 1967, volunteered for special forces and completed training as a weapons specialist. Nov 08, 2012 enough books novels and nonfiction have been published about the vietnam war and its aftermath to fill a modestsized library. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The cu chi tunnels in vietnam war the tunnels were so good that even american camouflaged mounted one above the tunnels camp without even noticing the presence of these. In the tradition of tim obriens the things they carried, denis johnsons tree of smoke, and phillip caputos a rumor of war, the candlestickmaker recalls a vietnam that seared disenchantment into a post world war ii generation who learned to question authority at all levels. Mar 02, 2015 the best histories of the vietnam war.
Heres an admittedly subjective list, posted on the military history now website, put together by mark masse, a ball state university literary journalism professor. The best histories of the vietnam war council on foreign. The story of the first major battle of the american phase of the vietnam war, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news. Most of us who served as tunnel rats during the vietnam war quickly realized that crawling through underground enemy bunkers would. These books are the stories of veterans, their memoirs, and biographies. The following texts are used and recommended by alpha history authors.
How birdsong creates a replica of first world wars tunnels. Much of the action is set beneath no mans land in a terrifying world where soldiers. During the ground war, veterinarians and vet techs were also deployed throughout south vietnam to help manage the diets and medial health of the war. A century later, relics emerge from a war frozen in time. The guerrilla forces in south vietnam known as the viet cong came from many different classes.
But once we enter into a village, we literally did anything that we wanted to do. These vietnam war photos are a key part of understanding soldiers experiences during the conflict and provide insight into operational specifics that were unknown to the press. Mel gibson, madeleine stowe, greg kinnear, sam elliott. Enough books novels and nonfiction have been published about the vietnam war and its aftermath to fill a modestsized library. The book is presented like a school text book or course work book, so a good place to start for the beginner. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living. Their aim was not only to get back to britain and rejoin the war, but also to cause as much inconvenience for the german war machine as possible. War dog team between the years 1964 and 1973, america had deployed an estimated 4,000 war dogs and 10,000 handlers to help defend south vietnam from invasion from north vietnam. Ww1 tunnel warfare ww1 underground tunnels dk find out. Follow us we asked viewers how they experienced the events of the vietnam era. Purchasing these books through the book depository is a great way for you to save money, while supporting alpha history. Free to all visitors but our members and sponsors keep us online. May 29, 20 although a few decades have passed, the imprints of the vietnam war still exist on the hearts and minds of americans and vietnamese people especially the soldiers who fought and suffered directly from the the war. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the tunnels of cu chi.
I will be marking the fiftieth anniversary of those marines going ashore at da nang by posting my favorite vietnam war books, memoirs, novels, movies. Reed had volunteered for vietnam as an army sergeant during the bloodiest year of the war. The things they carried by tim obrien, matterhorn by karl marlantes, dispatches by michael herr, a rumor of war by philip. They discuss what its like to live with their memories. Index to records of union soldiers from pennsylvania. To clear out the dangerous enemy tunnels, brave infantrymen from australia, new zealand, south vietnam and the united states volunteered for this. I saw a lot of dead soldiers on both sides, reed recalled. Melting glaciers in northern italy reveal corpses of ww1 soldiers the glaciers of the italian alps are slowly melting to reveal horrors from the great war, preserved for nearly a century.
The tunnel rats, those who survived, did not tell their own story. Readers weighed in on the best books about the vietnam war. First, i think it will be helpful to provide a little history to the nature of this particular war. Feb 05, 2008 personally, alongside herr, id recommend philip caputos a rumor of war and, for an exhaustive history, the 10,000 day war by michael maclear. We savaged them, though they had never hurt us, and we. Pages in category vietnam war books the following 42 pages are in this category, out of 42 total. On the western front during the first world war, the military employed specialist miners to dig tunnels under no mans land. A photographer has discovered underground tunnels in france where british soldiers sheltered during world war one and the names of the war dead they carved in to the rock walls. The tunnels served as a hideaway, not just for the military but communities as well. It often includes the construction of underground facilities mining or undermining in order to attack or defend, and the use of existing natural caves and artificial underground facilities for military purposes. Vietnam became split into a communist north and prowest south. Though these vietnam war photos have not yet pierced the public consciousness in the same way that civilian photojournalists images have, the historical record is. To shed new light on such a complicated and unsettled time in our history, to struggle to comprehend the special dissonance that is the vietnam war, we needed to look beyond the familiar stories.
Oct 08, 2015 perhaps the only decent thing to emerge from the vietnam war is a body of literature unsurpassed by the writing thats come out of any other war. Soldiers and sailors monument cleveland, ohio atlas. Soldiers and sailors monument cleveland, ohio the only depiction of abraham lincoln holding a weapon, and the names of all 9,000 cuyahoga veterans of the civil war. Index cards for these men are not in nara microfilm publication m554, index to compiled service records of volunteer union soldiers who served in organizations from the state of pennsylvania 6 rolls because the cards were never received by nara. America has made no reparation to the vietnamese, nothing. The vietnamese used tunnels to move from one place to another jungle. Photographs from the forgotten underground tunnels of world war i. Tunnel rats, as american soldiers who worked in the cu chi tunnels during the vietnam war were known, used the evocative term black echo to describe the experience of being in. Veterans day is all about honoring those who have served our country. He had to crawl into the holed out tunnels, chancing to find an enemy and fight oneonone combat with only a pistol and handknife.
In war diaries and other accounts of soldiers from both sides, we find the same stories of the. An inside account of the vietnam war and its aftermath tang, truong nhu on. A harrowing account of americas tunnel rats in the underground battlefields of. An inside account of the vietnam war and its aftermath. The 45 best war, army, navy, marines, airforce, military. Opinion my life as a tunnel rat the new york times. Former vietnamese soldier shares his war stories for friendship. During the vietnam war, tunnel rat became an unofficial specialty for volunteer combat engineers and infantrymen from australia and the united states who cleared and destroyed enemy tunnel complexes. Her books include highly regarded titles on anne frank, the black death and the vietnam war, books on religions and the conflict between north and south korea, and forthcoming titles on selfharm and relationships.
Their motto was the tongueincheek latin phrase non gratus anus rodentum not worth a rats arse in the early stages of the war against the french colonial forces, the viet minh created an. But he spent 10 years or so caring for veterans of half a dozen wars, in. Vietnam war project kit veterans history project, american folklife center, library of congress. Tunnel rats, as american soldiers who worked in the cu chi tunnels during the vietnam war were known, used the evocative. There is catch22, and slaughterhouse five, and these are classics to be sure. The building at 727 tran hung dao in ho chi minh city also known as saigon was a building that housed american service members for much of the vietnam war. We are the richest people in the world and they are among the poorest. Inscriptions made by american soldiers secret tunnels. See more ideas about vietnam, vietnam war and vietnam war photos. Why the viet congs tunnels were so effective in vietnam. Find out more about world war one underground tunnels. But, for the record, heres the top 10 vietnam books. One night, one of his fellow soldiers who either wasnt very observant.
Each of the tunnels housed soldiers, ammunition, water, and communication lines, and most were lit by electricity. Get information about tunnel warfare in ww1 trenches and discover facts for kids with dk find out. Photographs from the forgotten underground tunnels of. The main objective was to place mines beneath enemy defensive positions. Beyond that, on the fiction front, we quickly traipse into forgettable territory. When it was detonated, the explosion would destroy that section of the trench. Tunnelling and the first world war spartacus educational. For a soldier during the vietnam war, one of the most dangerous of obstacles was faced by a select few soldiers known as tunnel rats. The thesis of turse, and of his vietnam war books, is that american acts of violence against vietnamese civilians werent accidental and they werent rarethey were a systematic part of the war and soldiers were trained for and ordered to take part in hatebased slaughter. An illustrated history, burns and ward present the details of the vietnam war november 1, 1955april 30, 1975. All our physical stores and our online store are temporarily closed. She lives the green lifestyle and has undertaken voluntary work for a range of organizations. The canadians used these passageways before the battle of vimy ridge as a way to protect soldiers as they moved to the front line. Sunchon tunnel massacre survivors korean war project.