Know of any Vietnam War personal narrative books you'd recommend? nt

[raccoon]

[Aviation Pro]

1. Dispatches

....Michael Herr's account of what he witnessed as a combat reporter.

From Amazon: American correspondent Herr's documentary recalls the heavy combat he witnessed in Vietnam as well as the obscene speech, private fears and nightmares of the soldiers. "Herr captures the almost hallucinatory madness of the war," said PW. "This is a compelling, truth-telling book with a visceral impact, its images stuck in the mind like shards from a pineapple bomb."

[villager]

7. yes

Herr went on to write the voice-overs for "Apocalypse Now..."

[Adsos Letter]

17. Not to pile on, but

I first read Herr's work while in the Army back in '75; one of the best books I have read to date. I believe I also saw a posthumous production of Flynn's Vietnam photography a couple years back...

[reprehensor]

2. "Expendable Elite" by Dan Marvin

The story of how the Special Forces worked to kill this book is worth the read;

http://expendableelite.com/index.html

It's a specific slice of Vietnam War history dealing with covert ops.

[frylock]

3. robert mason - chickenhawk

This conversational and personal history of a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War has a narrator who is totally into the spirit of the story. Lots of earthy conversations and conflicts provide ample opportunity for Ganser's particular talent--characterization with vitality. However, he does not annoy with overacting, and he comfortably switches to informative prose. Lots of technical details about these "air ships" and their place in 1960s' warfare are mixed in, and the combination of styles creates the narrative drive of this military memoir. The performance of Chickenhawk, bringing together men and war, is so frank in places that one often feels vicarious involvement.

http://www.amazon.com/Chickenhawk-Robert-Mason/dp/0143035711/sr=8-1/qid=1170864617/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5569499-4967234?ie=UTF8&s=books

[Drum]

5. Ah, ya beat me to it!

:)

[TheBaldyMan]

14. I think he was working on a book dealing with PTSD, don't know if it is in print yet

it is the first hand account of his ife and his struggle with his condition since the Vietnam war service.

It sounds like it is a much darker book in tone than Chickenhawk.

[Drum]

4. I've read little on this, but can recommend

(believe it or not)

Chickenhawk, by Robert C Mason
It's a memoir of a pilot, of the the war fought with Huey helicopters.

http://www.robertcmason.com/Books/chpage.html

Chickenhawk became a New York Times best-seller in 1984, and remained on the list for 17 weeks. It is published by Penguin and is in its 23rd printing.

"Chickenhawk ranks with the very best of the personal narratives to come out of Veitnam. It was a 'helicopter war', but until now, no one has told the story of these machines and the men that flew them. Mason more than makes up for the long wait. An absolutely superb piece of writing!"
—Tom Herbert, Vietnam War Newsletter

"Chickenhawk is unique among memoirs of the Vietnam War. (Mason's) story is compelling without being sensational, informative without being political. Chickenhawk must take its place among the most rewarding narratives of Vietnam."
—Newsday

[twilight_sailing]

6. I thought Steinbeck's kid wrote a fine book.

In Touch
by John Steinbeck IV

[SutaUvaca]

8. Hmmm. For one How-To (combat) perspective

there's Carlos Hathaway's "authorized" biography, entitled White Feather. He was the most successful sniper (!) in Vietnam.
For a perspective on the aftermath of that war, Lewis Puller's Pulitzer PRize winning autobiography, Fortunate Son.
For the real aftermath of that war, I would point out that the award winning author committed suicide a couple of years after winning the prize.

[evlbstrd]

9. The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

In his story "The Things They Carried," Tim O'Brien describes a group of soldiers marching through Vietnam. He does this by describing the items that each of them carries with him during the march. The things that the soldiers carry with them are both tangible and intangible items and what these things are depends upon the individual soldier. They carry the basic "necessities" for survival (if one can consider such things as M&M's a necessity) and the bare minimum to make life as livable as possible. But they also carry memories, and fears, and it is intangible items like these that are the prime focus of the story. The weight of these abstract items is as real as that of any physical ones, and unlike those physical objects, they are not so easily cast away.

Born of the Fourth of July
Ron Kovic

[frylock]

10. another good one..

I had completely forgotten about that one.

[raccoon]

11. But is "The Things They Carried" a true account? nt

[evlbstrd]

12. Not really. But very powerful.

So, I fudged.

[grannylib]

13. Can't remember who wrote them, but we have "NAM" and "Charlie Company"

both of which were series of personal accounts

[WCGreen]

15. A rumour of War...

Fire in the LAke...

[doublethink]

16. Here's a couple .....

"NAM" (The Vietnam War in In The Words Of The Men And Women Who Fought There) by Mark Baker. Another along the same narrative would be "Everything We Had" (An oral History Of The Vietnam War By Thirty Three American Soldiers Who Fought it) by Al Santoli. Peace.