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(More customer reviews)As a Vietnam vet, I have often said that there are two types of people when it comes to understanding Vietnam, those who think they do but really don't, and those who really do and wish they didn't. Finally here is a book that can bring some understanding to everyone. The issue of the junior Officer in Nam has been a source of concern for years because we had been so misrepresented for so long by senior Officers and many Government Officials. But then, I include them as among those who don't really understand. Ron has finally documented the facts very well and brought logic and sense to the issues. His work explains things in a way I was never able to do. Perhaps I should mention that I could be bias to some degree since I not only served in Nam as a junior Officer, I was also in the same OCS class with Ron Milam, and although we were not friends at the time, we are now. If you are really interested in understanding what happened in the Vietnam War, please read this book!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Not a Gentleman's War: An Inside View of Junior Officers in the Vietnam War
Wars are not fought by politicians and generals--they are fought by soldiers. Written by a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, Not a Gentleman's War is about such soldiers--a gritty, against-the-grain defense of the much-maligned junior officer. Conventional wisdom holds that the junior officer in Vietnam was a no-talent, poorly trained, unmotivated soldier typified by Lt. William Calley of My Lai infamy. Drawing on oral histories, after-action reports, diaries, letters, and other archival sources, Ron Milam debunks this view, demonstrating that most of the lieutenants who served in combat performed their duties well and effectively, serving with great skill, dedication, and commitment to the men they led. Milam's narrative provides a vivid, on-the-ground portrait of what the platoon leader faced: training his men, keeping racial tensions at bay, and preventing alcohol and drug abuse, all in a war without fronts. Yet despite these obstacles, junior officers performed admirably, as documented by field reports and evaluations of their superior officers.More than 4,000 junior officers died in Vietnam; all of them had volunteered to lead men in battle. Based on meticulous and wide-ranging research, this book provides a much-needed serious treatment of these men--the only such study in print--shedding new light on the longest war in American history.
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