Voices of Courage: The Battle for Khe Sanh, Vietnam
This large, lavishly illustrated account of the battle of Khe Sanh in the Vietnam War is a notable addition to the literature on this "lost" battle. The marines and air force pilots who fought it resent the "lost" label and point out that their withdrawal was a political decision by the Johnson administration; it was not forced by the North Vietnamese. Indeed, the North Vietnamese suffered many times the American casualty rate while achieving mostly just the diversion of American firepower from other areas--a useful tactic but one with a very high price. On the American side, marines proved adept at the grittiest and most bruising kind of infantry combat, and the air force delivered classic performances (the narrative of which is particularly enhanced by the illustrations here) of the missions of resupply and close support. Both sides can claim to have shown tenacity and courage, though neither could claim a real victory, except of the Pyrrhic kind.Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved