Force Recon Command: 3rd Force Recon Company in Vietnam, 1969-70
Alex Lee commanded the Third Force Reconnaissance Company in Vietnam from 1969 to 19670. Made up of small units of specially trained U. S. Marines, that company conducted long-range patrols deep in Northern I Corps (including the infamous Ashau Valley) to gather intelligence about the North Vietnamese Army. An intelligent effective operator who led by example, Lee was also brash and excruciatingly honest, and in this controversial, no-hold-barred account, he takes the wraps off this select group of courageous and intrepid Marines. A master storyteller, the colonel leads the reader through harrowing, and often deadly missions in the enemy-dominated Ashau, where the Recon Marines were always vastly outnumbered and support was miles away. Days of silent observation could, and often did, erupt into savage, running firefights and hot extractions. With the sensibility of a novelist, Lee brings vividly to life the spirit and character of his Force Rcon Marines and the deadly jungle that was both friend and foe. More than a memoir of Vietnam war stories, this rank and absorbing chronicle traces the evolution of marine small unit reconnaissance from its origins in World War II, analyses its use and abuse in Vietnam, and offers a provocative but useful legacy of lessons learned from a career dedicated to an elite within the elite. Lee tells it like it was, sparing none of the acid that alienated many and ended his stellar military career.  --Midwest Book Review--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.