Red Clay on My Boots: Encounters with Khe Sanh, 1968 to 2005
In 1968, at age 19, Bob Topmiller found himself in the midst of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War -- at a place called Khe Sanh. Surrounded by as many as 30,000 of North Vietnam's best troops, who were supported by artillery, tanks, anti-aircraft guns and rocket units, 6,000 outnumbered and outgunned American troops successfully held the majority of their defensive positions despite fierce ground attacks and endless artillery bombardment.  Young Bob Topmiller was among a handful of corpsmen who, at great peril to their own lives, forayed out each day under intense enemy fire to assist the nearly 3,000 Marines who would be killed or wounded during the three-month long battle. Topmiller was himself wounded in the process. --Mike ArcherDr. Robert Topmiller, known as  Doc  by those of us who served with him at Khe Sanh during the famous siege battle there in early 1968, has provided one of the most valuable contributions towards understanding what happened.  Bringing the tools of a professional historian and his own personal experience to his book, he provides the reader with the reality of battle. --Chaplain Ray W. Stubbe