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Books > History > American history > From 1900 > Postwar, from 1945 > Vietnam War
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Brown Water, Black Berets - Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam (Paperback, New edition)
Loot Price: R1,053
Discovery Miles 10 530
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Brown Water, Black Berets - Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam (Paperback, New edition)
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Among the unsung heroes of America's involvement in Vietnam were
the sailors and coast-guardsmen who manned the small craft that
fought (or stood watch) in that country's coastal and inland
waterways. Lt. Cdr. Cutler, a combat veteran who now teaches at
Annapolis. here rescues these mariners from obscurity with a
concise history that effectively combines vivid tributes to their
valor with more formal briefings on how the military developed
operational doctrine and vessels suitable for its unconventional
flotillas. There's a somber unity to Cutler's narrative in that the
first Navy men assigned to Vietnam in 1964 served in an advisory
capacity. By mid-1969, Vietnamization had begun (at the behest of
the politically astute Adm. Elmo Zumwalt), and the last US naval
bases were turned over to local forces in April of 1972. Between
times, black-bereted naval personnel played an active role in the
war, patrolling rivers and offshore waters to destroy (or
confiscate) supplies bound for the Vietcong, braking infiltration
from the North, sweeping mines, and participating in bloody
assaults on guerrilla strongholds. Using converted pleasure boats,
aging LSTs, air-cushion vehicles, swift little cutters, and a
variety of other shallow-draft craft, the brown-water sailors
compiled a distinguished record. They also won a raft of
well-deserved decorations, including a Congressional Medal of
Honor, at no small cost in casualties while serving under
frequently hellish conditions in tropical theaters. A narrowly
focused but praiseworthy addition to the growing log on America's
Vietnam experience. (Kirkus Reviews)
The men of the U.S. Navy's brown-water force played a vital but
often overlooked role in the Vietnam War. Known for their black
berets and limitless courage, they maneuvered their aging,
makeshift craft along shallow coastal waters and twisting inland
waterways to search out the enemy. In this moving tribute to their
contributions and sacrifices, Tom Cutler records their dramatic
story as only a participant could. His own Vietnam experience
enables him to add a striking human dimension to the account. The
terror of firefights along the jungle-lined rivers, the rigors of
camp life, and the sudden perils of guerrilla warfare are conveyed
with authenticity. At the same time, the author's training as a
historian allows him to objectively describe the scope of the
navy's operations and evaluate their effectiveness.
Winner of the Navy League's Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary
Achievement in 1988 when the book was first published, Cutler is
credited with having written the definitive history of the
brown-water sailors, an effort that has helped readers better
understand the nature of U.S. involvement in the war.
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