by Ed Mann.
Hardback (6.5×9.5 inches). 326 pages. 2025.
This first-person account of tactical combat in the Vietnam War offers a twist: a look what how the guy who walked point (i.e. scouting ahead) did his job. Although a veteran hunter as a kid, stalking North Vietnamese soldiers and avoiding ambushes proved a bit of a learning curve.
Fortunately, his company captain, was apparently a complete coward and avoided the NVA and VC when he could, giving Mann time to learn how to read the jungle and look for signs of potential trouble.
His descriptions of Vietnam terrain and NVA bunker camouflage put you in the grunt-level view. Early on, he realized that staying in a bomb crater would be suicide and demanded his squad leave and reach the treeline. It proved a wise decision as NVA mortars worked over the now empty crater. That was just the start of him realizing that he could understand situations and signs.
His next lesson came when he missed spotting bunkers. When he hit the dirt, his head was within a couple feet of a bunker gun port (p83-84), fortuitously abandoned. It’s interesting that he found the NVA sacrificed bunker fields of fire for more effective camouflage. That’s something to include in a tabletop game.
As he gained experience and learned his trade, he was not perfect, but good enough that his platoon was mostly intact. His discussion of reported body counts versus reality helps explain why the US switched its measurement of success from bodies to tons of rice captured.
The book contains 14 black and white photos, 20 color photos, and one black and white cartoon.
It’s an smooth read and one game masters might want to consult in fine-tuning Vietnam War skirmish scenarios.
Enjoyed it.
–Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
