by Keith M. Nightingale.
Hardback (6.3×9.3 inches). 244 pages. 2026.
Subtitle: Battles and Blessings: A Tour of Duty in Vietnam
This is not the traditional memoir per se, but includes all the elements of one from the author’s experience. The main narrator, the lieutenant who was promoted to captain, does not even have a name. In fact, no real names are used. It takes getting used to, but the prose is so smooth, you quickly adapt.
What you do get is a company-level eye view of patrolling the Vietnam countryside, ambushing and being ambushed, and occasionally settling into firebase occupation. I hesitate to call the generic events. The situation and actions are real, but they are not slugged to a specific date, time, and place.
Since it’s the captain’s point of view, it’s all about the tactics of patrol order, nighttime defensive positions, and even the procedures for insertion, exfiltration, and “log days.” The latter, aka logistics and resupply, offers soldiers a short break and the all-important resupply of ammo and c-rations.
Several tabletop scenarios can be pulled from the pages, including the battle in an abandoned rubber-tree plantation, Interesting was the use of mechanical ambushes, where US platoons laid out camouflaged claymore mines on trails. The VC and NVA weren’t the only ones using trail traps.
The book contains one black and white photo (of the cover) and one black and white map of Vietnam.
It’s a smooth read about company combat operations in Vietnam, complete with various complications and a copious amount of terrain descriptions. There’s even reaction to a Bob Hope USO show.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
