He writes authoritatively on the M50A1 Ontos and the M42 "Duster." He describes the use of the M51 Retriever and relates several meaningful stories of its deployment. The author covers all of the tanks in the theatre from the M103 Heavy to the M48 Patton and M48A3 but he goes further, describing most of the supporting armor vehicles used in the conflict. Gilbert gets down in the dirt at the personal level as he describes how tanks were outfitted and fought. The armor modeler will find this book to be of invaluable help in detailing armor pieces taken from the Vietnam era. Casey who commanded the tank units at the battle for Hue, William "JJ" Carroll who enlisted after seeing "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and retired as a Sgt Major, and Battalion Commander Karl Fontenot who opened Route 9 as far as Khe Sanh during the fierce battles of Operation Pegasus. There are many oral histories presented including extensive accounts from Captain Conwill W. To compensate for the lack of recorded history, Gilbert relies heavily on oral history, letting the veterans tell their stories in their own words-the rough words of Marines. This is especially true with tank engagement records since tanks are commonly-especially during the Vietnam War-deployed as attachments to small infantry units where there is a lack of comprehensive historical data. These records, if they still exist, tend to be terse, lacking the actual pulse of combat. As Gilbert explains in his introduction, he did not rely heavily on unit records maintained at the battalion level and higher. This book could easily have fallen prey to this historical tedium, but it does not. History, even the history of something as fascinating as the tank, can become tedious if not presented in a skillful manner. Gilbert writes extensively regarding the management of the war during the Johnson/McNamara era and finally he covers the end of the war under Nixon. The history quickly leads the reader to the introduction of American advisors in the 50's under President Eisenhower and through the escalation under the Kennedy administration. The author's crisp and succinct writing style and his frequent use of anecdotes keeps an otherwise boring history lesson from becoming a burden to the reader. It is with this in mind that Gilbert leads the reader through two thousand years of Vietnamese history. Harkins, General William Westmoreland and General Creighton Abrams.Įspecially in the Oriental mind, thinking and subsequent military strategy are long-term considerations. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) commanders General Paul D. This historical perspective provides the reader with a firm historical basis on which to base an understanding of the motivations and subsequent actions of Ho Chi Minh and the North Vietnamese people as well as that of the U.S. His depth of knowledge and extensive research have provided us with an insightful history of Indochina, specifically that of Vietnam. Web Site: Oscar Gilbert has given us far more than a chronology of tank battles in Vietnam.
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