Highpocket's War Stories

Highpockets War Stories is an eloquent account of combat leadership in Korea and Vietnam. Colonel Peter L. Hilgartner is widely recognized in the Marine Corps as a successful combat leader, first as a junior officer in Korea and later commanding the First Battalion, Fifth Marines fighting the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Hilgartner tells of leading troops in counter-guerilla action, and major battles with North Vietnamese troops -- Union I, Union II and Swift -- to control the strategic Que Son Valley. His story gives never-before-told, vivid descriptions of Marines in hand-to-hand combat with North Vietnamese troops from the perspective of Marines who were there. Every grunt will appreciate this gripping account.

Colonel Peter L. Hilgartner, USMC, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1945, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1951, and served with distinction in the Marine Corps for 24 years. Four of those years were in combat zones in Korea and the Republic of Vietnam. As a Second Lieutenant in Korea, he fought against enemy forces in central and western Korea as an artillery forward observer. For his action against the enemy, he received the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V.

He served in Vietnam, and in 1966, while still a major, took command of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, the most decorated regiment in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and continued to lead the First Battalion in its operations against the enemy in the Que Son Valley. He engaged Viet Cong forces in daily clear and sweep operations, and during 1967 fought in regiment size battles against the North Vietnamese Army in Operations Union I, Union II, and Swift. He commanded his front line Marine infantry battalion for ten and ½ months, one of the longest Marine command tours during the Vietnam War. For his combat service, he received the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with Combat V, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, and a second Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star.

Colonel Hilgartner holds an advanced degree in business management with emphasis in economics from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.