Utter's Battalion

In May 1965, the entire 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment--lock, stock, and barrel--embarked for Vietnam.
Captain Alex Lee was there. . . .

Now combat-veteran Marine captain Alex Lee brings to gritty life the full tour of 2/7. From the search-and-destroy missions to the sudden violent ambushes in the hills and valleys west of Qui Nhon, Lee describes how Marines battled monsoons, malaria, and the enemy as they crept through terrain infested with Viet Cong caves and hideouts.

After paving the way in Qui Nhon for the arrival of more American military, 2/7 was assigned to Chu Lai, where the battalion fought its most bitter, deadly battles. With the scalding ring of truth, Lee captures the conditions of the bone-weary 2/7 Marines as they slogged through jungles and spent night after night in dreary, rain-filled foxholes.

Although they faced a life of constant danger and occasional mindless confusion, in their seemingly endless marathon of effort, agony, and sacrifice, the Marines of 2/7 never faltered, never stopped giving their best.

Lt. Col. Alex Lee retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1978 after a twenty-seven-year career. As an infantryman he held commands ranging from rifle and machine-gun platoons and rifle-company-level assignments to a tour of duty as commanding officer of 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. In combat operations in Vietnam, he commanded two rifle companies and a force reconnaissance company. His staff duties included two tours at the Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., during which he implemented new techniques to improve the equipment-acquisitions process and created a doctrine-based combat-readiness evaluation system.

A graduate of Stanford University and a fifth-generation Californian, he resides in Alpine, California, with his wife and three sons. He is also the author of Force Recon Command: 3rd Force Recon Company in Vietnam, 1969-70.