After My Lai: My Year Commanding First Platoon, Charlie Company

Gary W. Bray

ISBN 10: 0806140453 / ISBN 13: 9780806140452

Published by University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 2009

About this Item

University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK. 2009. Softcover/Trade Wraps. First Printing by Line Number. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: New. No DJ. Pictorial card stock wraps. Wraps are not bent or folded: spine is not creased or split; text is secure in binding. 166 pp 8vo. The author took command of First Platoon immediately after they had committed the My Lai massacre. This book documents the horrific effects of the war on both sides of the struggle. His vivid descriptions of platoon-level tactical operations as his men plunge into jungle gloom and tragedy. This book reveals how the burden of warfare changes one forever. A clean pristine copy.

Seller Inventory # 012982

Bibliographic Details

• Title: After My Lai: My Year Commanding First Platoon, Charlie Company
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806140453
• ISBN 13: 9780806140452
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Autobiography
  • United States Army
  • Vietnam War/Vietnam

About this title

Synopsis

In the fall of 1969, Gary Bray landed in South Vietnam as a recently married, freshly minted second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. His assignment was not enviable: leading the platoon whose former members had committed the My Lai massacre—the murder of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians—eighteen months earlier. In this compelling memoir, he shares his experiences of Vietnam in the direct wake of that terrible event.

After My Lai documents the war’s horrific effects on both sides of the struggle. Bray presents the Vietnam conflict as the touchstone of a generation, telling how his feelings about being a soldier—a family tradition—were dramatically altered by the events he participated in and witnessed. He explains how young men, angered by the deaths of comrades and with no release for their frustration, can sometimes cross the line of legal and ethical behavior.

Bray’s account differs from many Vietnam memoirs in his vivid descriptions of platoon-level tactical operations. As he builds suspense in moment-by-moment depictions of men plunging into jungle gloom and tragedy, he demonstrates that what led to My Lai is easier to comprehend once you’ve walked the booby-trapped ground yourself. An intensely personal story, gracefully rendered yet brutally honest, After My Lai reveals how warfare changes you forever.

About the Author

Gary W. Bray is a retired business owner who lives in Stigler, Oklahoma. While serving in Vietnam, he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.