No Shining Armor; The Marines at War in Vietnam: An Oral History

Lehrack, Otto J.

ISBN 10: 0700605339 / ISBN 13: 9780700605330

Published by University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, 1992

About this Item

xxv, [1], 398, [8] pages. DJ has some wear and soiling. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. Includes 7 full-page black and white maps of Vietnam, and 46 black and white photographs. Topics covered include Countering the Viet Cong: War Against Guerrillas, 1965-1966; Fighting the North Vietnamese: War against Professionals, 1966-1968; and After the Bombing Halt: War with One Hand Tied, 1968-1969. Also contains Appendix A. Passing in Review; Appendix B. Medals of Honor; Appendix C. Organization of Marine Infantry Units in Vietnam; as well as Glossary; Bibliography; and Index. 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, abbreviated as (3/3), is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps, based out of K ne'ohe, Hawai'i. Known as either "Trinity" or "America's Battalion", the unit falls under the command of the 3rd Marine Regiment of the 3rd Marine Division. The first major combat for 3rd Battalion in 1968 came on 7 February, about a week after the Tet Offensive began, when Kilo Company engaged a PAVN battalion near Gio Linh. 29 Kilo Marines were killed, including PFC Robert Quick who was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross for deflecting a PAVN hand grenade. Another 31 were wounded, including PFC Craig Swartz who was wounded three times and received three purple hearts for his service. PAVN losses numbered at least 139, with another 60 graves discovered by 3rd Battalion Marines three days later. That same month a platoon from Mike Company observed and damaged two PAVN PT-76 tanks near Alpha 3, one of only three times they were encountered during the Vietnam War before 1972. The author served two tours of duty in Vietnam--the first (1967-1968) in the infantry as a captain and commanding officer of India Company, Third Battalion, Third Marines, and the second (1970-71) in signals intelligence as a major and operations officer, First Radio Battalion. An account of the Vietnam War, as seen by the American PFCs, sergeants and platoon leaders in the rivers and jungles and trenches. Into their stories, Lehrack has woven a narrative that explains the events they describe and places them into both a historical and a political context. A quarter century after the war in Vietnam, that battle cry brought a flag-waving nation to its feet and ignited the superpatriotism of the Gulf War era. But hard as we tried-with yellow ribbons and "We Support Our Troops" bumper stickers and Norman Schwarzkopf videos and Olympics-style homecoming celebrations-we couldn't seem to erase the disturbing memory of Vietnam. Perhaps forgetting is not the answer. Perhaps the healing process begins with remembering. Painful, clear-headed remembering. Even those who remember best, the men who fought in Vietnam, aren't anxious to recall their experiences-or recount them to an academician. But in Otto Lehrack they found a sympathetic audience. Lehrack is both a historian and a member of the Third Battalion, Third Marines. He fought alongside the men whose voices he recorded here. Into their accounts, Lehrack has woven a narrative that explains the events they describe and places them into both a historical and a political context. It's a grunt's-eye view of the Vietnam War that emerges in No Shining Armor-the war as seen by the PFC's, sergeants, and platoon leaders in the rivers and jungles and trenches. It's the story of teenagers leading squads of men into the jungle on night missions, the story of boredom, confusion, and equipment shortages, of friends suddenly blown away, of disappointing homecomings. It's also the story of young men placed under unbearable strain and asked to do the impossible, who somehow stretched to meet the demands placed upon them, and the story of the friendships they forged in combat-friendships deeper than any these men would be able to form later in civilian life. Seller Inventory # 80022

Bibliographic Details

Title: No Shining Armor; The Marines at War in ...

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Publication Date: 1992

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very good

Dust Jacket Condition: Good

Edition: Presumed First Edition, First printing.

About this title

Synopsis:

A collection of interviews presents the personal experiences of Marines during the Vietnam War

From the Back Cover:

"No Shining Armor should join the front rank of Vietnam books. It describes real Marines in real combat, and it is a ringing tribute to the men who bore the burden of that war. Books about Americans in battle don't get any better than this."--Allan R. Millett, author of Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps

"Unique and intensely personal. This is an account told by the players at the mud level; honest, spontaneous, brutal, poignant. The great majority of Americans can only imagine--and not very well--the inhuman, devastating, brutal conditions of ground combat. These veterans now tell us in their own words, and it defies the imagination."--Col. John W. Ripley, hero of The Bridge at Dong Ha

"Lehrack places his battalion's Vietnam experience in a larger national context-underscoring the irony, the tragedy, and a Marine's shining-hearted pride. Many have tried to write about Vietnam, but few--if any--can match the power, the candor, and the understated eloquence of Marines telling their own stories in their own words."--Col. John G. Miller, author of The Bridge at Dong Ha

"This is war at the small unit level--squad, platoon, and company--told in a 'no holds barred' fashion, which means carnage and killing, chaos and intensity, heroism and terror. . . . A superb book."--Alexander S. Cochran, former editor of the journals Vietnam, World War II, and Military History

"Vivid personal accounts."--V. K. Fleming, Jr., author of Marine Corps in Crisis

"These interviews were clearly conducted with skill and sensitivity. They represent an impressive cross-section of ranks and positions. . . . That the Marines, more than any other service, understood what was happening in Vietnam and struggled against it gives the story of Third Battalion, Third Marines, a bitter poignancy."--John F. Guilmartin, Jr., author of America in Vietnam: The 15-Year War