Ten years after the end of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, a career Foreign Service officer, Thomas J. Corcoran, set down in writing his thoughts on the history of U.S. State Department policy during America's involvement with South Vietnam. Like many Americans of his generation, he was perplexed by the failure of America to achieve its goals in South Vietnam. As an ambassador and with over 30 years of diplomatic experience – beginning in 1948 when he was assigned to Hanoi and involving other postings in Southeast Asia – he brought to his analysis a long and rich personal experience with events in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The result is a thoughtful, objective and well-researched study that chronicles the key policy decisions made by the US State Department throughout the entire period from 1945 to 1975; decisions that ultimately led to the first war lost by the United States. In his extensive study, Corcoran does an excellent job of exposing many of the myths and falsehoods found in orthodox histories of U.

The High Ground draws on the author’s personal experiences as a combat leader to illustrate examples of successful and inspiring leadership in military organisations at all levels. Many of the essays contained in this volume focus on specific military personalities that portray effective leader behaviours in both peacetime and combat settings from the tactical to the strategic. Others describe key leadership characteristics and attributes of successful leaders, from small-unit level to the Pentagon. Throughout the author provides specific and compelling leadership advice and suggestions to new soldiers, new lieutenants, staff officers and commanders. The author served over thirty years in the post-Vietnam Army, rising from private to colonel and serving in the invasion of Grenada and in Somalia, the US response to the Rwandan genocide, in Bosnia and Kosovo, in peace-keeping operations in the Sinai, and in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. He commanded a paratrooper company, battalion and brigade and served in the continental US, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Southwest Asia. The High Ground describes his observations and interactions with military leaders at all levels, in battle and in garrison, to describe and portray military leader development and leader excellence in all its many and varied dimensions. Gripping and fast-paced, these leadership vignettes will carry the reader from peacetime into battle with an American Soldier.

Not even old enough to drink, Corporal Savannah Cannon is a young enlisted United States Marine deployed to support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2010. As a tactical data networking specialist, she is sent away from everyone she knows and attached to a Regimental Combat Team where women are not allowed to repair communications. Her experiences over the next few months shed light on the unique and difficult positions women are placed in when supporting combat roles, while offering a raw look at the painful choices women must sometimes make. Cannon finds herself in a combat zone, ostracised from family, friends, and even her fellow Marines as the men are told to avoid her. The connections she makes are born from trauma and desperation and the choices she makes will echo throughout many lives. Corporal Cannon is not the story of a heroine; it is the hard-hitting account of just one of the flawed individuals who make up the United States' fighting forces. Mistakes in the battlefield can have dire consequences, personally and professionally. Reflecting on her time in service, the author weaves a story of past and present, and the healing that can come with admitting our mistakes and moving past them.

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Featuring modern portraits and first-hand accounts, this book offers a unique perspective on the Vietnam War, bringing together the stories of American Vietnam war veterans, southern Vietnamese war veterans and civilians. The surreal imagery of Thomas Sanders' vivid portraits encourages the viewer to take a closer look at those who experienced the war, giving them a chance to read the haunting, inspirational, and sometimes comical stories of the individuals of the Vietnam War. Set in a surreal jungle environment, the portraits evoke the sense of darkness and uncertainty felt by those who experienced the war. Some of the portraits hold objects that relate to their role or experience during their time in the service. The objects tell a deeper story of a dark and confusing war: the common cigarette pack smoked by the vets while in the jungle; a homemade grenade made by the northern Vietnamese; and a “order to report” document – a piece of paper that changed many a life. Vietnam Portraits serves as a form of catharsis for the many people involved in the Vietnam War and honours them by giving them an opportunity to tell their story, bearing witness to their service, their experiences and the aftermath.

On his second combat tour, Nick Brokhausen served in Recon Team Habu, CCN. This unit was part of MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group), or Studies and Observations Group as it was innocuously called. The small recon companies that were the center of its activities conducted some of the most dangerous missions of the war, infiltrating areas controlled by the North Vietnamese in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The companies never exceeded more than 30 Americans, yet they were the best source for the enemy’s disposition and were key to the US military being able to take the war to the enemy. This was accomplished by utilizing both new and innovative technology, and tactics dating back to the French and Indian Wars. This small unit racked up one of the most impressive records of awards for valor of any unit in the history of the United States Army. It came at a terrible price, however; the number of wounded and killed in action was incredibly high. Those missions today seem suicidal. In 1970 they seemed equally so, yet these men went out day after day with their indigenous allies – Montagnard tribesmen, Vietnamese, and Chinese Nungs - and faced the challenges with courage and resolve. Whispers in the Tall Grass is the second volume of Nick's riveting memoir of his time with MACV-SOG. Written in the same irreverent, immediate style that made We Few a cult classic, this book continues Nick's hair-raising adventures behind enemy lines, and movingly conveys the bonds that war creates between soldiers.