Leo T. reviewed Legend: A Harrowing Story from the Vietnam War of One Green Beret's Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines on + 1775 more book reviews
I have not yet read the book but it is praised by Matthew Lee Henderson in a long review in Army, April 2016, p.76.
Received a very nice copy from a PBS member in Peoria....
Careful scholarship. Well-written and an exciting tale. Be sure to read the MOH citation that RR read himself at the ceremony.
MSG Benavidez richly deserved this as the details of what these GIs, under hard attack in Cambodia (their objective turned out to be a hidden camp of brigade strength), to (mostly) survive. As they tried to board the bird (most everyone wounded), MSG Benavidez actually successfully wielded his knife to defeat a NVA wielding his bayonet (both were out of ammo). I passed the word among old soldiers a few years ago about a British CPL who along with his remaining men fixed bayonets in Afghanistan--that is something you train for and don't want to do (the CPL was awarded a rather nice gong).
I didn't know (there is a lot I don't know, as my mom told me long ago) that the Bell UH-1H 'Greyhound' had built in a way that the guys could pull a wounded or dead pilot out of his seat. "In the event that either the pilot or copilot was wounded or killed, the crewmen behind could yank on a red lever on the back of each of their seats, reclining them. This allowed the crewmen to pull a wounded or dead pilot backward to the cargo area of the helicopter, clamp a spurting artery, or climb forward to assist the surviving pilot. If both pilots were dead, a crewman could take the stick himself--the stuff of crew members' nightmares."
As they ran short of qualified GIs at the local bases some of the W.O.s from the 'front seats' volunteered to man the side doors, having ridden in 'back' before to better appreciate what their crews contend with. Also, although the US was staying out of Cambodia at the time, the USAF brought in considerable strength on very short notice. The dumping of defoliants and incendiary bombs have long been considered deplorable, but here is an example of where they helped save our GIs from being overrun. "'These guys are pros,' marveled Tornow, who watched the two F-100s arc away from the PZ, leaving in their wake parallel walls of protective flame between the split teams and the advancing enemy troops. 'Beautiful!' O'Connor replied. 'Thanks.'" "The backdrop to the carnage within the team's bloody perimeter was a plume of black-and-brown smoke that swirled as it rose off the ground, allowing glimpses into the clearing's edge, where fires glowed red-hot and the screams of dying and burning men echoed. The NVA soldiers who had been assembling in the open to overrun the team were motionless, smoldering heaps."
MSG Benavidez joined the battle by jumping on a helicopter as 'the bellyman' after hearing the radio traffic and seeing some of the wounded brought in from the first helicopter runs.
He jumped out as it hovered and found the GIs still in a desperate situation, given the hordes of NVA. "With the help of the CIDG, Roy and O'Connor rolled the boides of dead NVA and CIDG, using them as sandbags to fortify their position. As they pulled another body back from the tall grass, intense fire and fusillade of RPGs hit them. The CIDG clutched his stomach."
I don't know how it is in the rest of the USA, but on the coast 'la cultura inmigrante' rules and it has long been hard for a vet to get a job--I went to 63 Subway Sandwich shops to buy lunch and encountered no vets employed (one had an American Black, no Anglos, no Chinos).
The author talked to quite a few of the survivors (the VN War is now half a century behind us) but he goes a little far in identifying the photos kindly shared by them as "Wright Family Archives" or whoever.
Index, map, and table listing the units and functions of the participants.
Received a very nice copy from a PBS member in Peoria....
Careful scholarship. Well-written and an exciting tale. Be sure to read the MOH citation that RR read himself at the ceremony.
MSG Benavidez richly deserved this as the details of what these GIs, under hard attack in Cambodia (their objective turned out to be a hidden camp of brigade strength), to (mostly) survive. As they tried to board the bird (most everyone wounded), MSG Benavidez actually successfully wielded his knife to defeat a NVA wielding his bayonet (both were out of ammo). I passed the word among old soldiers a few years ago about a British CPL who along with his remaining men fixed bayonets in Afghanistan--that is something you train for and don't want to do (the CPL was awarded a rather nice gong).
I didn't know (there is a lot I don't know, as my mom told me long ago) that the Bell UH-1H 'Greyhound' had built in a way that the guys could pull a wounded or dead pilot out of his seat. "In the event that either the pilot or copilot was wounded or killed, the crewmen behind could yank on a red lever on the back of each of their seats, reclining them. This allowed the crewmen to pull a wounded or dead pilot backward to the cargo area of the helicopter, clamp a spurting artery, or climb forward to assist the surviving pilot. If both pilots were dead, a crewman could take the stick himself--the stuff of crew members' nightmares."
As they ran short of qualified GIs at the local bases some of the W.O.s from the 'front seats' volunteered to man the side doors, having ridden in 'back' before to better appreciate what their crews contend with. Also, although the US was staying out of Cambodia at the time, the USAF brought in considerable strength on very short notice. The dumping of defoliants and incendiary bombs have long been considered deplorable, but here is an example of where they helped save our GIs from being overrun. "'These guys are pros,' marveled Tornow, who watched the two F-100s arc away from the PZ, leaving in their wake parallel walls of protective flame between the split teams and the advancing enemy troops. 'Beautiful!' O'Connor replied. 'Thanks.'" "The backdrop to the carnage within the team's bloody perimeter was a plume of black-and-brown smoke that swirled as it rose off the ground, allowing glimpses into the clearing's edge, where fires glowed red-hot and the screams of dying and burning men echoed. The NVA soldiers who had been assembling in the open to overrun the team were motionless, smoldering heaps."
MSG Benavidez joined the battle by jumping on a helicopter as 'the bellyman' after hearing the radio traffic and seeing some of the wounded brought in from the first helicopter runs.
He jumped out as it hovered and found the GIs still in a desperate situation, given the hordes of NVA. "With the help of the CIDG, Roy and O'Connor rolled the boides of dead NVA and CIDG, using them as sandbags to fortify their position. As they pulled another body back from the tall grass, intense fire and fusillade of RPGs hit them. The CIDG clutched his stomach."
I don't know how it is in the rest of the USA, but on the coast 'la cultura inmigrante' rules and it has long been hard for a vet to get a job--I went to 63 Subway Sandwich shops to buy lunch and encountered no vets employed (one had an American Black, no Anglos, no Chinos).
The author talked to quite a few of the survivors (the VN War is now half a century behind us) but he goes a little far in identifying the photos kindly shared by them as "Wright Family Archives" or whoever.
Index, map, and table listing the units and functions of the participants.
