The Ghosts of the Highlands

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Reading
Review: This is a book I'd recommend to anyone interested in the Vietnam War. The role of "LRRPs" (or Rangers) is one of unique danger and bravery. The group featured in the fictional WW2 movie "Saving Private Ryan" were early Rangers, tho the mission that evolved in Vietnam was quite different.

The author (who also served in this unit) states from the beginning that his book is based on the collective personal accounts of the men who served with the initial unit, although he points out in the beginning that his effort is not intended to be an official history, but rather an unvarnished account from those he was able to interview.

The unit was formed in 1966 to compliment the First Cavalry Division's primary reconnaissance squadron, the famous helicopter-borne 1/9th Cavalry. The first 10 of 30 short chapters detail the history of how, who, when and why the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) element of the Division was formed. Jorgenson also succinctly conveys the tactics and equipment used. The remaining chapters detail some of the missions, good and bad times, and some personal profiles, all of which compose compelling reading - without sensationalism.

Jorgenson generously pays tribute to other similar organizations that preceded the 1st Cav's LRRPs by detailing how their first unit leader, Capt. James, initially visited and learned from the experiences of the 101st Airborne's LRRPs, as well as those of the 173rd ("The Herd"), the 5th Special Forces, and the famous Australian SAS - who first developed the "Australian Peel". With those lessons, a successful "blueprint" was developed to make sure that the Cav's new unit would initiate operations with the benefit of others' experiences. Only then was the first team carefully hand-picked. After more training, they began operations as two 6-man teams, working out of An Khe in the Central Highlands beginning in 1966. These men were quickly referred to by their Viet Cong adversaries as "ghosts". Their success soon led to expansion to a company-sized unit, H Company, 75th Rangers - the highest decorated Ranger unit in American history.

Rating:
Summary: SECOND READING
Review: After reading the book a second time, I found it just as interesting. The author did an outstanding job and I enjoyed his collective character, SSG Joe Kline. Kregg's book is a testament to all LRRPS - we all shared the same dangers. Team Leader or not - there was six of us - and we all counted as one. Recommend reading.

Rating:
Summary: My Take on The Ghosts of the Highlands
Review: I should start by saying that I have read the previous reviews of Jorgenson's "Ghosts of the Highlands" and also noted the ratings given the book. I should also say that I have had a difficult time with this book. I have not been able to make a connection with the characters and/or the subject matter. "Ghosts" is an odd mixture of non-fictional reporting (how James built the LRRP), fictional representation of 'some' characters and events (eg., the dog-robbers), and an assembly of oddities like the brief chapter on the existence of flying monkeys in Nam (in this respect the book reminds me of the content of Melville's Moby Dick with the history and details of whaling). I do not doubt the authenticity of the content or of the real, as versus fictional, characters. Jorgenson was unable to make me see them and to understand them as I would want to. However, perhaps Jorgenson did achieve his purpose, since "Ghosts" is a history of the 1st Cav LRRPs in Vietnam. The operable word there is "history," and that is what we have in "Ghosts." Although I have had a difficult time with this book, I am very pleased to have read it, and I have read from Jorgenson, Chambers, Nicholson, Johnson, Cornett, Linderer, Plaster, and Hackworth. You would do well to read it also.

Rating:
Summary: My Take on The Ghosts of the Highlands
Review: I should start by saying that I have read the previous reviews of Jorgenson's "Ghosts of the Highlands" and also noted the ratings given the book. I should also say that I have had a difficult time with this book. I have not been able to make a connection with the characters and/or the subject matter. "Ghosts" is an odd mixture of non-fictional reporting (how James built the LRRP), fictional representation of 'some' characters and events (eg., the dog-robbers), and an assembly of oddities like the brief chapter on the existence of flying monkeys in Nam (in this respect the book reminds me of the content of Melville's Moby Dick with the history and details of whaling). I do not doubt the authenticity of the content or of the real, as versus fictional, characters. Jorgenson was unable to make me see them and to understand them as I would want to. However, perhaps Jorgenson did achieve his purpose, since "Ghosts" is a history of the 1st Cav LRRPs in Vietnam. The operable word there is "history," and that is what we have in "Ghosts." Although I have had a difficult time with this book, I am very pleased to have read it, and I have read from Jorgenson, Chambers, Nicholson, Johnson, Cornett, Linderer, Plaster, and Hackworth. You would do well to read it also.

Rating:
Summary: A Very Educational Book
Review: I think that Kregg is one of the most informative writers. As an Ex LRRP/RANGER, I can tell from reading his books,that he is very well knowledgeable of what he writes about.

Rating:
Summary: Making believe
Review: I would just like to Thank You, Kregg, for telling our little part of the war, which was now so long ago, and so far away. We improvised, adapted and overcame and did what we could with what we had.

He, who on this field, this day
Sheds his blood with me
Will be my brother

Rating:
Summary: Very well written
Review: In Dec 1966, I was privileged to have been picked by the Div G2 to assist Capt James as the team leader for an experimental team which if successful would evolve into the development of more teams. In 1966, Capt James and I were the only two individuals in the Cav's Lrrps. As I read this book, I was amazed at how the author put this all together and as I continued to read, I wondered where I had been during all that time when I and James were the first two soldiers in the Lrrps. This book describes a unit that I did not serve with nor did I have anything to do with yet my name is mentioned in the book. If this is the unit I helped James form, then this book is a novel and should not be considered a nonfiction. I would like to however, compliment the authors writing abilities.

Rating:
Summary: Eye Opening
Review: Kregg, as normal, did a super job on this book. I have met some of the people who Kregg talks about and was told this was the way it was. I have no doubts, as I was a LRRP with the 1/101st Airborne and know the ups and downs of the job and the mission. I am very disheartened though with the mean spirited people who claim to have been LRRP's ,with the Cav, who shoot the book down because they were not mentioned. Hey, if you don't like what this author has to say get off your rear end and write your own book, your way. I am the author of Fortune Favors The Bold....take it from me, you cannot mentioned everyone. Great book Kregg. Thank you from the ole "Limey"

Rating:
Summary: Making believe
Review: Now, who in their right mind would belive some of these stories. For instance, the author writes that a team is told to get out of an AO (area of operation) in the middle of the night because a B-52 strike was coming in. DAH!!!! No can do, GI. Why'd this author quit when he heard about a team getting wiped out? Why'd he quite when the helicopter he was in got fired at? Quiters never win in the long run. They only quit.

Rating:
Summary: A haunting portrait of men touched and molded by fire.
Review: With poignant insight that could only be achieved by one who was there, author Kregg Jorgenson has conjured up his own ghosts from memories of "being in the breech" to write an embracing tribute to the original volunteers of the First Calvary Division's LRRP/Rangers. Jorgenson's refreshing style of writing takes the reader on a vacarious journey with men who volunteered to face the ultimate challenge of stalking the enemy in his own back yard. Teams of six young men who repeatedly penetrated North Vietnamese and Vietcong sanctuaries by foot to find enemy forces, against overwelming odds, so that other soldiers would have the recon patrols; insertions directly into the NVA base camps; last stand defenses in the wreckage of a downed helicopter; pursuit by superior NVA forces; death and heroism of men who bonded together through their sense of duty, character and courage, despite their fears and frustrations. But, Jorgenson has accomplished much more than writing a war story. He has provided a rare insight and reflection of the best that America had, fighting what they believed was a noble cause. The reader senses how they held each other's lives in their hands and learned to share their fears, their hopes, their dreams as readily as they shared what little else came their way, and in time, came to love one another as brothers. They were the initial down payment on a costly contract lasting over five years, with each grievous payment etched in black marble beginning at Panel 18E - Line 75, and ending with the last glorious installment at Panel 1W - Line 39, on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.,...and on our hearts. So once, just this once, this is how it all began, what it was like, what it meant to us, and what we meant to each other. Author Kregg Jorgenson has written a book, but to us it is a testament and a tribute to we who gave our country the greatest gift we had,...each other. Thank you Kregg