Into Cambodia

Rating:
Summary: 2/12 Cavalry in Cambodia
Review: By far the most accurate account I have read about the 2/12 Cavalry Squadron during the periods prior, during and after our incursion into Cambodia. As the Communications Officer for the Battalion under both LTC Iverson and then LTC Ianni, I personally experienced the differences in command techniques described by the author. Mr. Nolan's approach of telling history through the eyes of the soldiers and officers accurately portrays the events and the difficult command decisions of the period. Thirty years after, this book helps me to vividly recall images of all the participants. LTCs Iverson and Ianni fought different battles, each requiring different styles of command. Each commander approached their challenges as they thought appropriate. Many former soldiers, myself included, are alive today because they were our commanders. Thank you, Keith Nolan for your exellent book.

Rating:
Summary: Fire Support Base Illingsworth
Review: Chapter 5-7 regarding Fire Support Illingsworth was so accurate. I was there on 1 April 1970 with A Troop 1/11 ACR. I thought about my experience, and the book read as if I was writing down from my own memory. The accounts came to life! email: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Into Cambodia - about F.S.B. Illingsworth
Review: I was attached to A Battery 2nd/32nd F.A. - 2 8inch S.P. guns that arrived at F.S.B. Illingsworth 10 Days before the Battle ! The Book has some misinformation - like we arrived 1 day before the Battle ! I have already had 14 months inside War Zone C before arriving at Illingsworth ! A Battery has had many conflicts with the enemy - lived over 2 years continuiously inside War Zone C . The plans were forming in mid - march about using our 8inch S.P. guns, before entering Cambodia in May, being used as a Baiting Operation ! 79 Brave Americans were given orders to stay , after the fall of F.S.B. Jay , and to face the enemy ( 272 Reg. 1,050 strong )without any Hardline defense . Between the second hour to the 5 hour - 3,372 Friendly Artillery shells were fired at us - around us ! After the smoke cleared - 24 Brave Americans died - 100 Enemy bodies found ! We ( Proud Americans 2nd/32nd F.A. ) attacted and raised our American flag on a chopped down small tree . Everyone there were the BRAVEST Combat troops that the Army ever gave orders to stay and fight ! We all knew that a lot of us were going to be killed ! The Army knew that too ! Sent out the 1st. Cav. Chaplin the day before the Battle . The I.I.F.F. units received a Unit Battle award but the 1st. Cav. units did not ! Embarrassement that has to be corrected - going to try to correct it ! The Unit Battle awards should be Upgraded to a U.S. Presidential Unit award - Baiting Operation - is the Supreme Sacrifice that a Soldier does by giving his Life by following orders . Everyone of us still LIVING has the duty telling everyone of the Couragious men at F.S.B. Illingsworth on April 1 , 1970 .

Rating:
Summary: A grunt's eye view
Review: I was recently advised to buy this book since I participated in the Cambodian Invasion in 1970 with the 25th Infantry Div. As I read the preface I noticed my name as a credit. I looked thru some old correspondence and found several wonderful letters from Mr. Nolan. As someone who has not been a grunt, he is the next best thing. He tells the story from the grunt's eye view. I found from reading this excellent book that our CO was relieved of duty, not to mention an excellent description of our officers. The sections on the 1ST CAV are unreal ! Mr. Nolan is accomplished at using the veterans own words and emotions to make you feel as if you were in the firefight. I cannot say enough good things about this author and his books. If your interest is the Vietnam War, his books are a must read. Keith, if you read this,drop me an email at [e-mail]. Thanks Keith, you are one of us !

Rating:
Summary: A Good Soldiers Account of the Cambodian Operation
Review: The Cambodian invasion of 1970 is treated in a string of interrelated episodes; the story-telling is good but as military history, this falls short. No real analysis because the author is non-military. Note, intelligence is virtually ignored throughout the book; no S-2s were contributors (yet virtually every S-3 operations officer is listed). The book does point out how armor-heavy the Cambodian incursion was and also how effective the NVA was in dealing with US armor. Numerous M113 ACAVs and M551 Sheridans, as well as M48 Pattons were knocked out by the ever-present RPG-7s. Nolan is a conservative, pro-military author who wants to paint the US military in a good light, but he does allow lapses, such as the occasional apathetic or druggie soldiers. His conclusion is that the incursion was a military success that saved US lives and bought us 12-18 months of relative quiet from the enemy. Unfortunately, he does not discuss ARVN operations much and ignores the wider political issues. Better maps, an Order of Battle appendix, a little more info from the enemy side and a better strategic overview would have made this a superb book.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Soldiers Account of the Cambodian Operation
Review: The Cambodian invasion of 1970 is treated in a string of interrelated episodes; the story-telling is good but as military history, this falls short. No real analysis because the author is non-military. Note, intelligence is virtually ignored throughout the book; no S-2s were contributors (yet virtually every S-3 operations officer is listed). The book does point out how armor-heavy the Cambodian incursion was and also how effective the NVA was in dealing with US armor. Numerous M113 ACAVs and M551 Sheridans, as well as M48 Pattons were knocked out by the ever-present RPG-7s. Nolan is a conservative, pro-military author who wants to paint the US military in a good light, but he does allow lapses, such as the occasional apathetic or druggie soldiers. His conclusion is that the incursion was a military success that saved US lives and bought us 12-18 months of relative quiet from the enemy. Unfortunately, he does not discuss ARVN operations much and ignores the wider political issues. Better maps, an Order of Battle appendix, a little more info from the enemy side and a better strategic overview would have made this a superb book.

Rating:
Summary: Story Told From The Soldier's Perspective
Review: This book is first and foremost a recounting of the Cambodian campaign from the perspective of those who fought it. It is far more than a history, however. In Mr. Nolan's own words, it's a tribute to the thousands of American soldiers whose courage and dedication to their comrades has been overlooked amidst the political furor that the incursion generated. His material comes from the soldiers themselves. It is an unflinching view of war by those who fought it. The book reveals two important aspects of the campaign often overlooked by other historians of the period. The first is that the US Army was saddled with an impossible mission in mid-1970 when this operation took place. Combat units were already being withdrawn from Vietnam in accordance with Nixon's Vietnamization policy. Even so, the Army leadership was tasked with continuing combat operations with the knowledge that every American casualty could, and perhaps, should be looked upon as an unnecessary sacrifice. This created terrific moral and professional dilemas within the Army seldom realized by those outside the military that reached down to the lowest levels of leadership: sergeants, lieutenants, and captains as well as their commanders. The second point is derived from the first; that the Army rallied around itself. Soldiers of all ranks developed an intense caring for their fellow comrades-in-arms. Ironically, these intense feelings of being their brother's keeper would play out in vastly different ways in different units. Mr. Nolan has captured this moral dimension of war at ground level that few others have been able to perceive. What then emerges is the heart-rendering courage and honorable self-sacrifice made by soldiers of all ranks that has been largely overshadowed by the controversies surrounding this operation as well the politically charged contemporaneous reporting of it.