OPERATION BUFFALO

Rating:
Summary: I was there!!
Review: All I want to say is that I was there in Brovo 1/9 I lost my best friend there and to this day I still have a hard time with it, as I'm sure I always will. I love this country and I'm prood to say that I'm a Marine.
Ollie B 1/9
One of the Battling Bastards of Bloody Brovo

Rating:
Summary: I was there!!
Review: All I want to say is that I was there in Brovo 1/9 I lost my best friend there and to this day I still have a hard time with it, as I'm sure I always will. I love this country and I'm prood to say that I'm a Marine.
Ollie B 1/9
One of the Battling Bastards of Bloody Brovo

Rating:
Summary: Accurate account of "The Walking Dead's" normal day
Review: First heard about the prime day of the book from a fellow MARINE who had been there and described it as similar to a firefight we had both been in, except there was no rear. I knew many men who died during the operation, and know many who survived. To a one they say it is accurate, and are proud to have their story told. My first thought was that NOLAN had been there. Oddly enough there is a quote on the liner notes from an upcoming 3 star Gen Libutti. He doubts the statement from McNamara" that all is quiet on the DMZ"Operation Buffalo is a book that men pass from one friend to another.

Rating:
Summary: this book got me "into" reading mil history
Review: I picked this book up on the recommendation of a friend several years ago. I grew up on Navy bases around the country and had disdain for the military life. But,I grew up and realized the value of our soldiers. Reading this book I got goose bumps and actually felt the tension of the call "incoming!". These guys were incredibly brave (or foolish!) I don't think any of us who have not been in combat can really appreciate the terror of it but Nolan does a good job of getting that accross! I now have a profound respect for all branches of the military and read every "oral history" book I can lay my hands on. (I wish my dad would write about his 2 1/2 years over there...but he won't say a word)

Rating:
Summary: Slugging it out with the NVA.
Review: In the summer of 1967 the USMC found itself engaged in a battle that caught them by suprise and cost them over 180 soldiers KIA and many more WIA. Vietnam was a war where many restriction were placed on American fighting forces, those restrictions were even stricter in the strange terrain of the DMZ. Like other books by Mr. Nolan (Into Laos and Into Cambodia come to mind) there is rich detail and information woven into a story by a chronological telling of event leading up to and through the battle. While there is a very good and informative sitrep of American (particularly USMC) involvement in Vietnam the strength of this book is it's "put you in the foxhole" eyes view of the fight. I had never read an account of where almost an entire American Company was overrun by large NVA forces, it is not pretty. I have read that ear collecting was something that happened in the war to dead enemy soldiers, the NVA put their own sick twist on this sort of war atrocity by collecting USMC tattoos from fallen grunts. There are graphic descriptions of the early M-16 problems which ended up causing the USA and USMC many casualties. This book contains some things that really suprised me, NVA soldiers equiped with flame-throwers looking for suvivors of the initial ambush, NVA artillery support which was accurate and protected from US airpower hitting American forces with a sustained barrage, NVA use of USMC gear such as flak vests and radios, American tanks being blown away like toys. There are many sad twists, if you are looking for a John Wayne type combat read stick to a novel, this one hurts the heart. I can't say enough about this book, if you are a student of the fighting in Southeast Asia get this book, Mr. Nolan really puts things together in this clear and painfully vivid book.

Rating:
Summary: My friends were there...
Review: My friend Beetle was there. Lee Burns was there. Others were there. Nolan writes almost as if HE were there. It happened before I got in-country, but it was a legendary fight by legendary Marines and Nolan tells the story so very well. I am proud to have helped carry these Marines in my helicopters and supported them in every way possible. They are heroes in the truest sense of that so misused word. This book is an EXCELLENT read!

Rating:
Summary: Love and Hate
Review: This is a must have book for your library. After over 30 years you forget why you hated Vietnam until you read a book that brings back all the memories. This is such a book. I served with 1/1 and 3/1 after these battles and am amazed that keith Nolan is able to bring to life what it meant to serve in a Marine Corps Infantry Bn in Vietnam. I got angry, I laughed and I cried as I read this book. At times I felt like I could reach out and touch some of the people, the writing was so vivid. Everyone should read this book and remember what the Marines paid in blood for that war. THANK YOU USMC for what you gave me and THANK YOU Marines all over the world protecting us now.