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Rating: 
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: At some point in this book, all of the anecdotes become something larger than they were when they were read individually. The real life memories are troubling, humorous, horrific and inspiring, and their combined effect provides a unique and unforgettable insight into the soldiers' experiences in the Vietnam War.
Rating:
Summary: Important and interesting
Review: I met a Vietnam Vet my junior year in high school, he was missing an arm and one of his eyes. The movie Platoon had just come out. When asked if the events in Platoon really happened, his answer has stuck with me to this day. He said, "I believe that everything depicted in the movie was pretty accurate to events that did in fact occur. The only difference is that I don't believe it could have all happened to the same group of men." He then went on to say that the night the "Deer Hunter" played on national television, hundreds of Vietnam Vets committed suicide. It was his opinion that when Platoon eventually played on TV, it would be double. Years later when I read "Nam" by Mark Baker, those words were with me. Did these stories really happen? I'm sure there are inaccuracies, but these are those who were there. Is there anyone who can stand up and say they didn't happen? It's unfortunate that we can't ask those who ended their lives after seeing a movie that was to some also fiction. Would they say these stories are untrue? If you are like me, you take their word for it and you have no choice but to be filled with a dozen different emotions, the majority of which are nothing close to joyous. If you have any interest in what Vietnam was about to the individuals who served, you really should read this book. Here you will not hear about politics, or the impact of the television on public opinion. You won't get sound bites from presidents or celebrities. What you will get is a few hours spent with men and women who had to live in that place day after day. You will find that it wasn't always bombs and bullets they feared, but the very ticking of the clock itself. The incessant monotony that lulled them to sleep would then awake them with blinding flashes of their own deaths. Some of these stories you will never be able to forget, nor should you. This is an event we would do well to remember in all its horrible detail. "Nam" goes a long way to ensure that forgetting is something we will never be able to do.
Rating:
Summary: THE ABSOLUTE BEST
Review: I read this book about ten years ago. I bought a paperback in a drugstore and read it several times over before retiring it to the book shelf. I just researched it here to find out if it is still in print. Too bad that it's not. I WOULD recommend this book to anyone wanting to read about the REAL Vietnam. Well worth special ordering. This book is better than any movie or novel about Vietnam that I have ever read. It helped me have a better understanding of Vietnam Vets and what they endured. At nearly 30 years now since Vietnam, this book should be among the textbooks for US History. Lots of violence and adult language, but history is history. Report it like it was, then we can learn from our mistakes. GREAT BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: sensationalism, not history
Review: Like author Mark Baker, I'm not a veteran. I have, however, spent the last twenty-five years interviewing Vietnam veterans about their experiences in the war, and have published a number of non-fiction books on the subject. Not surprisingly, the veterans I've had the opportunity to speak with have described the war to me from a multitude of perspectives. There were those who believed in the war and those who didn't, those who served in units with good leadership and good morale and those who didn't, those who saw atrocities and those who didn't, those who used drugs and those who didn't, etc., etc., etc. With that in mind, I'd be curious as to how Mark Baker managed to find such a one-sided collection of veterans. Everyone in NAM seems to have soldiered in a demoralized unit with incompetent or crazed leaders in which drug abuse and atrocities were standard operating procedure. Hmmmmm, very suspicious. It seems that Baker must have thrown out every interview he did with veterans who served proudly in good units, or who saw both the good and bad sides of human nature in the war. How else to explain the unrelentingly negative parade of stories in NAM? Baker somehow managed to find more stories of sadism and murder in the handful of interviews he did than in the thousands I've done. Many of the stories don't even ring true. Either Baker spoke with veterans with a proclivity for exaggeration, or some of the guys he interviewed weren't even veterans to begin with. In sum, NAM is one of the most dishonest books ever published about the American combat soldier in Vietnam.
Rating:
Summary: sensationalism, not history
Review: Like author Mark Baker, I'm not a veteran. I have, however, spent the last twenty-five years interviewing Vietnam veterans about their experiences in the war, and have published a number of non-fiction books on the subject. Not surprisingly, the veterans I've had the opportunity to speak with have described the war to me from a multitude of perspectives. There were those who believed in the war and those who didn't, those who served in units with good leadership and good morale and those who didn't, those who saw atrocities and those who didn't, those who used drugs and those who didn't, etc., etc., etc. With that in mind, I'd be curious as to how Mark Baker managed to find such a one-sided collection of veterans. Everyone in NAM seems to have soldiered in a demoralized unit with incompetent or crazed leaders in which drug abuse and atrocities were standard operating procedure. Hmmmmm, very suspicious. It seems that Baker must have thrown out every interview he did with veterans who served proudly in good units, or who saw both the good and bad sides of human nature in the war. How else to explain the unrelentingly negative parade of stories in NAM? Baker somehow managed to find more stories of sadism and murder in the handful of interviews he did than in the thousands I've done. Many of the stories don't even ring true. Either Baker spoke with veterans with a proclivity for exaggeration, or some of the guys he interviewed weren't even veterans to begin with. In sum, NAM is one of the most dishonest books ever published about the American combat soldier in Vietnam.
Rating:
Summary: Vietnam through the Eyes of the GI
Review: Twenty years ago I bought this book while serving my country in the US Air Force. This book contains the words of the vets who served in the "Nam" and the experiences they faced each day whether it was humorous, serious, happy or sad. Mark Baker would definitely get five stars for compiling the words of the GI who relays his or her own experiences of the Vietnam War as it happened. As a veteran myself, though too young to have served in Vietnam that ended just five years prior to when I joined the service, we're all brethren. Whether we served in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan, and even during peacetime like I did, we're like brothers and sisters. For the Nam vets who have helped make this book possible, I thank you for serving this great country.
Rating:
Summary: Vietnam through the Eyes of the GI
Review: Twenty years ago I bought this book while serving my country in the US Air Force. This book contains the words of the vets who served in the "Nam" and the experiences they faced each day whether it was humorous, serious, happy or sad. Mark Baker would definitely get five stars for compiling the words of the GI who relays his or her own experiences of the Vietnam War as it happened. As a veteran myself, though too young to have served in Vietnam that ended just five years prior to when I joined the service, we're all brethren. Whether we served in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan, and even during peacetime like I did, we're like brothers and sisters. For the Nam vets who have helped make this book possible, I thank you for serving this great country.
Rating: 
Summary: For Vietnam Vets: sure to awaken a few personal demons
Review: War is hell. To this end, author Mark Baker collects a vast series of comments from many of the brave men and women who answered the nation's call to duty. In doing so, Baker captures the terrible bloodshed of the Vietnam war. The only negative factor of this book is that Baker is not a veteran. He is a journalist who did not serve in Vietnam. Consequently, a few of his snapshots are open to question. They certainly make for good copy but as a two tour USMC Vietnam vet I offer with absolute certainty that some parts of this book do not ring true. Nevertheless, this is an important book. Baker reaches out to vets and allows them to bare their soul. Some sections of this book are horrible. Others reflect well on the quality of the American fighting man. All in all, any young kid who foolishly thinks war is glorious and that the battlefield is a place of honor should read this book. It will probably save his or her life.
Rating:
Summary: For Vietnam Vets: sure to awaken a few personal demons
Review: War is hell. To this end, author Mark Baker collects a vast series of comments from many of the brave men and women who answered the nation's call to duty. In doing so, Baker captures the terrible bloodshed of the Vietnam war. The only negative factor of this book is that Baker is not a veteran. He is a journalist who did not serve in Vietnam. Consequently, a few of his snapshots are open to question. They certainly make for good copy but as a two tour USMC Vietnam vet I offer with absolute certainty that some parts of this book do not ring true. Nevertheless, this is an important book. Baker reaches out to vets and allows them to bare their soul. Some sections of this book are horrible. Others reflect well on the quality of the American fighting man. All in all, any young kid who foolishly thinks war is glorious and that the battlefield is a place of honor should read this book. It will probably save his or her life.
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