Alpha One Sixteen
A Combat Infantryman's Year in Vietnam
Peter Clark
- In
- this
- “great
- and
- necessary
- addition
- to
- the
- canon
- of
- Vietnam
- War
- memoirs”
- the
- author
- “is
- a
- thoroughly
- human
- Virgil
- guiding
- us
- through
- the
- hell
- of
- combat”
- (New
- York
- Journal
- of
- Books).Peter
- Clark’s
- year
- in
- Vietnam
- began
- in
- July
- 1966,
- when
- he
- was
- shipped
- out
- with
- hundreds
- of
- other
- young
- recruits
- as
- a
- replacement
- in
- the
- 1st
- Infantry
- Division.
- Assigned
- to
- the
- Alpha
- Company,
- Clark
- gives
- a
- visceral
- and
- vivid
- account
- of
- life
- in
- the
- platoon
- as
- he
- progresses
- from
- green
- recruit
- to
- seasoned
- soldier
- over
- the
- course
- of
- a
- year.Alpha
- One
- Sixteen
- follows
- Clark
- as
- he
- discovers
- how
- to
- handle
- the
- daily
- confusion
- of
- distinguishing
- combatants
- from
- civilians.
- The
- Viet
- Cong
- were
- a
- largely
- unseen
- enemy
- who
- fought
- a
- guerrilla
- war,
- setting
- traps
- and
- landmines
- everywhere.
- As
- he
- continues
- his
- journey,
- Clark
- gradually
- learns
- the
- techniques
- for
- coping
- with
- the
- daily
- horrors
- he
- encounters,
- the
- technical
- skills
- needed
- to
- fight
- and
- survive,
- and
- how
- to
- deal
- with
- the
- awful
- reality
- of
- civilian
- casualties.Fighting
- aside,
- it
- rained
- almost
- every
- day,
- and
- insect
- bites
- constantly
- plagued
- the
- soldiers
- as
- they
- moved
- through
- dense
- jungle,
- muddy
- rice
- paddies,
- and
- sandy
- roads.
- From
- the
- food
- they
- ate
- to
- the
- inventive
- ways
- they
- managed
- to
- shower—and
- the
- off-duty
- time
- they
- spent
- in
- the
- bars
- of
- Tokyo—every
- aspect
- of
- the
- platoon’s
- lives
- is
- explored
- in
- this
- revealing
- book.A
- Military
- Book
- Club
- main selection.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
