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About the Author

Keith William Nolan has published six previous books on the Vietnam War, including Operation Buffalo and The Magnificent Bastards. As a reviewer of one of his books said, "Nolan is a master of the personal interview. . . . He has the uncanny ability to convey not merely facts, but feelings." Nolan lives and writes in Webster Groves, Missouri.

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Product details

Series: Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series (Book 45)

Paperback: 240 pages

Publisher: Texas A&M University Press (October 29, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1585446432

ISBN-13: 978-1585446438

Product Dimensions:

6 x 0.6 x 9 inches

Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

4.9 out of 5 stars

31 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#762,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

I don't love it but it is an excellent book. I have not read it all. I can't. When I do I can't get VN out of my head for weeks. So I have had to limit my reading. I have mostly been reading the part leading up to the move from LZ Professional to LZ Maryann. I actually had been on MaryAnn a few months earlier and everyone dreaded the move. It would be miserable and dangerous and that was clear to us. We were fairly safe working out of Professional.I was a 11B40, shake-'n-bake in the field and with Co C most of the time. I was 25 and had nearly completed my first MA in Psychology when I was forced into the war. Also I am a AF military brat; I went to HS in Japan, for example. This was not the military I was raised in; this was not my dad’s military. It was an abomination. Totally un-American. I can’t say that was Nolan’s intent but the conclusion is clear. My mom was pulled over by police on her way back from dropping me off to be conscripted. She couldn’t stop crying. Her way of life as a military wife for 30 years was being assaulted—and so was her son.I was with 1/46, Co C, from Sep 70 to the end of May 71 when I was given a surprise drop and went home about one to two weeks before the move. The whole time I was in VN the leadership was incompetent. (Was it ever competent?) We did have one Company Commander for a while who knew what he was doing and had leadership skills—and a lifer no less. Also our Platoon Leader was excellent; we trusted him completely. I am guessing an officer mentioned in the book (Doyle?), tried to give him a direct commission on the spot to get him to stay but he was no idiot; he was, after very competent. He refused and went home the week after the move to MaryAnn. If I am remembering correctly, he said he was on the last helicopter before the monsoon stopped resupplying the LZ. I was not particularly competent; I was drafted and never intended to be competent. What on earth did they expect of a slave army?Saved. But my sergeant and I would have been there when my Company refused to go into combat. (I forget the details.) That they refused orders is not a surpriseAnother problem I can see with an otherwise excellent book was his notion that a few people were only interested in protecting themselves and would not be interesting in protecting their group. Also they were not thought well of by their co-draftees. Yes and no. Commonly in the Spring of 71, draftees would say things like, “I owe it to my bod,” as justification for doing something. This meant my job here is to get home in one piece. It was the common attitude. The only one I came across who did not have that attitude was a guy who was putting himself in dangerous situations; I was not the only one convinced he was trying to kill himself and stayed away from him to avoid being collateral damage. (He succeeded.) This ‘owe it to yourself’ attitude did not mean draftees would not take chances protecting their friends or that we did not trust our platoon sergeant, it just meant we would not take any chances doing what the military wanted them to do. One’s perspective on this common attitude depends whether you are bossing draftees around or if you are being bossed around by blazing obvious incompetents.Notebly Nolan did not mention fragging. This is way beyond bad moral but is a clear indicator of the draftee’s attitude toward their ‘leaders’. That spring there had been two attempts in the battalion area at Chu Lai to frag lifers. One was a battalion major (a dud hand grenade was found under his air conditioned plywood 'hootch' with the pin pulled). He called a formation and yelled and screamed at us; we were very amused, frankly. Another time a hand grenade was thrown into a lifer NCO’s, merely screened-in, hootch and exploded just as he walked out. At the time I was leaving there was talk of taking up a collection to frag Co C's Company Commander because he was dangerous. After I got back to the world, I talked to a friend in the same basic training company who scored a clerk job with another battalion in VN who said there were several fragging attempts he was aware of in his own battalion but they were not publicized. All these were in the rear. Fraggings in the field could easily be disguised, of course, and would be. I think fraggings were mainly motivated by self-defense. At other times it may have been kind of a vague war against the government/military—I believe that is not an exaggeration.Another comment on the morale that is often missed: Bob Hope was widely despised by draftees. I am guessing it was his association with military leadership. After all, can you imagine men of draft age appreciating Bob Hope’s ol’-boys comedy style and WWII attitudes? Another reason might be his appearance as narrator in a film shown in Basic Training about the consequences of going AWOL; the film was odious. When Bob Hope was in the area one person from LZ professional was chosen to go to one of his shows. He was part of a group of draftees chosen from combat units in the area. He was glad to go because it was time out of the field. I talked to him after he got back and he said they put the actual solders in the front for show with the lifers watching from further back. The battalion cooks provided the vegetables to throw at Bob Hope. Hope ignored it. Apparently it had happened before.As fate would have it I met several years later a very attractive entertainer who was traveling in VN with another old-time entertainer. (She told me she was on a firebase that was attacked, she was given an M-16, and told to “fire in that direction!” And she did. A woman in combat.) Anyway, she said they typically would have to have dinner with flirty old farts (not her words). She also said that the entertainers were not allowed to associate with ‘enlisted’ (drafted) men their age. Of course not.I should not have written this. I am getting very anxious reliving this stuff. Got to stop. Overlooked I think is what a major contribution to PTSD all this is—PTSD is not just from combat, bad enough as that is, it is also caused by the military itself.–‘Professor’

I was an officer and mostly a REMF at Chu Lai and Tam Ky when Mary Ann was overrun and we of course heard about it. Nolan tells the larger story and confirms what we heard at the time. It tears your heart out that the officers and the men themselves allowed the conditions to exist for this debacle. Sadly, such was not unique to them in this era.I agree with others that this should be required reading - not just for staff officers but for every man and woman in the service. This narrative is not the pap of a lecturer reading from a script at basic training or at an officer basic course but a grim, detailed account of a military tragedy candidly described by those who experienced it. Such complacency, lethargy and dereliction of professional duty and personal responsibility cannot be tolerated by anyone in the military, and such must be appreciated not only in the chain of command but throughout the ranks.In the larger picture, regardless of what one thinks about the original merit of the Vietnam war, we as Americans cannot ever again allow our country to find itself in a half-hearted, politically run conflict which breeds the attitudes both at home and in the services that fostered this and other such disasters and the untold number of casualties that resulted.

I helped reopen Firebase Maryann and was at many of the sites referenced early in the book. I was with the 81mm mortar used at LZ Young, on the fog and rain plagued knoll with Alpha Co when any resupply was diverted to remove the poncho-clad body of the cherry that ate C-4 back on Maryann, and when Sargent Ball was fragged in his in the partially- constructed bunker. Fortunately I Deros'd back to the world in December so I didn't experience the events in the core of the book.I did feel that much of what was described was accurate but it also left out much of what displayed the weakness in leadership in the latter Vietnam era army. Rotating officers just as they gained experience was insane with all of the growing morale problems. Even the security at the previous firebase, Professional, was better organized with nightly H&I fire missions for the mortars and 105's.The kindle version did cause me to locate and buy a hardcover copy of this book for my history collection

Just re-read this great piece of history by Keith Nolan. Very well done, with a good objective take on this fight.There are some uncanny parallels between the conduct of the ARVN on Mary Ann, and some of the actions we've seen of late from our Afghan and Iraqi allied forces. This fight also clearly indicates the need for discipline in securing fixed locations, which is always a challenge. Even at COP Keating and COP Kahler we have not had the kind of letdown that happened at Mary Ann. Even with a professional Army that doesn't tolerate drugs, and is much less tolerant of alcohol use (i.e., none in theater), it still takes effective small unit leadership to avoid this type of calamity.The only critique I would offer is that it would have been better with more maps, sketches, and pictures, as well as the perspective from leaders or soldiers on the North Vietnamese side.

I really like Keith William Nolan's books. This is not my favorite of his, but as always, it's well researched and his writing style takes you along for an incredible ride. If you are a fan of either the Vietnam War, KWN's writing, or just looking for an intense read about men in combat this is a good book and will deliver for you.

Excellent research and writing, detailing a terrible, sad, event.

true to the t

I lost a dear friend at Firebase Mary Ann. I never really knew where or how Mike Crossley died until his sister told me to read "Sappers in the Wire: The Life and Death of Firebase Mary Ann". He was a great friend and died way too young. Reading this book finally gave me the knowledge of how my friend died. It was well researched and well written.

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