| gidsy71 | 31 Mar 2017 1:53 p.m. PST |
Just been doing some reading on the Vietnam War. Does anyone have any recommendations on movies and books for me to check out. Thanks in advance |
| stephen m | 31 Mar 2017 1:57 p.m. PST |
A lonely Kind of War. Marshall Harrison Life in an OV-10 Bronco for 6 months. |
 Stosstruppen  | 31 Mar 2017 3:08 p.m. PST |
Vietnam the 10,000 day war- documentary Phase Line Green – Book on Hue |
| boy wundyr x | 31 Mar 2017 3:34 p.m. PST |
There's a ton of cheap-o documentaries available in sets at Walmart and the like. None is great on their own, but for $10 USD you can get 20+ hours of authentic footage which is great for figuring out terrain, paint colours, and the odd bit of useful historical information or scenario idea. It's also useful to have in the background while painting etc. For books, Dak-To by Edward Murphy is a good one, though of a very limited scope, and Chickenhawk by Robert Mason is fascinating, though not useful from a wargaming perspective. |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 31 Mar 2017 4:35 p.m. PST |
I agree with boy wundyr x on Chickenhawk. It could be useful background if you're running a role-playing game set in the Vietnam War. I thought Tim O'Brien's book The Things We Carried was very good. |
| Col Durnford | 31 Mar 2017 5:37 p.m. PST |
Not a big fan of Tim O'Brien. Read his book and dropped it in the discard pile. Anything by the late Kieth Nolan. All nonfiction all keepers. Tiger Force is also a good read with a leftist spin. Inside the VC and the NVA by Lanningand Craig is a must have. Distant Challenge and Infantry in Vietnam are both great and if I only had two books on Vietnam they would be it. |
| Col Durnford | 31 Mar 2017 5:41 p.m. PST |
Movies: Hamburger Hill
Platoon leader – for the base camp.
Platoon – gets the buttons right. Would be a good start. |
| nvdoyle | 31 Mar 2017 5:51 p.m. PST |
Be wary of anything that spends more than twice as many pages on pre-1968 than post-1968. Too many histories look at Tet and say, 'Oh, well, war's over, nothing to see here.' 4 more years, and the transition in the war from Westmoreland to Abrams, and what Abrams did afterwards, is incredibly important. And 'We Were Soldiers Once, And Young' is a very good look into the early war. |
| nvdoyle | 31 Mar 2017 5:52 p.m. PST |
And here's a weird one – The Siege of Firebase Gloria. Best Vietnam (intentional) B-movie ever (I am not enamored of many). Unique in that it has a mortar duel in it. Also, R. Lee Ermey! |
| Col Durnford | 31 Mar 2017 6:01 p.m. PST |
Siege is also one of my guilty pleasures.
That said, it is one of the few that fully develops the NVA/VC side of the fight. |
| rick32 | 31 Mar 2017 6:08 p.m. PST |
The 13th Valley by John M Delvechio (sp?)is my favorite novel. Matterhorn by Karl Malantes is an excellent novel and should be required reading for young/new officers. I wish I had read it before I became a platoon leader but it wasn't written yet. Vietnam by Stanley Karnow for an excellent overall history of the conflict and then read "Street without Joy" by Bernard Fall for comparison to the earlier conflict. Agree wholeheartedly with those who recommend "Chickenhawk" by Robert Mason. The Last Valley by Martin Windrow on Dien Bien Phu is an outstanding read for Indochina. Another great novel is "A Dirty Distant War" by E. Nathanson and yes it is the sequel to "The Dirty Dozen" but is an excellent read on Indochina during the final months of WWII. There are many more excellent books out there but these were all well written and flow very well. |
| Major Mike | 01 Apr 2017 2:59 a.m. PST |
For books: A Rumor of War by Phillip Caputo, Infantry in Vietnam by Albert Garland, Sappers in the Wire: Life and Death of Firebase Maryann by Keith Nolan For movies: Go Tell the Spartans |
| Garryowen | 01 Apr 2017 9:58 a.m. PST |
Hamburger Hill is the best movie by far in my opinion. The movie Iron Triangle develops the Communist side of the fight. For books, almost anything by Keith William Nolan. Great for wargamers. Tom |
| rcleary171 | 11 Apr 2017 7:48 p.m. PST |
Great selections – thanks for the info. |
 KimRYoung | 27 Sep 2017 8:27 a.m. PST |
Ken Burns latest documentary "The Vietnam War" just started last week on PBS. It's also out on Blue Ray too. Great actual film footage from every perspective.
Kim
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| ScottS | 27 Sep 2017 11:14 a.m. PST |
Mark Bowden (author of Blackhawk Down) recently wrote a book called Hue 1968. It's well worth a look. |
| Blutarski | 28 Sep 2017 8:38 a.m. PST |
Consider looking into personal experiences by returned servicemen, which first started appearing in the early 80's. I've collected almost a hundred of them. Many of these writers give an honest description of VN service without pulling any punches for the sake of service prestige. One recent book I will suggest is "Abandoned in Hell – The Fight for Vietnam's Firebase Kate" by William Albracht and Marvin Wolf. Both are decorated VN veterans. Albracht was in command at Firebase Kate. Another worthwhile book is "Foxtrot Ridge – A Battle Remembered" by Mark Woodruff. +1 on "13th Valley". Yes, it's a "novel", but only very thinly so. Del Vecchio served in VN. +1 also for "A Lonely Kind of War". B |
| Rick Don Burnette | 29 Sep 2017 12:38 p.m. PST |
Bernard Fall
S L A Marshall |
| Blutarski | 02 Oct 2017 7:49 a.m. PST |
Just finished shelving the last of my VN library and came across another terrific book - "Firebase Illingsworth" by Philip Keith. A big +1 for this book. B |
