“THE MEN WHO SACRIFICED FOR THEIR COUNTRY ARE RIGHTFULLY HERALDED . . . This is an honest book–one well worth reading. . . . Stanton has laid his claim to the historian’s ranks by providing his reader with well-documented, interpretive assessments.” – Parameters The Vietnam War remains deep in the nation’s consciousness. It is vital that we know exactly what happened there–and who made it happen. This book provides a complete account of American Army ground combat forces–who they were, how they got to the battlefield, and what they did there. Year by year, battlefield by battlefield, the narrative follows the war in extraordinary, gripping detail. Over the course of the decade, the changes in fighting and in the combat troops themselves are described and documented. The Rise and Fall of an American Army represents the first total battlefield history of Army ground forces in the Vietnam War, containing much previously unreleased archival material. It re-creates the feel of battle with dramatic precision. “Stanton’s writing . . . gives the reader a terrifying graphic description of combat in the many mini-environments of Vietnam.” – The New York Times “[A] MOVING, IMPORTANT BOOK.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch From the Paperback edition. More praise for The Rise and Fall of an American Army “Stanton captures vividly . . . the ferocity of the fighting. At times, his descriptions make you think he’s writing about the bloody front in World War I . . . . [This book] provides fresh confirmation that . . . in battle after battle, American troops fought with incredible courage.” – The American Spectator “Stanton has written by far the best book yet published about U.S. soldiers and marines in combat in Vietnam. . . . His word pictures of the violent encounters of that war are clear, evocative and authentic.” –GEN. WILLIAM E. DEPUY ARMY magazine “A lasting tribute to the men who fought and died in Vietnam. Those who served there–and those who would understand those who served there–owe [Stanton] an enormous debut of gratitude.” –COL. HARRY SUMMER from the foreword “This is one of those books every infantryman should own.” – Infantry magazine From the Paperback edition. Shelby L. Stanton is a noted military historian. During the conflict in Vietnam, he was commissioned as an infantry officer of the U.S. Army and completed the Airborne, Ranger, and Special Forces Officer courses. His six years on active military duty included service throughout Southeast Asia, where he earned the Vietnam service and campaign medals. He was also decorated for advisory duty in direct support of Cambodian operations. After being wounded in Laos, he was medically retired with the rank of captain. Stanton received a B.A., M.Ed., and J.D. from Louisiana State University. He is also the author of Rangers at War ; Vietnam Order of Battle ; and O rder of Battle, U.S. Army, World War II . From the Paperback edition. CHAPTER 1 Advisors and Special Forces 1. Advisors at War To many Vietnamese, their narrow S-shaped strip of land stretching along the seaward rim of Southeast Asia resembled a dragon facing the equator. The head and mane formed the southern region, with front legs thrust out into the Gulf of Siam, and the slender body curved around the Gulf of Tonkin to coil its massive tail against China in the north. Since the Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954, this dragon had been chopped in half, divided at a line of demarcation along the 17th parallel. This was the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating North and South Vietnam. Vietnamese geomagicians were quick to point out that, in the position described, the Vietnamese dragon was a portent of national reunification. Vietnam’s southern half was officially the Republic of Viet- nam, a thin 1,500-mile crescent-shaped country more commonly known as South Vietnam. Its long outer coasts are washed by the Pacific Ocean, and its interior mosaic of moun- tains, jungles, plains, and swamps are hedged in by the spine of the Chaine Annamitique, a western mountain range, which fades south into a vast alluvial plain created by the delta of the Mekong River. Palm-lined white sand beaches fringe coves and bays where coral reefs can be clearly seen through the glassy sea. A vibrant green mantle of rice paddies extends inland. These stretch almost endlessly across the flat delta, crisscrossed by ribbons of canals. At the time of the war, many areas of South Vietnam remained a wild and exotic wilderness. Mountain slopes dropped deep into luxurious growths of tropical flora, bracken, tuft-twisted bamboos, and majestic jungle trees. Silver rivers and waterfalls laced the deep rain forests. These were steeped in a wonderful variety of folklore and legend. Large rubber and coconut plantations stretched across rolling plains, and tigers stalked pine-forested plateaus. Tropical monsoons allowed only two seasons; hot and dry and hot and rainy, and the alternation of the mon