3This illustrated book is a true and rare eye-witness account of what front-line combat was really like in the jungle of Vietnam. Some called it search and destroy. In reality, it was more like expose and retaliate. Written by a front- line Infantry Lieutenant who had a duty to keep as many of his men alive as possible. This book shows the 'boots-on-the-ground' perspective of real soldiers. Relive history with the best non-fiction Vietnam War book written this decade

The author, Lieutenant George M. Papa, details the time he spent as the Platoon Leader of 3^rd Platoon, Alpha Company, of the 1/46 Battalion, of the 196th Light Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division in the 'free-fire' zone of 'Eye Corps', during the Vietnam War.

Lt. Papa's full 13-month tour fell between the North Vietnamese Army's destruction of his battalion headquarters in May 1969 (battle of Landing Zone Professional) and the NVA overrun of that same relocated HQ in March 1971 (battle of LZ Mary Ann). Both of these defeats are detailed.

This last battle was such a disaster that several ranking officers were courts marshaled for dereliction of duty. Because of that investigation and the ensuing depositions, the true and shocking sequence of events during that battle are now accurately portrayed in this book.

In addition to many combat events, Lt. Papa also details the mistakes made by Washington, which included the failure to recognize and to fix the many local religious and social injustices, which fueled that war. The vast majority of the South Vietnamese were Buddhists, who could not vote or advance economically, so they inherently sympathized with their fellow Buddhists from the north to jointly reclaim South Vietnam from the minority, but controlling Catholic converts in the south, who usurped the vestiges of the former 100-year French occupation.

What finally caused the American military withdrawal was increased U.S. public opposition to that unwinnable, costly, and far away carnage. I.e., North Vietnam did not need to militarily smash South Vietnam; it only had to outlast the will of the U.S. people to stay in that conundrum.

After 14 years, the U.S. exit strategy and slogan was 'Peace with Honor'. This desperate policy was to try and save face by merely bolstering the ARVNs (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam), which was made up of primarily unwilling recruits from the majority Buddhist population in the South, to replace the U.S Army, and with little or no air or artillery support, somehow defend the oppressive South Vietnamese government, which was built on bribes, aid diversion and black market activity.

Needless to say, when the U.S. finally pulled the plug and left, the NVA forces surged south virtually unopposed; the corrupt regime in Saigon was rooted out; and they and their sympathizers became the desperate 'boat people'. The U.S. military left so much hardware behind that the NVA suddenly became the fifth best equipped military force in the world. This book is intended to become a movie, which is to be filmed in country, right where it all happened.