“The invitations to the New Year’s Eve party at the American embassy in Saigon would read, “Come see the light at the end of the tunnel.” — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“It was terribly risky, maybe even hopeless. But one or two properly armed, well-trained soldiers could hold off an undisciplined mob indefinitely. Shughart and Gordon were experts at killing and staying alive. They were serious, career soldiers, trained to get hard, ugly things done. They saw opportunity where others could see only danger. Like the other operators, they prided themselves… — Mark Bowden Copy Share
“Thomas Paine’s The Crisis—“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“Steele gave the unapologetic impression that he could break you with his bare hands if it weren’t for his strict devotion to Jesus and… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“In April 1967, Johnson had dispatched General Creighton Abrams to Vietnam as Westy’s deputy. Abrams, a famous tank commander in World War II, had… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“Westin celebrated the New Year by shooting off some hand flares. Orders were “no fireworks,” but you couldn’t expect several hundred thousand men in… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“the Tet surprise was regarded by Westy as proof of Hanoi’s weakness. Nowhere in his understanding of the war was there room for the size and quality of the force that had taken Hue. So the MACV in Saigon and General LaHue in Phu Bai simply refused to believe it had happened. Reports that contradicted this high-level understanding were dismissed… — Mark Bowden Copy Share
“Hanoi’s leaders were virtuoso songbirds of propaganda. They lived in a bubble. There were no voices of dissent in their society to check or… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“The fifty-three-year-old former Eagle Scout from South Carolina didn’t drink, smoke, or swear; the most colorful expletive in his vocabulary was “dad gum.”7 He… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“The smallest pleasure, like a mouthful of canned fruit or the chance to bathe in an ice-cold river, was a luxury, something to be… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“There were none of the card games marines usually played in downtimes. They were too tired to concentrate, and poker was serious business.” — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“Opposition to the war was becoming fashionable. Popular figures—intellectuals, athletes, musicians—stepped up to announce their opposition” — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“To me the way they were used, particularly the way their idealism and loyalty were exploited by leaders who themselves had lost faith in… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
