“In April 1967, Johnson had dispatched General Creighton Abrams to Vietnam as Westy’s deputy. Abrams, a famous tank commander in World War… — 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… — 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… — 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
“Nearly everyone had a father or uncles who had fought in World War II or Korea, or both, and many had grandfathers… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“The United States had complete control of the air over all of Vietnam, and could presumably deliver a decisive blow at will.… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“Richard Nixon was elected president mendaciously promising not victory, but a “secret plan” to bring the war to an “honorable end.” The… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“Four specific missions were assigned: to spy on the nguy and American forces in the city; to recruit civilians to join the… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“the AirCav now rode to battle on helicopters, usually Hueys,85 which could carry a full squad; or on the newer, giant twin-engine… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“There were splits within families over the present war, where one son had sided with Saigon and the other with Hanoi. The… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“he was not the first general to welcome statistics he wanted to hear—but the numbers emerged from an intricate origami of war… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“He was convinced that men lost their nerve in combat when they allowed themselves to think too much. The part movies never… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“A CIA report completed in 1968 found similarly: “The war and the bombing have eroded the North Vietnamese economy, making the country… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“All had had close calls. They lived in what combat correspondent Dale Dye would later call “the high weirdness of survival when… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“the final toll of the Battle of Hue numbers well over ten thousand, making it by far the bloodiest of the Vietnam… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“Marines do not hesitate in combat. If the Corps has a defining philosophy, that’s it. In war, when the enemy is foolish… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“From the perspective of nearly half a century, the Battle of Hue and the entire Vietnam War seem a tragic and meaningless… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“On the same convoy were two marine “snuffies,” or combat correspondents, Steve Berntson and Dale Dye.” — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“The Americans had a wide range of feelings about it, but there is no question about their bravery and patriotism. In the… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“What mattered in combat, what really mattered, was not only understanding why you asked men to risk their lives, but making them… — 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… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“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… — Mark Bowden Copy Share Image
“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
