Mark Bowden

“Local recruits made regular night trips past villages on the city’s outskirts just to make guard dogs bark, which became such a…

— Mark Bowden

“Gunny, get down!” Ker told him. “You’re going to get hit!” “By the time I get down, I’ll already be hit,” he…

— Mark Bowden

No one gets left behind, you know that.

— Mark Bowden

“increasingly, they did not really know each other. The constant toll of death and injury, in addition to the policy of rotating…

— Mark Bowden

“Four specific missions were assigned: to spy on the nguy and American forces in the city; to recruit civilians to join the…

— Mark Bowden

“who opposed Hanoi not so much on ideological grounds, but because of its methods. They had seen the VC execute or imprison…

— Mark Bowden

“a southern colloquialism for vim, vigor, or gumption. A man who stood firm in the face of adversity was said to have…

— Mark Bowden

“Beware of men with theories that explain everything.”

— Mark Bowden

“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

“There were splits within families over the present war, where one son had sided with Saigon and the other with Hanoi. The…

— Mark Bowden

“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

“One of its analysts was Daniel Ellsberg, who at the time was back in the States compiling the report that—after he leaked…

— Mark Bowden

...Which brings me to the Hubble Space Telescope's newest images. If it's wonder that you're looking for, and mystery, don't just scan…

— Mark Bowden

“He was convinced that men lost their nerve in combat when they allowed themselves to think too much. The part movies never…

— Mark Bowden

“In the world's most dangerous country, the job of going after Pablo was the most dangerous position of all.”

— Mark Bowden

“A CIA report completed in 1968 found similarly: “The war and the bombing have eroded the North Vietnamese economy, making the country…

— Mark Bowden

“the truth of Ho’s teachings, that the party and the army were not enough. Real victory could come only from the people.”

— Mark Bowden

It's what you do right now that makes a difference.

— Mark Bowden

“the entire rationale for fighting in Vietnam was rooted in faith. Faith that his elected leaders and military bosses knew what they…

— Mark Bowden

“He knew the sound of an AK-47. It made a high-pitched, more mechanical crack than the American rifle, the M16, which made…

— Mark Bowden

“Anything was better than waiting in that hole trying to figure out what to think about in his last moments on earth,…

— Mark Bowden

“Sometimes the fate of an entire nation can hinge on the integrity of one man.”

— Mark Bowden

“China is traditionally Vietnam’s enemy. [Vietnam] had been kicking [invaders] out for millennia. And we were just the latest.”

— Mark Bowden

“He had spent his first day in Hue as scared as he had ever been. The fear had started when they were…

— Mark Bowden

“Two hundred and fifty American marines and soldiers were killed, and 1,554 wounded.75 Another 458 ARVN soldiers were killed and an estimated…

— Mark Bowden