Mark Bowden

“whirlwind of war.”

— Mark Bowden

“I'm not a ranger, I'm a pilot.”

— Mark Bowden

“ISO, FIRST TO GO! LAST TO KNOW!”

— Mark Bowden

“Hue had become a city of the dead.”

— Mark Bowden

“Never had a general so effectively willed away the facts.”

— Mark Bowden

Excited. In a good way. I've been training my whole life for this.

— Mark Bowden

“the domestic enemy’s inner sanctum, the National Press Club.”

— Mark Bowden

No one gets left behind, you know that.

— Mark Bowden

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

— Mark Bowden

“He was afraid a lot, but it had become a discerning fear.”

— Mark Bowden

“Beware of men with theories that explain everything.”

— Mark Bowden

“Snuffies didn’t bug out, and they didn’t write shit about you, either.”

— Mark Bowden

“Leadership was partly showmanship, and Westy neglected no means of projecting confidence, strength, and moxie.”

— Mark Bowden

“The invitations to the New Year’s Eve party at the American embassy in Saigon would read, “Come see the light at the…

— Mark Bowden

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

— Mark Bowden

“On the same convoy were two marine “snuffies,” or combat correspondents, Steve Berntson and Dale Dye.”

— Mark Bowden

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

— Mark Bowden

“They had traveled the world, to Korea, Thailand, Central America ... they knew each other better than most brothers did.”

— Mark Bowden

“They were called Ontos, after the Greek word for "thing," in part because they were ugly.”

— Mark Bowden

Do me a favor, okay? Tell my parents that I fought well today. And tell them that I... that I... that I…

— Mark Bowden

“When he got back to Phu Bai, one of the walking wounded, he was ordered to look through nearly a hundred body…

— Mark Bowden

“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

“Hanoi’s leaders were virtuoso songbirds of propaganda. They lived in a bubble. There were no voices of dissent in their society to…

— 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

“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

“The river’s name, Huong, evokes the pleasing scent of incense or the pink and white petals that float downstream in autumn from…

— Mark Bowden

“although it is true that after three weeks of heavy fighting the enemy was driven off, it was the impact of the…

— Mark Bowden

“But what if the death toll—which despite the distortions clearly favored the Americans—was having the opposite effect? What if heightened punishment by…

— Mark Bowden

“So they turned around and retraced their trip as morning dawned, eventually reentering the southern gate at Phu Bai. At about 8:30,…

— Mark Bowden

“Enemy morale has not been broken—he apparently has adjusted to our stopping his drive for military victory and has adopted a strategy…

— 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

“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

“Westmoreland’s body counts were bogus. He believed them—he was not the first general to welcome statistics he wanted to hear. But, in…

— Mark Bowden

“It was terribly risky, maybe even hopeless. But one or two properly armed, well-trained soldiers could hold off an undisciplined mob indefinitely.…

— 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

“The Americans had a wide range of feelings about it, but there is no question about their bravery and patriotism. In the…

— Mark Bowden

“General Maza, the survivor of two grotesque assassination attempts, put it bluntly: 'This country won't be put right as long as Escobar…

— Mark Bowden

“The smallest pleasure, like a mouthful of canned fruit or the chance to bathe in an ice-cold river, was a luxury, something…

— Mark Bowden

“Just take your flak jackets and some gear because we’ll be back for dinner.”

— Mark Bowden

“the final toll of the Battle of Hue numbers well over ten thousand, making it by far the bloodiest of the Vietnam…

— Mark Bowden