Once a Warrior King: Memories of an Officer in Vietnam"Portrays the Vietnam experience of an officer and a gentlemen. It is the story of a man with a sense of honor and responsibility that extended beyond his immediate command and encompassed the people of the rural Vietnamese village he was sent to defend. It is a portrait of a compassionate man, a humane soldier and a soldierly humanist, and the precarious mental and physical balance he maintained through the horrors of war. In April 1969, David Donovan arrived in the Mekong Delta. A raw and idealistic first lieutenant fresh from the Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Donovan joined an isolated four-man American team operating alone in a remote rural area of the Delta, sent off by the army to cooperate with village chiefs and local militia- and to win the war. As chief commanding officer of his unit, Donovan led patrol and combat missions, and this book vividly recreates the suspense of night ambushes and the high-pitched emotions of surprise attacks and man-to-man warfare in the swamps and jungles of the Delta. But Donovan also became involved with the lives of the civilians of Tram Chim in a role beyond that of military adviser. He was caught up in the Vietnamese culture, its local and national politics, in friendships and families torn apart by the tragic war. Eventually he was inducted into a Vietnamese brotherhood- a sect of honorary "warrior kings." On his return to the United States, Donovan found that Vietnam had become a part of him, separating him from his wife and children, his family and friends. Donovan's chilling account of "coming home, " of his enormous internal battle, is as dramatic as his tales of combat in the Delta. Powerfully written, taut, and compelling, this is an extraordinary book about the Vietnam experience that will burn itself into the minds and hearts of readers." -- Book Jacket |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
ambush American ammo arms army asked began boat bunk bunker C-ration called canal bank Cao Lanh chopper compound crawled damned Dark Delta dead district chief eyes feel felt fire Foxtrot front girls going Green Flagon guys hamlet hand head heard helicopter hell Hoa Hao hooch IV Corps Jackson jungle killed knew Long Xuyen looked MAT team medevac Mekong Mekong Delta mortar rounds move never night Nungs officer operation patrol PBR's Phoenix program platoon leader prisoners province team pulled punji stakes radio rifle Roddenberry Saigon sampans seemed Sergeant Abney Sergeant Fitz Sergeant Robertson shot shoulder side smile soldiers South Vietnam stared stop sure Tái talk team house tell thing thought told Tram Chim tree tree line tried troops Trung úy trying turned units Viet Cong Vietnam Vietnamese village waiting walked wall wanted watch woman Zulu