Ian Gardner

Sign Here for Sacrifice (eBook, ePUB)

The Untold Story of the Third Battalion, 506th Airborne, Vietnam 1968

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

A hard-hitting history of the U.S. airborne unit who made a name for themselves in the unforgiving jungles of South Vietnam.

"It was easier killing than living." Third Battalion 506th Airborne veteran

Drawing on interviews with veterans, many of whom have never gone on the record before, Ian Gardner follows up his epic trilogy about the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II with the story of the unit's reactivation at the height of the Vietnam War. This is the dramatic history of a band of brothers who served together in Vietnam and who against the odds lived up to the reputation of their World War II forefathers.

Brigadier General Salve Matheson's idea was to create an 800-strong battalion of airborne volunteers in the same legendary "Currahee" spirit that had defined the volunteers of 1942. The man he chose to lead them was John Geraci, who would mold this young brotherhood into a highly cohesive and motivated force.

In December 1967, the battalion was sent into the Central Highlands of Lam Dong Province. Geraci and his men began their Search and Destroy patrols, which coincided with the North Vietnamese build-up to the Tet Offensive and was a brutal introduction to the reality of a dirty, bloody war. Gardner reveals how it was here that the tenacious volunteers made their mark, just like their predecessors had done in Normandy, and the battalion was ultimately awarded a Valorous Unit Citation. This book shows how and why this unit was deserving of that award, recounting their daily sanguinary struggle in the face of a hostile environment and a determined enemy.

Through countless interviews and rare personal photographs, Sign Here for Sacrifice shows the action, leadership, humor and bravery displayed by these airborne warriors.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK
• Seitenzahl: 304
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. Februar 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781472849458
• Artikelnr.: 66980638

Autorenporträt

Ian Gardner served for five years in Support Company, 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. Always enthusiastic about military history, several years after leaving 10 Para Ian became interested in World War II US Paratroopers. After a visit to Normandy in 2000 he decided to focus on the 3rd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which led to the critically acclaimed trilogy Tonight We Die As Men, Deliver Us From Darkness and No Victory in Valhalla. He is also the author of Airborne: The Combat Biography of Ed Shames of Easy Company. He is married with two grown-up children and lives near Aldershot in Hampshire.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgments List of Illustrations List of Maps Acronyms Introduction Chronology of Significant Events 1.
Salute the New Dawn
: Reactivation
Fort Campbell, Kentucky 2.
To the Limit and Beyond
: Training for Vietnam 3.
The Things We Cannot Change
: Shipping Out 4.
Only the Strong Survive
: Orientation and Deployment
October 28
November 30, 1967 5.
The Dragon's Graveyard
: Operation Rose
November 1967 6.
Battle Troopers
: Operation Klamath Falls
December 1967 7.
Badge of Courage
: The Battle of the Knoll
January 2, 1968 8.
The Aftermath
: January 3
8, 1968 9.
Beer, Bang, and Boom Boom
: Phan Rang
January 9
16, 1968 10.
Living in the Dirt
: Landing Zone Betty and Phan Thiet 11.
We Stand Together
: January 22
February 1, 1968 12.
Blood Trail 556
: The Battle of the Van Ta House
February 2, 1968 13.
Into the Sunrise
: February 3
5, 1968 14.
Death Patrol to Disneyland
: The Battle of Phu Bon and Beyond
February 6, 1968 15.
Take it to the Bridge
: The Second Battle of Phan Thiet
February 18
23, 1968 16.
Red Sand
: The Battle of the Ca Ty River
February 19, 1968 17.
After the Storm
: The Bowl
February/March 1968 18.
Watch and Shoot
: April 1968 19.
Let the Light Shine
: Operation MR-6, April 26
May 16, 1968 20.
Return to the Graveyard
: Operation Rockne Gold, May 19
27, 1968 21.
The Bitterest Pill
: Operation Banjo Royce and Beyond
June/July 1968 22.
The Protected Will Never Know
: August
October 1968 Epilogue Bibliography Index

Rezensionen

We need books like this because they remind us that the same dedication, teamwork, optimism and courage that defined the World War II generation also defined the generation that fought the war in Vietnam.