Vietnam War Diary

A month-by-month diary of the US forces' war in Southeast Asia which includes hundreds of news stories, personal accounts, and extracts from official reports.

“The first definitive eyewitness account of the combat in Vietnam, this unforgettable, vividly illustrated report records the story of the 14,000 Americans fighting in a new kind of war. Written by one of the most knowledgeable and experienced of America’s war correspondents, Vietnam Diary shows how we developed new techniques for resisting wily guerrilla forces. Roaming the whole of war-torn Vietnam, Tregaskis takes his readers on the tense U.S. missions—with the Marine helicopters and the Army HU1B’s (Hueys); with the ground pounders on the embattled Delta area, the fiercest battlefield of Vietnam; then to the Special Forces, men chosen for the job of training Montagnard troops to resist Communists in the high jungles. Mr. Tregaskis tells the stirring human story of American fighting men deeply committed to their jobs—the Captain who says: “You have to feel that it’s a personal problem—that if they go under, we go under;” the wounded American advisor who deserted the hospital to rejoin his unit; the father of five killed on his first mission the day before Christmas; the advisor who wouldn’t take leave because he loved his wife and feared he would go astray in Saigon. And the dramatic battle reports cover the massive efforts of the Vietnamese troops to whom the Americans are leaders and advisors. An authority on the wars against communism is Asia, Tregaskis has reported extensively on the Chinese Civil War, Korea, the Guerrilla wars in Indochina, Malaya, and Indonesia. He was the winner of the George Polk Award in 1964 for reporting under hazardous conditions.-Print ed.

FEAR & REALITY. . . A Vietnam War Diary The first person account of a U.S. Army Combat Military Policeman's experiences in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam from 1966 until 1967. The account of a struggle to implement the combined U. S. Military/ South Vietnamese Pacification Program while enforcing the Military Code of Conduct. Serving with units of the 101st Airborne and the 1st Cavalry Division of the US Army, the author found himself, at times, deep in the enemy territory. It is a story about the daily exertion required to survive the hostile jungle environment, punctuated by short bursts of intense fear, exhilaration, and death. The author experiences first hand the up-close and personal combat of guerrilla war. It is also a story of a real test of faith and the search for understanding. The author displays vivid raw emotions as they occurred and which will never be forgotten. A walk in reality to be enjoyed by everyone who wants to know what kind of war it was, and a chance to relate for my fellow veterans. From the Author I dedicate this recounting to all my brothers who served in Vietnam and did a job that seemed as thankless as any in our history as a Nation. It is offered as a rebuttal to all the popular novels depicting the American solider as a dishonorable lot. The truth is almost 3,000,000 men and women served in the Vietnam War and the vast overwhelming majority served their country honorably. Latrell Bellard

“Remarkable. . . . A gift from a heroine who was killed at twenty-seven but whose voice has survived to remind us of the humanity and decency that endure amid—and despite—the horror and chaos of war.” —Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine Brutally honest and rich in detail, this posthumously published diary of a twenty-seven-year-old Vietcong woman doctor, saved from destruction by an American soldier, gives us fresh insight into the lives of those fighting on the other side of the Vietnam War. It is a story of the struggle for one’s ideals amid the despair and grief of war, but most of all, it is a story of hope in the most dire circumstances. “As much a drama of feelings as a drama of war.” —Seth Mydans, New York Times “A book to be read by and included in any course on the literature of the war. . . . A major contribution.” —Chicago Tribune “An illuminating picture of what life was like among the enemy guerrillas, especially in the medical community.” —The VVA Veteran, official publication of Vietnam Veterans of America

Vietnam Diary, first published in 1963, is veteran war correspondent Richard Tregaskis' eyewitness account of the early period of the Vietnam War. The Diary is filled with personal stories of some of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam at the time-some heroic, some tragic, but all moving. Missions of the U.S. Marines, U.S. Army , and Special Forces are detailed, as is the larger picture of American advisors leading Vietnamese troops into battle against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Illustrated throughout with b/w photographs.

'THE VIETNAMESE ANNE FRANK' Last Night I Dreamed of Peace is the moving diary kept by a 27-year-old Vietnamese doctor who was killed by the Americans during the Vietnam War, while trying to defend her patients. Not only is it an important slice of history, from the opposite side of Dispatches and Apocalypse Now, but it shows the diarist - Dang Thuy Tram - as a vibrant human being, full of youthful idealism, a poetic longing for love, trying hard to be worthy of the Communist Party and doing her best to look after her patients under appalling conditions. She wrote straight from the heart and, because of this, her diary has been a huge bestseller in Vietnam and continues to fascinate at a time of renewed interest in the Vietnam War.

In these excerpts from his diary, a young soldier records the ordeal of his war experiences and his inner conflicts as he reexamines his values in life.