I've read one other book by Bing West, No True Glory, his book about the battle of Fallujah, an outstanding book I might add.
But I never knew until I read The Village that he was also a Marine who served in Vietnam in 1966-67 with one of the first CAP units there. This book is his account of that time,but even though he led many of the patrols of the CAP team, in this book he keeps himself as an unnamed character in the background and writes mainly about the other members of the squad.
This was his first book after coming home from Vietnam, first published in 1972. It is a great insider's point of view of the inner workings, few failures and many successes of the CAP squads.
He has also added an updated Author's Preface and Epilogue to the book, written after he returned to Vietnam in 2002 and revisited The Village.
An outstanding account of a Marine unit that very few people know anything about. The Marines who served in the CAP units are about the only people who know that much about them.
Semper Fidelis,
Chris
Later that night, while I was thinking about the day's somber events, Cpl. Richard A. Mason, an infantryman with Headquarters Platoon, who, in the short time I was with the company became a good friend, told me, "You're still here, don't forget that. Tell your kids, your grandkids, what Sgt. Peralta did for you and the other Marines today."
Quote from a story written by combat correspondent LCpl Travis J. Kaemmerer who,unfortunately,died in a car crash in Virginia after returning from Iraq.