Currahee Chris
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 4,776
Just finished Hack's "Steel"
At first I was a bit turned off as he has always had a beef with brass and seems to play on like a broken record. Can't blame him though, it had to be tough to have gone through giving everything he had in him for his country and watching what he felt was ineptitude continue to climb up the ladder.
After Hack sounds off for a chapter or 2, he gets on to the business of discussing his tour there with the 4/39th, Hardcore battalion. Great great story. Hack takes you right into the heart of combat in Nam in 1969 and doesn't shake any details for the squeemish. A little heavy on the jargon so people unfamiliar with the terms like PZ, Unass the CO, etc, etc might find themselves getting lost.
Fantastic chapter in the book which pays tribute to the efforts of Army medics.
I was amazed at how restrictive airlift assets were in Nam. Time and again, Hack illustrated his frustration with not having enough air assets when he needed them most. I always just assumed that they were available to comamnders once approved by the S2 for a mission- little did I know.
I had the distinct privilige of meeting Hack (and his companion Eihlys) 2 years before he passed. He was a very very friendly man and talked to me and my wife and kids for several minutes. He signed all my books. What I thought was a tremendous gesture of humility was that my mom bought me Steel and another of his stories for my Birthday and she signed them to me. Hack didn't dare allow himself to sign above her name on the pages- he signed well below her.
The book illustrates the many acts of heroism by ordinary American soldiers and filled me with yet more pride that I have always had of our Viet Nam vets.
At first I was a bit turned off as he has always had a beef with brass and seems to play on like a broken record. Can't blame him though, it had to be tough to have gone through giving everything he had in him for his country and watching what he felt was ineptitude continue to climb up the ladder.
After Hack sounds off for a chapter or 2, he gets on to the business of discussing his tour there with the 4/39th, Hardcore battalion. Great great story. Hack takes you right into the heart of combat in Nam in 1969 and doesn't shake any details for the squeemish. A little heavy on the jargon so people unfamiliar with the terms like PZ, Unass the CO, etc, etc might find themselves getting lost.
Fantastic chapter in the book which pays tribute to the efforts of Army medics.
I was amazed at how restrictive airlift assets were in Nam. Time and again, Hack illustrated his frustration with not having enough air assets when he needed them most. I always just assumed that they were available to comamnders once approved by the S2 for a mission- little did I know.
I had the distinct privilige of meeting Hack (and his companion Eihlys) 2 years before he passed. He was a very very friendly man and talked to me and my wife and kids for several minutes. He signed all my books. What I thought was a tremendous gesture of humility was that my mom bought me Steel and another of his stories for my Birthday and she signed them to me. Hack didn't dare allow himself to sign above her name on the pages- he signed well below her.
The book illustrates the many acts of heroism by ordinary American soldiers and filled me with yet more pride that I have always had of our Viet Nam vets.