Overview

Operation Hump, the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces, took place November 5-9, 1965, in South Vietnam's War Zone D. Known as """"The Hump,"""" it would change the nature of the war, escalating it from a hit-and-run guerrilla conflict to a bloody contest between Communist main force units and American commands of battalion size or larger. This memoir of an Operation Hump survivor begins with sequence of events leading up to the battle, from the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Drawing on official Army documents and the recollections of fellow combatants, the author not only describes the battle in detail but explains the war's basis in fabrications at the highest levels of the U.S. government. His experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder after the war and his eventual return to Vietnam in the 1990s are included.

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9780786499250

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Reviews

an extraordinary account of the operation.... Rarely does any rendering of battle weave such a detailed picture as seen through the eyes of a large array of the participants...vivid accounts...Conetto has elegantly achieved his purpose of paying 'tribute to the hundreds of young paratroopers'...a compelling story...an exceptional view of the battle as it unfolded...worthy of great praise --<i>Infantry</i>.

“Fifty years after the first major battle of the Vietnam war, an extraordinary account of the operation finally appears in print by one of the offices engaged in the fight. Rarely does any rendering of battle weave such a detailed picture as seen through the eyes of a large array of the participants....vivid accounts...Conetto has elegantly achieved his purpose of paying ‘tribute to the hundreds of young paratroopers’...a compelling story...an exceptional view of the battle as it unfolded...[Conetto’s] research, diligence in tracking down participants, and relentless scholarship are all worthy of great praise”—Infantry; “an interesting and important work on an otherwise obscure battle during the Vietnam War. Conetto’s prose is fluid and engrossing”—H-Net Reviews.

an extraordinary account of the operation.... Rarely does any rendering of battle weave such a detailed picture as seen through the eyes of a large array of the participants...vivid accounts...Conetto has elegantly achieved his purpose of paying 'tribute to the hundreds of young paratroopers'...a compelling story...an exceptional view of the battle as it unfolded...worthy of great praise --Infantry; an interesting and important work on an otherwise obscure battle during the Vietnam War. Conetto's prose is fluid and engrossing --H-Net Reviews.

Fifty years after the first major battle of the Vietnam war, an extraordinary account of the operation finally appears in print by one of the offices engaged in the fight. Rarely does any rendering of battle weave such a detailed picture as seen through the eyes of a large array of the participants....vivid accounts...Conetto has elegantly achieved his purpose of paying 'tribute to the hundreds of young paratroopers'...a compelling story...an exceptional view of the battle as it unfolded...[Conetto's] research, diligence in tracking down participants, and relentless scholarship are all worthy of great praise --Infantry; an interesting and important work on an otherwise obscure battle during the Vietnam War. Conetto's prose is fluid and engrossing --H-Net Reviews. an extraordinary account of the operation.... Rarely does any rendering of battle weave such a detailed picture as seen through the eyes of a large array of the participants...vivid accounts...Conetto has elegantly achieved his purpose of paying 'tribute to the hundreds of young paratroopers'...a compelling story...an exceptional view of the battle as it unfolded...worthy of great praise --Infantry; an interesting and important work on an otherwise obscure battle during the Vietnam War. Conetto's prose is fluid and engrossing --H-Net Reviews.

Author Information

Al Conetto spent more than five years on active duty including 17 months in Vietnam. He left the Army as a Captain and is now retired and lives in Walla Walla, Washington, USA.

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