Vietnam Combat

Firefights and Writing History

By: Robin Bartlett

Narrated by: Chris Monteiro

The year 1968 was arguably the most significant year of the war. It was the height of the American involvement, and because officer casualties had been so great after the Tet Offensive of January 1968, all prior officer assignments were canceled.

1st Lieutenant Robin Bartlett suddenly found himself at the "repo-depo" in Bien Hoa reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. The unit had more helicopter support than any other unit in Vietnam. Immediate support from artillery, helicopter gunships, and ARA was only minutes away to support a firefight. Wounded troops could be medevaced even in dense jungle using "jungle penetrators." It also meant that Bartlett's platoon could deploy through helicopter combat assaults into hot LZs (landing zones) at a moment's notice if an enemy force had been spotted. And they did.

It was with extreme anxiety that Bartlett made his way to join his battalion and company—it was the worst of times to be a platoon leader in Vietnam. Bartlett also had to cope with personal issues of commitment to a war that was rapidly losing support not only back home but among the soldiers he was leading. Fifty years later, Bartlett's vivid combat experiences are brought to light in a fast-moving, well-written, first-person narrative expressing the horror, fear, anguish, and sometimes illogical humor of that war.

©2023 Robin Bartlett (P)2023 Tantor

Great First Person Account Of The Vietnam War

Interesting and very well written account of the Vietnam War from the point of view of a Platoon leader.

The book is full of details about the daily life of soldiers, their struggles, pastimes and encounters with the enemy.

There are also some funny anecdotes that make the whole book much more enjoyable.

Excellent "boots on the ground" perspective.

This is an excellent "boots on the ground" perspective of a platoon leader in the war. It is very well written, and contains all aspects of the war- horrifying, humorous, and the seemingly trivial but fascinating issues soldiers faced. The narration is off in the introduction, but picks up quickly in the rest of the book.

One of best accounting of war

Enjoyed the story and I’ve read at least 100 of them. Welcome home my brothers.

He told the truth, the good and the bad.

Nothing, his VN War memoir is not very different from many other memoirs that I have read.

Detail

I was a 11 BRAVO IN 23rd ID Light Infantry. 1sf/52nd
AMERICAL 1970. It brought back alot of memories. Sure glad I don't have to do it again. If President Trump is not on the ballot, or if they jerk the election votes around, there is going to be hell to pay.

I enjoy this book

I have read over 30 Vietnam war book , This was very interesting and different from the rest . I believe the last chapter said it all about the war ,very well put !!! My heart goes out to all the people that were affected by it , Thanks for sharing your story.

A.I.

The narration sounded so robotic it was hard to get into it. Seemed to get better towards the end of the book.

Outstanding

Over the years I’ve tried very hard to read or listen to every non-fiction book about the Vietnam War that I can find, and this one will be listened to again. In the last chapter, there was a section about how Americans simply don’t understand, or haven’t been taught the history of the sacrifice in lives, and lesser important the billions of dollars that are left behind by war. Books like this will hopefully show people how important the price that every Vet pays is immeasurable.

The author irritated me.

The author irritates me. Thankful for his service and sacrifice none the less. OK read.