​Books for Vietnam Units of the 5th

LIMA-6: A Marine Company Commander in Vietnam
R. D. Camp. Jr. with Eric Hammel

In this vividly told first-person narrative, retired Marine Colonel Dick Camp colorfully recounts the daily combat actions and command decisions of his Vietnam experience as the commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines—from June 1967 through January 1968. As much as Lima-6 is about fighting the Vietnam War, it is also the story of the tight camaraderie of the Marine infantry company at war—of men from widely disparate backgrounds thrown together to succeed or fail as a fighting force. It is a compelling human story of an infantry company at war as seen through the eyes of its commander. An intensely frank, always human memoir, Lima-6 sets out to make no political ordeological points. It is a candid, refreshing narrative by a combat commander about the experience of command and the brotherhood of men at war.
1989 / HARDCOVER / PAPERBACK / KINDLE

Into The DMZ: A Battle History of Operation Hickory
​Mark A. Cauble

Mr. Cauble's style is very detailed and visual. Drawings of weapons and enemy tactics are provided, along with photographs and maps. The early chapters build a kind of nervous anticipation of what is to come. As the Marines head out on patrol, looking for an unseen and well defended enemy, carrying 100 pound packs in 100 plus degree weather, the reader is given a glimpse of the day to day, minute to minute life of a Marine in the field. In addition to facing enemy fire, the "Leathernecks" had to battle thirst, foot-long leeches, yard-long centipedes, tigers and rats. One rat in particular was so formidable, it became known simply as "the King Rat." Some of these stories make you shudder and laugh at the same time. However, the real strength of the narrative lies in the eyewitness accounts of the battlefield.
2005 / PAPERBACK

West Dickens Avenue: A Marine at Khe Sahn
John Corbett

Only days after John Corbett arrived at Khe Sanh, some twenty thousand North Vietnamese soldiers surrounded the base, outnumbering the American Marines seven to one. What followed over the next seventy-seven days became one of the deadliest fights of the Vietnam War—and one of the greatest battles in military history. Private First Class Corbett, an “ammo humper” in an 81mm mortar section, made do with little or no sleep for days on end. The enemy bombarded the base incessantly, and Corbett’s mortars returned the fire, day and night. Extremes of heat, cold, and fog added to the misery, as did all manner of wounds and injuries too minor to justify evacuation from frontline positions. The emotional toll was tremendous as the Marines saw their friends suffer and die every day of the siege. Corbett relates these experiences through the eyes of an eighteen year old but with the mind and maturity of a man now in his fifties. His story of life, death, and growing up on the front lines at Khe Sanh speaks for all of the Marines caught up in the epic siege of the Vietnam War.
2003 / HARDCOVER / PAPERBACK / KINDLE

Ambush Valley - I Corps, Vietnam, 1967
Eric Hammel

On September 10, 1967 while advancing to a new sector near Con Thien, the 3d Battalion, 26th Marines, was attacked by at least a full North Vietnamese regiment, the same NVA unit that had attacked it two days earlier. Isolated into two separate defensive perimeters, the Marines battled through the afternoon and evening against repeated assaults by waves of NVA regulars intent upon achieving a major victory. In a battle described as “Custer’s Last Stand—With Air Support,” the Americans prevailed by the narrowest of margins.  Ambush Valley is an unforgettable account of bravery and survival under impossible conditions. It is told entirely in the words of the men who faced the ordeal together—an unprecedented mosaic of action and emotion woven into an incredibly clear and vivid combat narrative by one of today’s most effective military historians. Ambush Valley is a war story not to be missed.
2009 / HARDCOVER / PAPERBACK / KINDLE

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Vietnam Marine Corps Films

The Boys in Company C - 1978

The Boys in Company C, directed by Sidney J. Furie, starring Stan Shaw, Andrew Stevens (in his Golden Globe-nominated performance), Craig Wasson, Santos Morales and Michael Lembeck, is a 1978 film about United States Marines in the Vietnam War.  It was among the first Vietnam War films to appear after the Vietnam Era, and was also the first role for R. Lee Ermey of Full Metal Jacket fame. The film was a co-production of Golden Harvest and Columbia Pictures, the latter originally handling theatrical distribution. It was filmed in the Philippines. The Boys in Company C is the first in Furie's Vietnam War trilogy, followed by 2001's Under Heavy Fire and 2006's The Veteran, somewhat similar to Oliver Stone and his Vietnam War trilogy with 1986's Platoon, 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth.
125 MINUTES  /  COLOR

Full Metal Jacket - 1987

Full Metal Jacket was produced, directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of Gustav Hasford's 1979 novel The Short-Timers and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard, and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their training at Parris Island and the experiences of two of the platoon's Marines in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The film received wide critical acclaim. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Kubrick, Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. In addition, R. Lee Ermey was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.  In 2001, the American Film Institute placed Full Metal Jacket at #95 in their "AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills" poll.
116 MINUTES  /  COLOR

Born on the Fourth of July - 1989

Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Tom Cruise plays Kovic, in a performance that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Oliver Stone (himself a Vietnam veteran) co-wrote the screenplay with Kovic, and also produced and directed the film. Stone wanted to film the movie in Vietnam, but because relations between the United States and Vietnam had not yet been normalized, it was instead filmed in the Philippines. The film is considered part of Stone's "trilogy" of films about the Vietnam War—following Platoon (1986) and preceding Heaven & Earth (1993). Born on the Fourth of July was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Film Editing. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than $232,000,000 worldwide and winning two Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a Directors Guild of America Award.
145 MINUTES  /  COLOR

The Siege of Firebase Gloria - 1989

The Siege of Firebase Gloria is a 1989 film starring Wings Hauser and R. Lee Ermey, director by Brian Trenchard-Smith with a screenplay written by R. Lee Ermey. At the start of the Tet Offensive a Marine unit on patrol stops at Firebase Gloria. When the base comes under attack the patrol remains to help aid in its defense. The Soldiers and Marines come under numerous attacks by the Viet Cong, but in the end hold the base with assistance from the First Air Cavalry Division. While the Marines try and defend the base, the Viet Cong commander discovers that he is in a similar position: it was never his mission to win the battle, but to lead his men to their deaths in order to allow the North Vietnamese Army to take a more substantial role in the war. The Marines are subsequently forced to abandon the base having lost too many men in the process of defending it. In the end, the soldiers and commanders on both sides take stock of the loss of life for this single base.
95 MINUTES  /  COLOR

Vietnam in HD - 2011

The men who came home from the Vietnam War represent a second silent generation and their story is in danger of being lost to history. These are the men who won every battle in a lost war. Using the same experiential approach to storytelling as WWII in HD, HISTORY gives these veterans a voice. Through a collection of color Vietnam footage never seen by the public from private collections, museums, the US government, veteran's and news organizations as well as sources from Vietnam, they tell their stories and relive their struggles, courage and fears. This six-hour miniseries spans the massive initial troop build-up in 1965 to the fall of Saigon a decade later. Sound design, using popular music from that era, powerfully evokes the time period and experience.
282 MINUTES  /  COLOR