Land with No Sun
A Year in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 30 days of Premium Plus free
Buy Now for £12.99
-
Narrated by:
-
David Colacci
About this listen
A first-person history of the action seen by the United States airborne infantry brigade in Vietnam, from a Silver Star awarded Command Sergeant Major.
A no-holds-barred, straight-in-your-face account of combat in Vietnam. You know it's going to be hot when your brigade is referred to as a Fireball unit. From May 1967 through May 1968, Ted Arthurs was in the thick of it, humping an eighty-pound rucksack through triple canopy jungle, chasing down the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. As sergeant major for a battalion of eight-hundred men, it was his job to see them through this jungle hell and get them back home again.
Unfortunately there is no emotion or story telling that makes me FEEL. I am several hours in, and it's like reading a long list of who did what and when, with minimal detail. Much a case of "The company commander did this, I said that, he went there, the troops came here, etc..." Most memoirs describe the events with far more colour and depth. Even when action does occur, it's all very matter of fact and completely flat.
Although it would be easy to leave the review here, I do appreciate the authors attempt to essentially write a collection of short stories, separated by chapter, each devoted to 1 (or more) members of his company who sadly didn't make it. The chapter starts by describing the individual and some of their antics, and latter half details the battle that would cost them. I think it was a great idea to pay tribute to them. This prevents me rating it 1*
Perhaps worst of all, the choice of narrator, who didn't even attempt to inject any life into the reading at all. Perhaps he also felt the story flat, and read accordingly.
It is one of the very few audiobooks I own, that I would refund if I could.
Below Average - Vietnam War Experience
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.