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(More customer reviews)I Served relates to the reader the very essence of what happened. His descriptions of what he saw were to a "T" what I saw . No one is given any more importance than the other, and only Don's experiences are recorded. He tells of his youth in a Catholic Orphanage. About his brutal treatment and his coming of age in one of the longest battles of our generation. Many things that have been left unwritten, feelings have been repressed, emotions that nobody really understands, have gone unacknowleged, gratitude and understanding is only now being expressed. It was like we fought battles for so many who would never appreciate the freedom they so freely take for granted. As we look back on the years of our youth, students with college deferments became the most educated people ever for fear of being drafted. Many didn't even want to go to college.
Don Hall has captured in print what I have wanted to tell others about for over thirty years. Many people have looked at me with , unbelieving looks in their eyes, or "is this guy for real" eyes as I recounted many of the truly unbelievable events that actually took place. Don and I were team leaders in different platoons of "F" Company 51st LRP (Airborne) Infantry. We both served with the 173rd at Dakto . All of what Don experienced after arriving in country is exactly what I felt being with the herd until the 51st was formed. The mosquitoes, spiders, snakes, leaches, climbing the mountains with 160# rucksacks, not batheing for over 50 days, uniforms ripped to shreds by "wait a minute" vines. We both encountered similar and different experiences. We sprung ambushes against bigger elements because we were compromised. Logically speaking we would never have done a lot of the things that we had to do. We jumped out of Helicopters 10-15 feet in the air that couldn't set down in our primary or secondary LZ's. We counted over 250 NVA less than 100 feet away in broad daylight. We were in their area of operation, we were a six man team walking parallel to them going in the same direction. We were a top secret operation, very little was known about our unit, but CHARLIE knew about us. Sometimes, Nothing sounds so far from the truth than the truth itself.
We were in the prime of our youth, we were given a job to do and we did it to the best of our ability. We were not glory hunters, we were survivors, and survive we did. We accomplished what others have only dreamed of doing and Don is telling his account of "F" Company 51st LRP (Airborne) Infantry. I served tells it like it was. I would highly recommend this book as part of anybodies history class on the Vietnam Conflict.
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I ServedUnceremoniously dumped in the orphanage by their drunken, war-traumatizedfather, Don and his brother Mike learn the harsh realities of life. We canfeel the fear of the tormented child and smell the antiseptic dormitory. Notall is bad there, for it is during this time that the young Donald sees histrue love, Annette, for the first time. Her brunette hair, twinkling eyesand heart-melting smile are what help sustain the warrior's sanity and focusduring some of his darkest moments, which are yet to come.Don was a 'malcontent renegade' in the eyes of the nuns, because he foughtfor his dignity and that of his brother. Recalcitrant, yet gregarious, Donis dismissed from the orphanage with his brother, and returned to the fatherwho had abandoned them. No hope for the future leads the seventeen-year-oldboy, old beyond his years, to a recruiter's office and the Army.In August 1967, after a tour in Alaska and six months in Germany, the youngparatrooper volunteers for duty in the Republic of Vietnam and is initiallyassigned to the 173d Airborne Brigade. Then, he hears a call for volunteersand joins a new long range patrol unit being formed, with the motto "IServe," and the charter of taking the war to the enemy. Expertly weavingheart-thumping moments as enemy soldiers walk past within mere feet ofpatrols, the cacophony of battle and copper-taste of adrenaline duringcontacts, and the stark contrasts of the war, Don Hall takes us on his tourwith the Lurps. We feel the anguish of losing teammates, and share the lovefor comrades. We see the oblivious eyes of the enemy walking toward anambush, and the handmade wooden cross prepared by a soldier for a dead enemytossed from a helicopter. We hear the cries of the wounded and the softstrains of songs on the radio. We feel the hurt and anger of the young boy,and the power and control of the soldier as he serves.I Served takes us on a journey we cannot stop once the first page isturned. In the end, it is the simple understatement of service and quietprofessionalism which makes this story different. We should all pause toreflect that we have much for which to be thankful, provided by thesacrifices of those who served.-book description written by Command Sergeant Major Jeff Mellinger
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