Force Recon Command Review

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(More customer reviews)Sir, Your accounting of the abilities of our teams brought back so many memories. The price we had to pay is still so unknown to so many. I carry the memory of my friend and teammate Sgt.A.Garcia with me every day. I am proud that I had the honor to serve under you and with men like him. For those who fought for it freedom has a taste the protected will never know.
Doc Parrish 3rd. Force Recon 1969-1970

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THE A SHAU VALLEYWHERE THE NVA WAS KING . . . In order to prevent surprise attacks on U.S. forces as they were pulling out of Vietnam, someone had to be able to pinpoint the NVA's movements. That dangerous job was the assignment of then-major Alex Lee and the Marines of the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company when he assumed command in late 1969. They became the tip of the spear for Lt. Gen. Herman Nickerson's III MAF. And each time one of Lee's small, well-motivated, well-led, and wildly outnumbered teams was airlifted into the field, the men never knew if the day would end violently.But whether tracking NVA movements, recovering downed air crews, or making bomb-damage assessments after B-52 strikes, Major Lee's Few Good Men never forgot who they were: Each of them was in Vietnam to live like a Marine, win like a Marine, and, if need be, die like a Marine.Forthright and unabashed, Lieutenant Colonel Lee leaves no controversy untouched and no awe-inspiring tale untold in this gripping account of 3rd Force Recon's self-sacrifice and heroic achievement in the face of overwhelming odds.

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Victory Point: Operations Red Wings and Whalers - the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan Review

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(More customer reviews)READ THIS BOOK! Mr Darack spent two months with 2/3 in Afghanistan in 2005. That time period was the genesis for the book. He spent a great deal of time interviewing the Marines and sailors and lived at Camp Blessing with the Marines, sailors, and Afghan Security Forces. The book was well reviewed by Bing West, Dalton Fury, and others. The battalion achieved victory not by technology dependent special operations that are so lionized by Hollywood and the press these days, but by time-tested boots-on-the-ground, small unit counterinsurgency tactics, tactics codified by the Marine Corps. Read it if you want an honest view of the challenges on the ground for a unit engaged in the COIN fight at the Edge of the Empire. Mr. Darack witnessed first hand the success of the batallion, and how it was achieved through working closely with locals, spending as much time outside the wire as possible, proving our intentions for a unified and pacified country, and of course, always being ready for the tough fight. VICTORY POINT brings the reader into all aspects of what it took to win a difficult counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, conveying the no-nonsense, classic, and time proven methods of this type of warfare, from the dividends yielded from passing out school supplies to children, to helping build roads and other infrastructure, to the necessity of undertaking a high intensity combat.


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The Riveting untold story of the Marine missions that led to free elections in Afghanistan. In late June 2005, media sources recounted the tragic story of nineteen U.S. special operations personnel who died at the hands of insurgent / terrorist leader Ahmad Shah- and the lone survivor of Shah's ambush-deep in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. The harrowing events of Operation Red Wings marked an important-yet widely misreported-chapter in the Global War on Terror, the full details of which the public burned to learn. Victory Point reveals the complete, as-yet untold, story of Operation Red Wings (often mis-referenced as "Operation Redwing"), and the follow-on mission, Operation Whalers. Together, these two U.S. Marine Corps operations (that in the case of Red Wings utilized Navy SEALs for its opening phase) unfurl not as a mission gone terribly wrong, but of a complex and difficult campaign that ultimately saw the demise of Ahmad Shan and his small army of barbarous fighters. Due to the valor, courage, and commitment of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment in the summer of 2005, Afghanistan was able to hold free elections that Fall. Here is the inspiring true account of heroism, duty, and brotherhood between Marines fighting the War on Terror.

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Force Recon 2: Death Wind Review

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(More customer reviews)To write a book with the kind of action, conflict, dialogue and flow found in Death Wind is obviously a rare ability. You barely know that the clock is ticking as you keep reading, keep reading and keep reading until you end up with the kind of finish that makes you wish the next Force Recon book was on the shelves right now. Smith clearly knows a lot about the military, but he knows even more about how to tell a story. Great reading, great writing, great book.

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High-tech toys.Extreme action.Second in the thrilling new series!After taking out a meeting of international terrorists, the Force Recon team finds itself tracked by the one who got away."Bloody kills and high-tech novelties will appeal to fans."--Publishers Weekly 2nd in the explosive new military action series

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Force Recon Diary, 1970 Review

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(More customer reviews)As a former gunnery sergeant with 1st Force Recon Company, in Vietnam from 1969-1970, I can assure any of Norton's readers that what he wrote about in Force Recon Diary, 1970, was totally accurate and factual. I was there with him. I also know the former Marine who lives in Seattle, and that pathetic individual, afraid to state his name in his April review, is both a coward and a phony who is known to many of us within the Marine recon community. Tossed out of the company for cowardice under fire, he resides as a Marine malcontent in the Seattle area. I hope Norton's books will only continue to enlighten his reader's and that they will learn from our experiences. Credit to Norton and shame on the former Seattle Marine who comments from ambush. It figures.

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In the thickof a jungle war where there often wasn't enough food, enough, water, enough air support, enough explosives, or even enough radio batteries, the vulnerable Force Recon Marines knew that the only things that could keep them alive were their courage, their skills, and their loyalty to one another.Here is the story of a Force Recon Company that put its lethal skills to work to make sure its team could survive combat behind benemy lines--where one slip could mean body bags for everyone.

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Stingray Review

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(More customer reviews)I was given the book as a gift by one of the contributing writers It was good to hear about people that I served with in 3rd Force Recon Co. from Nov.65-Dec.68..... I think that books that are written in this style lack emotion and color, sorry but I have to be honest. Also,concerning the subject( stingray patrols) though I am not a military scholar I did participate for 20 months in both Stingray and Keyhole (4 man team) patrols. We suffered less casualties using the Keyhole approach and still inflicted many casualties on the enemy. I don't share the praise given to this concept of warfare, all it did was waste many good friends of mine. Although I don't care for this sort of effort, it is probably interesting to many other people and I am sure that it is worth the price but not 5 stars..... Sorry but that is how I feel about the book.....

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Never Without Heroes Review

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(More customer reviews)Well done,
As a former U.S.Marine and member of "B" Recon 65/66 I enjoyed reading this book.
We lost members of our company in April through November of 65, as well as a number of us WIA during our tour.
I realize that the author wrote about his experience and had to rely on whatever documentation that he was able to revew concerning our outfit during our deployment from K-Bay Hawaii, to Camp Schwab, Oakinawa and on to Viet Nam.
Aside from a few errors concerning "B" Recon, the book is a must read for any Recon Marine and those who wish they were.
Semper Fi,
Anthony P. De Bellis
(FIRST IN LAST OUT)

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FOUR CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS OF HONOR,THIRTEEN NAVAL CROSSES,SEVENTY-TWO SILVER STARS . . .In four and a half years in Vietnam, the Marines of the Third Reconnaissance Battalion repeatedly penetrated North Vietnamese and Vietcong sanctuaries by foot and by helicopter to find enemy forces, learn the enemy's intentions, and, when possible, bring deadly fire down on his head. Heavily armed, well-camouflaged teams of six and eight men daily exposed themselves to overwhelming enemy forces so that other Marines would have the information necessary to fight the war.It's all here: grueling, tense, and deadly recon patrols; insertions directly into NVA basecamps; last-stand defenses in the wreckage of downed helicopters; pursuit by superior North Vietnamese forces; agonizing deaths of men who valiantly put their lives on the line.NEVER WITHOUT HEROES is the first book to recount the story of a Marine reconnaissance battalion in Vietnam from the day of its arrival to its withdrawal. In Vietnam, Larry Vetter served as a platoon leader in Third Recon Battalion. He supplements his own recollections with Marine Corps records, exhaustive interviews with veterans, and correspondence to capture the bravery, and self-sacrifice of war.

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