Publisher's Synopsis
This is the second edition of a superb report on convoy ambushes in the Korean and Vietnam war. It has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This is the first book dedicated to the study of convoy ambushes. It chronicles the lessons of both wars and describes incredible feats of heroism of truck drivers defending truck drivers. The Vietnam War was the golden age of gun trucks with art work and names to reflect the élan of the crews. Knowing that every engagement would always start on the enemy's terms and at his chosen sites, the crews of the gun trucks were the Army's version of gunslingers; reacting, recovering, and fighting while never faltering. Young men made life and death decisions to save the lives of other truck drivers. Three such men received Medals of Honor for their ultimate sacrifices. The summation of these case studies will provide the reader an understanding of this aspect of two wars and lessons of convoy security. From the Introduction: Unfortunately, the US Army did not record many good accounts of ambushes during the Vietnam War. Much of what is presented in this text is based upon oral interviews of the participants, sometimes backed by official record, citations or reports. For this reason, some of the ambush case studies present only the perspective of a crew member of a gun truck or the convoy commander. Since this academic study works best when one mentally takes the place of one of the participants, this view of the ambush serves a useful purpose. After my own review of the ambushes, I have added the lessons of the participants as well as drawn my own conclusion as to what principles apply to convoy ambushes.
