The quintessential combat memoir of the Vietnam War. Brennan's book is well written and he succeeds in creating gripping and vivid descriptions of combat from a soldier's perspective. This superb narrative conveys the fear and horror of combat along with shared humor and love felt among comrades. Brennan's honesty prevents him from romanticizing either his fellow soldiers, or the Vietnamese they are ever wary of, but he is able to humanize those trapped in a dehumanizing crucible. His multiple tours in Vietnam bridge the time before and after the 1968 Tet offensive, which became a turning point in the War. Upon receiving a commission and returning to Vietnam he found that mostly unmotivated and apathetic draftees gradually replaced the highly motivated professional soldiers he served with in his first tour, mirroring the larger erosion of the American military in Vietnam. His weary realization that the War will be lost and that all the sacrifices he witnessed will be squandered is both sobering and tragic. Along with Goodbye Darkness, this is a classic American war memoir.
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