-
Once a Warrior King
- Memories of an Officer in Vietnam
- Narrated by: Don Sobczak
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
He was a young American soldier - and the most powerful man in a remote rural District of Vietnam.
In the spring of 1969, First Lieutenant David Donovan arrived in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam to work as military advisor with village chiefs and local militia to win the war.
But as he was the highest-ranking person in the entire district, his life there was far more complex than anyone could have imagined.
This is Donovan's gripping account of combat missions and night ambushes in the swamps and jungles of the Delta...his heartrending tale of personal involvement with the culture and families in his charge...his humane introspection on his awesome responsibility as both warrior and king...his stark reflections on the changes he saw in himself and his country upon his return to the U.S.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Born Twice
- Memoir of a Special Forces SOG Warrior
- By: Dale Hanson
- Narrated by: Dale Hanson
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dale Hanson takes us from a northern Minnesota boyhood to the incredible stresses of US special operations during the Vietnam War, the deadly world of MAC-V-SOG, the top-secret Special Forces project that conducted America’s secret war against the Communist forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Shrouded in mystery and equipped with exotic weaponry, SOG operators suffered casualty rates in excess of 100 percent for three successive years.
-
-
Politics
- By Anonymous User on 11-30-23
By: Dale Hanson
-
SOG Kontum
- Secret Missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia 1968-1969
- By: Joe Parnar, Robert Dumont
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book tells the story of the Teams operating out of FOB2 Kontum, near the tri-border area, in 1968-69. From recon missions over the fence to the heroic, and sometimes fatal efforts undertaken to try and rescue missing SOG members, the events are told through the words of the men themselves, supported by previously unreleased official documents.
-
-
good stories
- By Chuck Moore on 08-29-24
By: Joe Parnar, and others
-
On Full Automatic
- Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam
- By: William V. Taylor Jr.
- Narrated by: Michael Curtis
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eighteen-year-old Marine recruit William V. Taylor, Jr. and his brother Marines are assembled into a new reaction force that is immediately tested in the fire of a bloody conflict known as Operation Beaver Cage. After a traumatic first fight, they push through back-to-back operations with little time to rest or reflect. Those who survive will return home ensnared by everlasting memories of a real but entirely surreal nightmare. Now, after more than 50 years of holding everything in, Taylor shares his experience in explicit—and often horrific—detail.
-
-
Great story telling!
- By Josh on 03-28-23
-
Point Man
- By: Chief James Watson, Kevin Dockery
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Petty Officer James "Patches" Watson was there at the start. One of the first to come out of the famed Underwater Demolition Team 21, he was an initial member—a "plank owner"—of America's deadliest and most elite fighting force, the U.S. Navy SEALs. Through three tours in the jungle hell of Vietnam, he walked the point—staying alert to trip wires, booby traps, and punji pits, guiding his squad of amphibious fighters on missions of rescue, reconnaissance, and demolition—confronting a war's unique terrors head-on, unprotected . . . and unafraid.
-
-
one off the best ones
- By Chuck Moore on 04-19-23
By: Chief James Watson, and others
-
Good to Go
- The Life and times of a Decorated Member of the U.S. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two
- By: Harry Constance, Randall Fuerst
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Good to Go is Constance's powerful, firsthand account of his three tours of duty as a member of America's most elite, razor-sharp stealth fighting force. It is a breathtaking memoir of harrowing missions and covert special-ops - from the floodplains of the Mekong Delta to the beaches of the South China Sea - that places the listener in the center of bloody ambushes and devastating firefights. But Constance's extraordinary adventure goes even farther - beyond 'Nam.
-
-
Unfortunately this book was not "Good to Go"
- By JWalkup on 12-18-15
By: Harry Constance, and others
-
Vietnam Combat
- Firefights and Writing History
- By: Robin Bartlett
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1st Lieutenant Robin Bartlett suddenly found himself at the "repo-depo" in Bien Hoa reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. The unit had more helicopter support than any other unit in Vietnam. Immediate support from artillery, helicopter gunships, and ARA was only minutes away to support a firefight. Wounded troops could be medevaced even in dense jungle using "jungle penetrators." It also meant that Bartlett's platoon could deploy through helicopter combat assaults into hot LZs (landing zones) at a moment's notice if an enemy force had been spotted. And they did.
-
-
I enjoy this book
- By Wegs on 09-11-24
By: Robin Bartlett
-
Born Twice
- Memoir of a Special Forces SOG Warrior
- By: Dale Hanson
- Narrated by: Dale Hanson
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dale Hanson takes us from a northern Minnesota boyhood to the incredible stresses of US special operations during the Vietnam War, the deadly world of MAC-V-SOG, the top-secret Special Forces project that conducted America’s secret war against the Communist forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Shrouded in mystery and equipped with exotic weaponry, SOG operators suffered casualty rates in excess of 100 percent for three successive years.
-
-
Politics
- By Anonymous User on 11-30-23
By: Dale Hanson
-
SOG Kontum
- Secret Missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia 1968-1969
- By: Joe Parnar, Robert Dumont
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book tells the story of the Teams operating out of FOB2 Kontum, near the tri-border area, in 1968-69. From recon missions over the fence to the heroic, and sometimes fatal efforts undertaken to try and rescue missing SOG members, the events are told through the words of the men themselves, supported by previously unreleased official documents.
-
-
good stories
- By Chuck Moore on 08-29-24
By: Joe Parnar, and others
-
On Full Automatic
- Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam
- By: William V. Taylor Jr.
- Narrated by: Michael Curtis
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eighteen-year-old Marine recruit William V. Taylor, Jr. and his brother Marines are assembled into a new reaction force that is immediately tested in the fire of a bloody conflict known as Operation Beaver Cage. After a traumatic first fight, they push through back-to-back operations with little time to rest or reflect. Those who survive will return home ensnared by everlasting memories of a real but entirely surreal nightmare. Now, after more than 50 years of holding everything in, Taylor shares his experience in explicit—and often horrific—detail.
-
-
Great story telling!
- By Josh on 03-28-23
-
Point Man
- By: Chief James Watson, Kevin Dockery
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Petty Officer James "Patches" Watson was there at the start. One of the first to come out of the famed Underwater Demolition Team 21, he was an initial member—a "plank owner"—of America's deadliest and most elite fighting force, the U.S. Navy SEALs. Through three tours in the jungle hell of Vietnam, he walked the point—staying alert to trip wires, booby traps, and punji pits, guiding his squad of amphibious fighters on missions of rescue, reconnaissance, and demolition—confronting a war's unique terrors head-on, unprotected . . . and unafraid.
-
-
one off the best ones
- By Chuck Moore on 04-19-23
By: Chief James Watson, and others
-
Good to Go
- The Life and times of a Decorated Member of the U.S. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two
- By: Harry Constance, Randall Fuerst
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Good to Go is Constance's powerful, firsthand account of his three tours of duty as a member of America's most elite, razor-sharp stealth fighting force. It is a breathtaking memoir of harrowing missions and covert special-ops - from the floodplains of the Mekong Delta to the beaches of the South China Sea - that places the listener in the center of bloody ambushes and devastating firefights. But Constance's extraordinary adventure goes even farther - beyond 'Nam.
-
-
Unfortunately this book was not "Good to Go"
- By JWalkup on 12-18-15
By: Harry Constance, and others
-
Vietnam Combat
- Firefights and Writing History
- By: Robin Bartlett
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1st Lieutenant Robin Bartlett suddenly found himself at the "repo-depo" in Bien Hoa reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division. The unit had more helicopter support than any other unit in Vietnam. Immediate support from artillery, helicopter gunships, and ARA was only minutes away to support a firefight. Wounded troops could be medevaced even in dense jungle using "jungle penetrators." It also meant that Bartlett's platoon could deploy through helicopter combat assaults into hot LZs (landing zones) at a moment's notice if an enemy force had been spotted. And they did.
-
-
I enjoy this book
- By Wegs on 09-11-24
By: Robin Bartlett
-
SOG
- The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
- By: John L. Plaster
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Plaster’s riveting account of his covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War is “a true insider’s account...this eye-opening report will leave readers feeling as if they’ve been given a hot scoop on a highly classified project” (Publishers Weekly). Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite US military unit to serve in the Vietnam War - so secret that its very existence was denied by the government.
-
-
More, give me more.
- By LEE on 03-06-19
By: John L. Plaster
-
Death in the Highlands
- The Siege of Special Forces Camp Plei Me
- By: J. Keith Saliba
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In fall 1965, North Vietnam's high command smelled blood in the water. The South Vietnamese republic was on the verge of collapse, and Hanoi resolved to crush it once and for all. The communists set their sights on South Vietnam's strategically vital West-Central Highlands. Their first target was the American Special Forces camp at Plei Me, remote and isolated along the Cambodian border.
-
-
Boting
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 06-05-23
By: J. Keith Saliba
-
Things I'll Never Forget
- Memories of a Marine in Viet Nam
- By: James M. Dixon
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Things I’ll Never Forget is the story of a young high school graduate in 1965 who faces being drafted into the Army or volunteering for the Marine Corps. These are his memories of funny times, disgusting times and deadly times. The author kept a journal for an entire year; therefore many of the dates, times and places are accurate. The rest is based on memories that are forever tattooed on his brain. This is not a pro-war book, nor is it anti-war. It is the true story of what the Marine Corps was like in the late 1960’s.
-
-
Accurate Description
- By USMC VIETVET on 07-02-19
By: James M. Dixon
-
Black Ops
- The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
- By: Ric Prado
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism.
-
-
Impressive and Inspiring!
- By medardo on 03-12-22
By: Ric Prado
-
Dispatches
- By: Michael Herr
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From its terrifying opening to its final eloquent words, Dispatches makes us see, in unforgettable and unflinching detail, the chaos and fervor of the war and the surreal insanity of life in that singular combat zone. Michael Herr’s unsparing, unorthodox retellings of the day-to-day events in Vietnam take on the force of poetry, rendering clarity from one of the most incomprehensible and nightmarish events of our time.
-
-
All of the reviews are correct.
- By Mark Thoreson on 01-18-22
By: Michael Herr
-
Seven Pillars of Wisdom
- By: T. E. Lawrence
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 25 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Although T. E. Lawrence, commonly known as "Lawrence of Arabia’, died in 1935, the story of his life has captured the imagination of succeeding generations. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a monumental work in which he chronicles his role in leading the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War. A reluctant leader, and wracked by guilt at the duplicity of the British, Lawrence nevertheless threw himself into his role, suffering the blistering desert conditions and masterminding military campaigns which culminated in the triumphant march of the Arabs into Damascus.
-
-
One of the greatest stories ever told.
- By Stevie on 01-11-13
By: T. E. Lawrence
-
Matterhorn
- A Novel of the Vietnam War
- By: Karl Marlantes
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why we think it’s a great listen: A performance so poignant, we gave Bronson Pinchot (yes, Balki from Perfect Strangers) our inaugural Narrator of the Year award.... In the monsoon season of 1968-69 at a fire support base called Matterhorn, located in the remote mountains of Vietnam, a young and ambitious Marine lieutenant wants to command a company to further his civilian political ambitions. But two people stand in his way.
-
-
A First For Me . . . And The Last
- By Glen on 05-24-10
By: Karl Marlantes
-
Marine Sniper
- 93 Confirmed Kills
- By: Charles Henderson
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been many Marines. There have been many marksmen. But there has been only one Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, a legend of Marine lore. He stalked the Viet Cong behind enemy lines. His record has never been matched: 93 confirmed kills. This is his story. Powerful, chilling, and all true.
-
-
history at its best
- By sheridan on 03-27-08
-
We Saved SOG Souls
- 101st Airborne Missions in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos During the Vietnam War
- By: Roger Lockshier
- Narrated by: Justin Smallbridge
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the Vietnam War, far from the halls of Congress, snooping reporters, loving family members, and conventional US military forces in South Vietnam, a deadly, top-secret war was conducted for eight years across the fence in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam by small Green Beret-led reconnaissance teams.
-
-
Important History
- By Drew on 03-02-23
By: Roger Lockshier
-
Men in Green Faces
- A Novel of U.S. Navy SEALs
- By: Gene Wentz, B. Abell Jurus
- Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gene Wentz's Men in Green Faces is the classic novel of Vietnam that inspired a generation of SEALs. Here is the story of a good soldier trained to be part of an elite team of warriors - and of the killing grounds where he was forever changed. Gene Michaels carries an M-60, 800 rounds, and a Bible. The ultimate SEAL, he also carries a murderous grudge against a bloodthirsty colonel who was once one of their own.
-
-
Too much like a Hollywood movie...
- By Oldthaiger on 02-23-15
By: Gene Wentz, and others
-
Vagabonds
- Tourists in the Heart of Darkness
- By: Nick Brokhausen, Jeff Miller
- Narrated by: Andrew B. Wehrlen
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1978 - a chance meeting on a remote military airbase between two Green Berets involved in the same operation leads to a partnership that will last over 40 years. Four years after that meeting, Nick Brokhausen and Jeff Miller leave the service within a few weeks of each other and begin an odyssey that takes them to dozens of countries on five continents.
-
-
Wrong narrator
- By Charles Harris on 12-15-21
By: Nick Brokhausen, and others
-
Across the Fence: Expanded Edition
- The Secret War in Vietnam
- By: John Stryker Meyer
- Narrated by: John Stryker Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For eight years, far beyond the battlefields of Vietnam and the glare of media distortions, American Green Berets fought a deadly secret war in Laos and Cambodia under the aegis of the top secret Military Assistance Command Vietnam - Studies and Observations Group, or SOG. Go deep into the jungle with five SOG warriors surrounded by 10,000 enemy troops as they stack up the dead to build a human buttress for protection. Witness a Green Beret, shot in the back four times and left for dead, who survives to fight savagely against incredible odds to complete his missions.
-
-
Great Great Great
- By Stuta on 02-26-20
Related to this topic
-
The Green Berets
- The Amazing Story of the U.S. Army's Elite Special Forces Unit
- By: Robin Moore
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Moore became one of the first true embedded journalists by training with and fighting alongside the Green Berets in Vietnam. Though fictionalized, his work is an eye-opening exposé of the horrors of the Vietnam War and the basis for the hit John Wayne movie of the same title. Taut, fast-paced, and interspersed with unforgettable accounts of combat, Moore’s novel features an American major who goes "native" with Montagnard tribesmen, a courageous Vietnamese girl who poses as a rabid anti-American Communist to capture a murderous Viet Cong officer, and the unforgettable acts of courage of soldiers in the field.
-
-
Green Berets Nam and beyond
- By Jawbone on 10-07-17
By: Robin Moore
-
Good to Go
- The Life and times of a Decorated Member of the U.S. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two
- By: Harry Constance, Randall Fuerst
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Good to Go is Constance's powerful, firsthand account of his three tours of duty as a member of America's most elite, razor-sharp stealth fighting force. It is a breathtaking memoir of harrowing missions and covert special-ops - from the floodplains of the Mekong Delta to the beaches of the South China Sea - that places the listener in the center of bloody ambushes and devastating firefights. But Constance's extraordinary adventure goes even farther - beyond 'Nam.
-
-
Unfortunately this book was not "Good to Go"
- By JWalkup on 12-18-15
By: Harry Constance, and others
-
Nam-Sense: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne
- By: Arthur Wiknik Jr.
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honest tour of the Vietnam War from the soldier's eye view... Nam-Sense is the brilliantly written story of a combat squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Arthur Wiknik was a 19-year-old kid from New England when he was drafted into the US Army in 1968. After completing various NCO training programs, he was promoted to sergeant "without ever setting foot in a combat zone" and sent to Vietnam in early 1969. Shortly after his arrival on the far side of the world, Wiknik was assigned to Camp Evans, a mixed-unit base camp near the Northern village of Phong Dien.
-
-
A very good view of the war from a grunt's view.
- By Frank B. Smith on 07-16-19
-
The Village
- By: Bing West
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few American battles have been so extended, savage, and personal. A handful of Americans volunteered to live among six thousand Vietnamese, training farmers to defend their village. Such "Combined Action Platoons" (CAPs) are not a lost footnote about how the war could have been fought; only the villagers remain to bear witness. This is the story of 15 resolute young Americans matched against two hundred Viet Cong; how a CAP lived, fought, and died; and why the villagers remember them to this day.
-
-
It is like you were there!
- By Gina on 06-17-21
By: Bing West
-
Rattler One-Seven: A Vietnam Helicopter Pilot's War Story
- North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series
- By: Chuck Gross
- Narrated by: Gerry Burke
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rattler One-Seven puts you in the helicopter seat, to see the war in Vietnam through the eyes of an inexperienced pilot as he transforms himself into a seasoned combat veteran. Soon after the war, Gross wrote down his adventures, while his memory was still fresh with the events. Rattler One-Seven (his call sign) is written as he experienced it, using these notes along with letters written home to accurately preserve the mindset he had while in Vietnam.
-
-
One of the Best Helicopter books I've listened to!
- By Chad on 02-12-14
By: Chuck Gross
-
Silent Warrior
- The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues
- By: Charles Henderson
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the U.S. Marine Corps, the most dangerous job in combat is that of the sniper. With no backup and little communication with the outside world, these men disappear for weeks on end in the wilderness with nothing but intellect and iron will to protect them - as they watch, wait, and finally strike. But of all of the snipers who ever hunted human prey, one man stands above the rest as the most legendary fighting man to ever pull a trigger. That man is Carlos Hathcock.
-
-
Just like Marine stories should be told
- By James A. on 04-16-15
-
The Green Berets
- The Amazing Story of the U.S. Army's Elite Special Forces Unit
- By: Robin Moore
- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Robin Moore became one of the first true embedded journalists by training with and fighting alongside the Green Berets in Vietnam. Though fictionalized, his work is an eye-opening exposé of the horrors of the Vietnam War and the basis for the hit John Wayne movie of the same title. Taut, fast-paced, and interspersed with unforgettable accounts of combat, Moore’s novel features an American major who goes "native" with Montagnard tribesmen, a courageous Vietnamese girl who poses as a rabid anti-American Communist to capture a murderous Viet Cong officer, and the unforgettable acts of courage of soldiers in the field.
-
-
Green Berets Nam and beyond
- By Jawbone on 10-07-17
By: Robin Moore
-
Good to Go
- The Life and times of a Decorated Member of the U.S. Navy's Elite Seal Team Two
- By: Harry Constance, Randall Fuerst
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 15 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Good to Go is Constance's powerful, firsthand account of his three tours of duty as a member of America's most elite, razor-sharp stealth fighting force. It is a breathtaking memoir of harrowing missions and covert special-ops - from the floodplains of the Mekong Delta to the beaches of the South China Sea - that places the listener in the center of bloody ambushes and devastating firefights. But Constance's extraordinary adventure goes even farther - beyond 'Nam.
-
-
Unfortunately this book was not "Good to Go"
- By JWalkup on 12-18-15
By: Harry Constance, and others
-
Nam-Sense: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne
- By: Arthur Wiknik Jr.
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honest tour of the Vietnam War from the soldier's eye view... Nam-Sense is the brilliantly written story of a combat squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Arthur Wiknik was a 19-year-old kid from New England when he was drafted into the US Army in 1968. After completing various NCO training programs, he was promoted to sergeant "without ever setting foot in a combat zone" and sent to Vietnam in early 1969. Shortly after his arrival on the far side of the world, Wiknik was assigned to Camp Evans, a mixed-unit base camp near the Northern village of Phong Dien.
-
-
A very good view of the war from a grunt's view.
- By Frank B. Smith on 07-16-19
-
The Village
- By: Bing West
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few American battles have been so extended, savage, and personal. A handful of Americans volunteered to live among six thousand Vietnamese, training farmers to defend their village. Such "Combined Action Platoons" (CAPs) are not a lost footnote about how the war could have been fought; only the villagers remain to bear witness. This is the story of 15 resolute young Americans matched against two hundred Viet Cong; how a CAP lived, fought, and died; and why the villagers remember them to this day.
-
-
It is like you were there!
- By Gina on 06-17-21
By: Bing West
-
Rattler One-Seven: A Vietnam Helicopter Pilot's War Story
- North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series
- By: Chuck Gross
- Narrated by: Gerry Burke
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rattler One-Seven puts you in the helicopter seat, to see the war in Vietnam through the eyes of an inexperienced pilot as he transforms himself into a seasoned combat veteran. Soon after the war, Gross wrote down his adventures, while his memory was still fresh with the events. Rattler One-Seven (his call sign) is written as he experienced it, using these notes along with letters written home to accurately preserve the mindset he had while in Vietnam.
-
-
One of the Best Helicopter books I've listened to!
- By Chad on 02-12-14
By: Chuck Gross
-
Silent Warrior
- The Marine Sniper's Vietnam Story Continues
- By: Charles Henderson
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the U.S. Marine Corps, the most dangerous job in combat is that of the sniper. With no backup and little communication with the outside world, these men disappear for weeks on end in the wilderness with nothing but intellect and iron will to protect them - as they watch, wait, and finally strike. But of all of the snipers who ever hunted human prey, one man stands above the rest as the most legendary fighting man to ever pull a trigger. That man is Carlos Hathcock.
-
-
Just like Marine stories should be told
- By James A. on 04-16-15
-
Marine Sniper
- 93 Confirmed Kills
- By: Charles Henderson
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been many Marines. There have been many marksmen. But there has been only one Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, a legend of Marine lore. He stalked the Viet Cong behind enemy lines. His record has never been matched: 93 confirmed kills. This is his story. Powerful, chilling, and all true.
-
-
history at its best
- By sheridan on 03-27-08
-
Baptism
- A Vietnam Memoir
- By: Larry Gwin
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Yale graduate who volunteered to serve his country, Larry Gwin was only 23 years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1965. After a brief stint in the Delta, Gwin was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in An Khe. There, in the hotly contested Central Highlands, he served almost nine months as executive officer for Alpha Company, 2/7, fighting against crack NVA troops in some of the war's most horrific battles.
-
-
Great story of a front line grunt during Vietnam
- By richard fox on 05-04-16
By: Larry Gwin
-
A Desert Called Peace
- Carrera, Book 1
- By: Tom Kratman
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 26 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He raised an army against those who took everything from him. They should have picked their enemies more carefully. Five centuries from now, on a remarkably Earthlike planet that is mankind's sole colony in space, religious fanatics called the "Salafi Ikhwan" have murdered the uncle of former colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake, because uncle was rich and Hennessey was rather a good colonel. But they also murdered Hennessey's wife, Linda, and their three small children, and that was their worst mistake for she was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.
-
-
The description is better than the execution
- By Dan on 02-21-14
By: Tom Kratman
-
Silent Heroes
- A Recon Marine's Vietnam War Experience
- By: Rick Greenberg
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rick Greenberg joined the Corps right out of high school because he always wanted to be a Marine. Little did he know what it would ultimately cost him to even approach earning such a title. After boot camp, "Greeny", as he was later known by his Recon team buddies, attended radio communication school in San Diego, California. As a radio operator, upon arrival in Vietnam, Greenberg was both surprised and troubled when he was arbitrarily assigned to the First Recon Battalion, generally considered to be an elite unit.
-
-
Thrown into the fire
- By LEE on 12-25-16
By: Rick Greenberg
-
Cherries
- A Vietnam War Novel
- By: John Podlaski
- Narrated by: Michael Sutherland
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a soldier leaves for war, those left behind often wonder what their loved ones are experiencing. Letters home are always cheerful and vague - no sense in worrying the family. Then upon returning home, these young soldiers do not want to talk about their experiences. Family and friends allege they are now distant, changed, and not the same person they remember from several months earlier. What causes this? Although the backdrop for this novel is the Vietnam War, "cherries" exist in every war.
-
-
The story is immature and very unrealistic.
- By LARRY on 11-04-12
By: John Podlaski
-
Walking Point
- From the Ashes of the Vietnam War
- By: Perry A. Ulander
- Narrated by: Alan Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this intimate memoir, Perry A. Ulander chronicles with powerful clarity the bewildering predicament he confronted and the fellowship and guidance that transformed him during the year he served as an American GI in the jungles of Vietnam. Conveying with unadorned precision the harrowing experiences that shattered his core beliefs, Ulander also captures the camaraderie and humor of his platoon, the hostility between "lifers" and draftees, the physical hardships of reconnaissance missions, and the unrelenting apprehension underlying everyday life.
-
-
Bad transitions
- By Rosemary N Bourgeois on 12-18-16
By: Perry A. Ulander
-
Recondo: LRRPs in the 101st Airborne
- By: Larry Chambers
- Narrated by: Brian Hallas
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They will never be able to duplicate the 5th Special Forces Recondo School and the training that gave its grads something they desperately needed - the skills to survive Long Range Patrol missions in the jungle that NVA considered its own. Vietman veteran Larry Chambers vividly describes the grit and courage it took to pass the tough volunteer-only training program in Nha Trang and the harrowing graduation mission to scout out, locate, and out-guerrilla the NVA.
-
-
Abridged
- By Rodney on 06-11-21
By: Larry Chambers
-
Blood on the Risers
- An Airborne Soldier's Thirty-five Months in Vietnam
- By: John Leppelman
- Narrated by: Scott Sowers
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In three straight years he was a paratrooper, an army seaman, and a LRRP - and he lived to tell about it. As an FNG paratrooper in the 173d Airborne, John Leppelman made that unit's only combat jump in Vietnam. Then he spent months in fruitless search of the enemy, watching as his buddies died because of poor leadership and lousy weapons. Often it seemed the only way out of the carnage in the central highlands was in a body bag. But Leppelman did get out.
-
-
Missing Chapters
- By James S. on 07-28-18
By: John Leppelman
-
Platoon Leader
- A Memoir of Command in Combat
- By: James R. McDonough
- Narrated by: Joel Rooks
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A remarkable memoir of small-unit leadership and the coming of age of a young soldier in combat in Vietnam.
-
-
abridged? it was mutilated!
- By J. Padilla on 02-09-16
-
The Killing Zone
- My Life in the Vietnam War
- By: Frederick Downs
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the best books ever written about men in combat, The Killing Zone tells the story of the platoon of Delta One-six, capturing what it meant to face lethal danger, to follow orders, and to search for the conviction and then the hope that this war was worth the sacrifice. The book includes a new chapter on what happened to the platoon members when they came home.
-
-
It dont mean nuthin.
- By Jack OBrien on 06-21-17
By: Frederick Downs
-
The Odyssey of Echo Company
- The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War
- By: Doug Stanton
- Narrated by: CJ Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful work of literary military history from the New York Times best-selling author of In Harm's Way and Horse Soldiers - the harrowing and redemptive account of an American army platoon fighting for survival during the Vietnam War.
-
-
Great look into what a Nam solder endured.
- By Tony on 12-13-17
By: Doug Stanton
-
Fields of Fire
- By: James Webb
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They each had their reasons for being a soldier. They each had their illusions. Goodrich came from Harvard. Snake got the tattoo - Death Before Dishonor - before he got the uniform. And Hodges was haunted by the ghosts of family heroes. They were three young men from different worlds plunged into a white-hot, murderous realm of jungle warfare as it was fought by one Marine platoon in the An Hoa Basin, 1969. They had no way of knowing what awaited them. Nothing could have prepared them for the madness to come. And in the heat and horror of battle they took on new identities, took on each other, and were each reborn in fields of fire....
-
-
Awesome Read! of course I am Prejudiced
- By Autoteacher on 07-30-15
By: James Webb
What listeners say about Once a Warrior King
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laughin Boy845
- 12-29-16
Heartfelt story of a MAT team lieutenant
Loved the story. Intimate telling of of thoughts, conflicts, victories and losses. These small teams, with little heavy weaponry or air support fought their own war with poor villagers as their comrades. Interesting point of view of this controversial war. Thank you DMD.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mike Stevens
- 07-12-21
Incredible Book
Have both read this historical recount of one man in the Vietnam War and now listened to it.
Moving rendition both times.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Trucker john
- 02-27-14
Finally on audio!
Any additional comments?
When I was in Civil Affairs school I was comparing playlists with the officer on my team. We were both runners and liked to get our professional reading done as we clocked the miles. I was carrying around a well worn paperback copy of Once A Warrior King and pressed in into his hands. "Sir, you need to read this book. Plus it's pretty funny at times." He quickly read the passages I pointed out and then went out and got his own copy.
Finally it's on audio! Rejoice and enjoy the ride.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gonzo
- 11-02-18
Tribute to all Vietnam veterans
This writing touched my heart. As the proud son and son in law of Vietnam veterans and a retired veteran myself, this book helped me to understand the pain and anguish of loss these men felt/feel. I did not experience the same homecoming from Iraq or Kuwait that these men did from Vietnam so I find it hard comprehend, this book helped me in that regard (too late for my own father but perhaps not for my father in law). I did not suffer the grief of loss in the numbers of friends that many of these heroes did (I only lost one good friend in Iraq) but in some small measure I can empathize. Thank you LT Donavan, for sharing your experiences and your patriotism and your caring and kindness for your fellow man regardless of their country of origin.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 10-10-19
Oh my brother, where art thou
It's good that this man told his story, and so early, while those who betrayed him still hated their shame. Thank you. Thank you for being my brother.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jesse petrowski
- 06-03-22
incredible story
What an amazing journey. I first read this book in 89 and it helped me to be able to ask my dad about his experiences. I don't think my dad got his parade. He's like so many of those vets he came home quietly and went to work building a life. so glad I listened again
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Aurelio Marin
- 10-28-17
Great book.
Excellent book, couldn't stop listening. A true warrior, soldier and man. Not only his experience during his tour, but also his personal struggles and admirations for the people of Vietnam he was fighting for. Also insights of his struggle after returning home. I Strongly recommend this book. Great narration.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- brian j
- 06-12-24
I was also part of a unit similar to David's and his recollection is very powerful for me.
very good book for those who served in places other than a regular army unit.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!