Just Another Day in Vietnam

By: Col (Ret) Keith M. Nightingale

Narrated by: David de Vries

Uniquely adopting a third-person omniscient point of view, Nightingale eschews the "I" of memoir in favor of multiple perspectives and a larger historical vision that afford equal time and weight to ally and enemy alike. Examples of the many perspectives based on real-life characters include: Hu, a VC "informant" whose false information led the Rangers straight into the jaws of a ferocious ambush; General Tanh, the COSVN commander; Major Nguyen Hiep, the 52d Ranger Commander; and Ranger POWs later returned by the North.

Nightingale moreover offers the point of view of an American advisor to elite Vietnamese troops, a vital perspective regrettably underrepresented in the literature of Vietnam, including Burns' documentary. Added to this are well-informed conjecture of enemy psychology; insight into the dedication and often misunderstood role of the elite Vietnamese Ranger forces; the intelligence acquired from debriefing captured Rangers, whose captors had told them that the entire battle had been a carefully staged attack planned by COSVN as part of a larger Total War strategy developed by the leadership of the North Vietnamese Army; and an eyewitness account by a gifted author who is a rare survivor of one of the most vicious - and heretofore forgotten - battles of the war.

©2019 Keith M. Nightingale (P)2021 Tantor

Way too many flowery adjectives

Frankly, I didn’t like it. Could’ve just as well read a history book about a day in Vietnam.

A Micro Study of a Viet Nam Battle

1. Author told the battle in narrative format. It was still historical. In addition, the author describes certain activities in very realistic detail.

Okay

This could have been an interesting book, but the author must’ve been a poet in a past life. Nightingale,…more like longwinded-gale.
This is a book on war., things don’t need to be described as mystical.
It was tough to get through and I’ve read War and Peace.
Couldn’t continue. Stopped with an hour left and returned

A great story of battle as seen by both enemies

A great war story told by both sides of a ambush deep in the Vietnam jungle. A unique look at a battle in Vietnam.

Could have been much better.

Pretty good story, but the author whiffed in my opinion by not including people's names in the entire book! Rey few exceptions. The characters are so much a part of these stories and you get none of that here. In my view, it diminishes (by miles) the value of the story being told.