Strike Force Widow Makers: The True Story of Firebase Ripcord

By: James King, Christopher J. Lynch

Narrated by: Leon Nixon

July 23, 1970, 11:45 hours

Mortar rounds rained down on us continuously, starting at sunrise. We hadn’t slept the previous night because the business of life and death were upon us. Now those mortar rounds were erupting like little volcanoes. But instead of hot lava rocks, they were hot pieces of shrapnel that whizzed by us in every direction.

RPG’s, 75mm recoilless rounds joined in the endless phalanx. Rounds from the NVA’s 51 caliber heavy machine guns and small arms fire from AK-47s were as constant as a swarm of bees flying past our heads, and eating up the hill around us. It was if the Gates of Hell had opened to advertise that we were now open for business. Sappers and a large number of enemy troops had penetrated our perimeter and had overrun the CP like a colony of angry, red army ants. Colonel Lucas was killed instantly. The last of our platoon fought valiantly, firing continuously in a rearward action, leapfrogging toward the LZ to get on one of the last choppers off of Ripcord.

We fought hard making our way through the thick haze of cordite smoke that was tearing up my eyes and burning my throat. Then word came down that we were giving up the firebase.

©2018 James King (P)2019 James King

A Story That Needs To Be Told

Strike Force. Widow Makers. .
True and gripping. The story of a young
" volunteer "
A small history of a minor battle in the mire of Vietnam.
The story needs to be told. "Lest we forget the young men who gave everything"
I received a free copy of this audio book at my own request and voluntarily leave this honest review. .

Excellent but too short

Great action, great background story on Mr. King. Just needed more of the life of the grunt not just 3-4 battles and his troubled past. Could’ve written it to read for 6-7 hrs instead of just 3: that’s a compliment great book anyway.

Valor In The A Shau Valley

This was a great true story of the 101st airborne's Strike Force Widow Makers story of Firebase Ripcord. It told the story of James King's leadup to joining the army, where the recruiters told him he would be going to Germany or South Korea, ( another soldier who was lied to by recruiters} well he ended up in Viet Nam and sent to Firebase Ripcord. He excelled well on patrols and was admired by his superiors. After some deadly firefights they were extracted back to FB Ripcord. Then the relentless attacks from the NVA kept coming for days. They were outnumbered 10 to 1 and surrounded. James watched as his best friend Mac was killed when the CH 47 was shot down and crashed into the ammo dump. It was a disgrace as we abandoned the firebase and left behind several dead and wounded as Jimmy King was yelling to the people on the chopper "That we can't leave them behind" But we did leave them behind...All in all an excellent story and great narration by Leon Nixon.

Interesting look at the Vietnam War

This was an interesting and insightful look at a young soldier’s time in Vietnam. This book is very concise and moves along quickly. I enjoyed the way the author told his story and he kept me interested in both the time frame of the war and the events that led up to him joining the army. The narrator does a decent job as well. Overall, this book is definitely worth a listen, especially if you’re interested in the Vietnam war.

I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Great Listen Recommend

Liked the blending of the time lines and surprise ending. Great writing style. Enjoyed very much