Brennan's War: Vietnam 1965-69

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.

I have read this book at least 20 times. The story never fails to amaze me.

Matt explains what a lot of us went through. This book should be one used in schools to teach about the War in Vietnam. I was in the Blues of A Troop 9th Cavalry in 1966. Very well done, Matt.

One of the best books I have read. Matthew Brennan takes you though his personal accounts of his life in Vietnam. It will make you come away of a new appreciation for what our soldiers have done for this country. It will make you want to thank every military person you ever meet.

I know the man personally and never knew he wrote a book till just recently and I learned it from his sister he is a good man that was caught in a bad war. He didn't write this book to talk about himself if that was the type of man he is I would have heard about it from him.