Never Without Heroes: Marine Third Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam, 1965-70

I was a grunt in a Line Company with the 3rd Marines on Operations Taught Bow at Charlie Ridge, Hastings and Prairie on the DMZ.We might have been a little louder than recon liked, but we carried about 50#lbs more on our back than they did and we were invited to their parties. He did make it sound like we were gate crashers!An excellent book, "Home Is Where You Dig It". It is worthy of the saying, "From the outside, you can't understand it, from the inside, I can't explain it, Semper Fi.

Well done,As a former U.S.Marine and member of "B" Recon 65/66 I enjoyed reading this book.We lost members of our company in April through November of 65, as well as a number of us WIA during our tour.I realize that the author wrote about his experience and had to rely on whatever documentation that he was able to revew concerning our outfit during our deployment from K-Bay Hawaii, to Camp Schwab, Oakinawa and on to Viet Nam.Aside from a few errors concerning "B" Recon, the book is a must read for any Recon Marine and those who wish they were.Semper Fi,Anthony P. De Bellis(FIRST IN LAST OUT)

In a true story from his own experience, backed by exhaustive reseach, Vetter starts out sounding like a Marine Corps manual with names, places, dates, troop movements but quickly moves on. Going through the opening content is well worth the price as he gradually makes you more intimate with the real-life characters in the battalion. He makes his point over and over again interestingly and convincingly without being boringly repeitive. The text will bring tears sometimes and laughs another. The story is woven into the context of the times: the news media's reports, the political manipulations, the "high" command's good points and bad points; all convincingly. A good read for anybody who cares about what Vietnam was about at the ground level but, also, a must read for those who don't think they care. Vetter finds homeplate on at least two points: The American public's lament at the time that, "there aren't any heroes left;" and that the intelligence i! nformation was almost always there and good, but it didn't always fit the some of the generals' agendas. A good "keeper" in the shelf as a constant reference source for this aspect of the combat in Vietnam. Vetter summarizes his book at the end with the best concise statement written so far on what "Recon" is all about and how it should be used. It should be required reading by all who would be Marine officers at the US Marins Corps Basic School at Quantico!

I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST DOCUMENTED BOOKS OF THE VIETNAM WAR.IT TELLS OF THE COURAGE AND COMMITMENT OF NOT JUST THE MARINE THIRD,BUT ALL THE MARINES WHO SERVED IN VIETNAM.THEY HAVE A VALOR THAT ONLY A MARINE COULD UNDERSTAND.THEY SEARCHED FOR AN ELUSIVE FOE THAT WOULD FIGHT TO THE END IF THEY HAD TO. YET,A NUMERICALLY SUPERIOR FOE THEY FOUGHT, WHEN PUSH CAME TO SHOVE, THESE MARINES ALMOST ALWAYS CAME OUT ON TOP. I ADMIRE THESE MEN FOR GETTING THE JOB DONE THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE DONE.FROM THE ROCKPILE TO GETTING PULLED INTO THE WINDOW OF A CH-46 WITH THE NVA SHOOTING AT A BARE BUTT,VETTER TOLD IT LIKE IT WAS. SEMPER FIDELIS

The integrity of this history of Marine Recon patrols in Viet Nam is without equal. Vetter captures your interest, mind and heart from start to finish, with firsthand reports of Recon Marines and their experiences. You won't put this one down unread.