The Wars of the Green Berets: Amazing Stories from Vietnam to the Present Day

This long overdue book by the bestselling author of "The Green Berets" and "The French Connection" continues his chronicling of Special Forces operations. Naturally there are adventures from the Vietnam War but the book also covers the stories of a new generation of Green Berets with reports from the Gulf War, our involvement in Somalia as well as stories based on current Special Forces missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book is written in a gritty realistic style and is extremely difficult to put down. As always Mr. Moore writes with a great admiration for the men of the Special Forces which can only be expected from the only civilian to go through the Special Forces Qualification Course. Each chapter shows the efforts of the Special Forces to preserve and advance freedom and often points out forgotten facts. For example the capture in Baghdad of Mohammed Abu Abbas, the mastermind of the Achille Lauro hijacking which is obvious proof that Saddam Hussein was harboring some terrorists. Any student of modern military history or unconventional warfare will enjoy this book.

In this well told story the stories of the heroic Green Berets, the Special Forces, are intimately told through the eyes of one who was there. The book examines five conflicts through the eyes, ears and stories of five men. This is a historical novel, which means it is based on true events but some of the dialogue is injected to make the story more human. Michael Lennon, one of the authors, is a veteran of Special Operations, where he served as a staff officer. The story begins with Mike Apin's tour in Vietnam with the Special Forces in the Central Highlands, eventually fighting in the battle of Dak Pek. Mike arrives in 1970, post-Tet Vietnam and he experiences the low moral and discrimination against Special Forces inherent at the time. He becomes acquainted with the ARVN and the Montagnard(Yards) and Chinese(Nungs) minorities who served alongside the Special Forces. Book two surrounds the story of Chuck Rogers in the Gulf war in 1991. He arrived at the tail end of the 82nd airborne deployment, the `speed bump' set up to stop Saddam from invading Saudi Arabia. When the coalition moved into Kuwait he found himself along Highway 8 and eventually in the battle for Tallil airbase, where Iraqi forces put up tough resistance. The story also follows Kemal Mohammed and his life as an Iraqi ex-pat in the U.S and eventually in Saddam's army fighting opposite Rogers. Book three examines the Somalia operation in 1993, Ryan Gallagher and the 10th Mountain Division. Having missed Desert Storm, Ryan arrived in Somalia on July 29th. In the first days of October a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down, the famous `Black hawk Down' and the 10th Mountain, with Gallagher in the lead, was ordered to relieve the rangers stuck in Mogadishu. Book four, the most interesting book, examines the fighting in Afghanistan in 2001 as the stories of Gallagher, Rogers and Apin all come together in Special Ops in Afghanistan against the Taliban, working with the Northern Alliance. The last section examines the Second Gulf War in 2003 and gives some background on Delta Force and its founder, Colonel Beckwith. Special Forces operated in Western Iraq during the war, behind enemy lines. This chapter is a summing up, examining Mike Apin's experience in 2003 and the ensuing problems of the occupation of Iraq and his prescient views that it could be `another Vietnam' and that valuable assets were being taken from the Afghan war. A well written, thoughtful and informative book, action packed and very insightful. Seth J. Frantzman

The soldiers of the US military are unquestionably the most highly trained, motivated, technically advanced and dedicated fighting force in the history of mankind. But within the armed forces there exists a group of individuals who are the elite; the best of the best. The Special Forces. These are the men and women that that push themselves to the brink of physical and mental failure, take on the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs, receive no credit when the job is well done, and much of the criticism when things go wrong. This book takes you on an awe inspiring high speed adventure through a half century of Special Forces engagements. Although a work of fiction, is undoubtedly based very closely on real life events and situations. Keep that in mind as you read it. This is a book full of situations you'll want to tell people about. It also shows that people who are trained to kill are perfectly capable of acts of kindness even in the midsts of very difficult conflict. I really enjoyed the quotes that start each chapter, and the various snippets of military and political history that are presented really add to the stories. The only thing bad about this book is that it isn't three times as long.