Where We Were in Vietnam: A Comprehensive Guide to the Firebases and Militar

For starters I am the webmaster of 25th Aviation Battalion. I am the keeper of the records for our unit and its associated history. In the 25th Infantry Division they moved Fire support Bases almost weekly so what was Buell I over there is now Buell III over here. Trying to keep track of on any date what was where was almost impossible. I have the fire support base maps, but that was on a given day during a five year period. Michael has simplified this job a good bit. Since I had the XY coordinates of all the bases from after action reports it was relatively easy to fnd them on michaels system. To write the proper review of this book would take a book to do it, so Michael keep up the fire this one here is a winner and a must for serious researchers. I to know the Labor of love.

Mr. Kelly has produced one of the finest referrence books ever compiled about the Vietnam War. I am amazed at his depth of research. I sat with the book and challenged it by thinking of some of the most obscure places I was at in Vietnam that I believed would be overlooked by any reasearcher. He had not only located everyone of them by the nicknames given them by our troops but also gave their proper Vietnamese title!I have worked with Vietnam Veterans for the past nineteen years primarily in securing benefits for them from the Depatment of Veterans' Affairs. This book is a godsend to anyone assiting vetrans in the VA claims process. It is a one stop reference in the art of obtaining information (locations, unit and personal military records) necessary to support a claim for benefits. It is far more valuable then Stanton's " Vietnam Order of Battle".This is the book that every Vietnam Vietnam veteran or human service agency that provides service to Vietnam Veterans should own. I have a very large collection, over 180 lineal feet of shelving, of fiction and non-fiction books about Vietnam and the men and women who fought there. I now consider Mike Kelley's non-ficiton work the "Best on my bookshelf'.

In addition to tons of raw data, there are suggestions for further research, unit web sites, a glossary, as well as information on acquiring maps and (if you're flush with cash) some unit rosters and unit reports).Like any reference work, no reader will need most of it, but the parts that matter to you or me are worth the price (we still like dictionaries and phonebooks, ignoring most of the entries). As Michael Kelley himself writes, readers will surely find many errors and omissions; veterans checking out their own unit and AO can help make the next edition even more useful. The book is rich with unexpectedly interesting material.

As an Army veteran who served three tours in Vietnam and Cambodia, is a student of Southeast Asian history and one who has well over 200 non-fiction books related to Vietnam in his library, I believe that "Where We Were" is surely one of the best reference resources that I own. For those who served in Vietnam or those with a interest in the history of the U.S. involvement there, "Where We Were" is an indispensable piece for your library. This book is a monumental compilation of firebases, landing zones, airfields and navel vessels with over 10,000 entries. Not only do most of these entries have grid coordinates but the author has taken the effort to triangulate many of their locations with other know sites such as towns, firebases, airfields, etc. This makes looking up specific sites on a map a very simple matter. No other book I own goes to this detail to make it so useful. This book is nothing short of outstanding. Its like having a piece of the National Archives right on your bookshelf. And if that wasn't enough, there is a fairly comprehensive Internet guide and as well as a recommended reading list. These are real bonuses for those intent on doing further research. The writing of this book was, in this reader's opinion, a true labor of love. It is a must for those who were there and for the serious researcher. My hat goes off to Mr. Kelly for this painstaking piece of history.

Vietnam had no fronts, but it sure had perimeters. Everywhere. Those perimeters defined a whole generation of soldiers. I thought most of that was lost forever. I was wrong.If you served in Vietnam, chances are that the places where you hung your web-gear on a hook are described in Mike Kelley's amazing work. Some of what he lists includes coordinates of places that were just mud berms, sandbags and fighting positions.It is obvious that Mike Kelley did more than years of detailed document research. He met hundreds of vets over the years, and enlisted their personal knowledge. The final product is a treasure of information. I can't imagine a Vietnam veteran not wanting a copy. This kind of reference material will be pulled off my personal library shelf every time the subject of Vietnam gets serious. No future article that references Vietnam will be written without a reality check through these pages. The glossary of "minutia" alone is worth the price.Bill HuntVietnam1972