Hired Killer by W. James Whittaker, Jr.

W. James Whittaker, Jr.’s Vietnam War memoir, Hired Killer: A War Story (Bookbaby, 96 pp., $20, paper) contains some intriguing chapter titles: “Into the Heart of Darkness,” “Finding Kurtz,” and “The Little White Pill.”

The book begins in late 1967 when, as a young man with a college degree and an Army commission as a 2^nd Lieutenant, Jim Whittaker was assigned to the Infantry. “It was the peak of the war,” Whittaker writes. “Books have been written and classes taught about that pivotal [time] in American history. Some of the events nearly brought our country to its knees. It was, however, the never-ending war in Vietnam that tore us apart more than anything else.”

Whittabker arrived in-country at Cam Ranh Bay, then flew to An Khê, where he was issued a Colt .45 semiautomatic sidearm and an M-16. His next stop was Quản Lợi Base Camp where the young LT felt as though he had gone “out into the bush.”

Sometimes known as “Rocket City,” Quản Lợi, not far from the Cambodian border, was the headquarters of the 3^rd Brigade of the 1^st Air Cavalry Division. At one point, the “swirling clouds of red dust” being kicked up by helicopters landing and taking off, Whittaker says, created “a surreal feeling that I had been transported to an alien planet.” His reaction was: “What had I gotten myself into?”

Later, on a helicopter approaching LZ Sue, Whittaker found himself wishing he’d joined the Navy when he was put in charge of a platoon that would vary in size from 22-35 men, 80 percent of them draftees. It didn’t take him long to discover he just might not be taking part in a “good war” like the one in which his father fought. He soon began outwardly questioning military authority.

Jim Whittaker does the best job I’ve read of seamlessly explaining the meanings of Vietnam War military terms he uses throughout the book. He also tells his story well in a short, compact fashion, while finding a way to pack in a ton of information.

He shows great discipline in keeping the story to a small number of pages. That may actually encourage more people to read it. I hope so, because Hired Killer deserves to be read.  

For ordering info, email jimwhit3@yahoo.com

–Bill McCloud

Charlie 1/5 Cav by Steve Hassett

teve Hassett enlisted in the Army when he was 19 years old. He served as an infantryman in South Vietnam from 1966-67 where he rose to be a squad leader. Hassett could have written a memoir, but he chose to write Charlie 1/5 Cav: An Airmobile Infantry Company’s 67 Months in Vietnam (Deeds Publishing, 434 pp. $22.95, paper; $4.99, Kindle), a history of his 1^st Cavalry Division unit in Vietnam from 1964-72.

“Soldiers flying into battle and leaping from helicopters became one of the lasting images from Vietnam, but the reality was usually quite different,” Hasset writes. Charlie Company did go into combat in Hueys, but usually they were carried to a place on a map for an unknown reason. They would then hump the boonies hoping to make contact with the enemy. Even though they weren’t always leaping into hot LZ’s, these grunts had to deal with a host of hardships, including “stifling heat, mud, boredom, rain, mind-numbing exhaustion, more rain, comradeship, cold, fear, isolation, confusion, and too much death.” 

Charlie Company’s first mission was a typical search-and destroy-operation. By 1972, Charlie was in a defensive posture.

The unit fought in a variety of terrains and various missions. By 1967, the missions fell into five categories: short and uneventful search-and-destroy operations, pacification sweeps, artillery base guarding, and occasional firefights. Not to mention a few battles against a worthy foe. Charlie 1/5 was brought in on the second day of the portentious November 1965 Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, but was not involved in any fighting. Instead, the company provided support for one of the Cav’s artillery bases.

Several common threads run through the encounters. Both sides did a lot of ambushing, for one thing. When casualties occurred, kedevac crew acted valourously to evacuate the wounded. Another theme is the massive air and artillery support brought to bear when Charlie Company was in a bind. And the crises that occurred when firepower could not be used.

Hassett could have used his year in Vietnam to write a Band of Brothers style book about himself and his comrades. However, his decision to concentrate on the unit’s history was a wise one. He does mention many individual soldiers, but there is little in the way of character development. He even downplays his own experiences. 

Steve Hassett in-country

This is truly the story of a company. By following it, we get a history of American involvement via the company’s experiences. Hassett does not use the book to take a position on the war and he is not waving the flag. He lets the reader figure out why things went wrong, although it seems clear that answering guerrilla tactics with ambushes and half-hearted pacification programs was ill-suited to the situation. 

Charlie Company tried its best and shed plenty of blood. Hassett names almost every soldier from the unit who died during the war.

Some had letters left at The Wall from family and friends.These heartbreaking “wish you were here” primary sources are poignant because it forces you to wonder if the pain caused by the men’s deaths was justified. Hassett also makes effective use of memoirs, letters, and recollections. 

I recommend Charlie 1/5 Cav to anyone who wants to know what it was like to be in an infantry company in the Vietnam War. I wouldn’t start with it, but once you have read a general history of the war, Hassett’s book will provide a revealing micro view.   

–Kevin Hardy

The Gunner and The Grunt by Michael L. Kelley and Peter Burbank

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In their joint memoir, Massachusetts natives Michael L. Kelley and Peter Burbank give a compelling portrait of America’s role in the Vietnam War in 1965. The Gunner and The Grunt: Two Boston Boys in Vietnam with the First Cavalry Division Airmobile (King Printing Company, 216 pp., paperback) traces the paths Kelley and Burbank took starting with growing up in neighborhoods a dozen miles apart and illustrates their hopes and expectations upon joining the U.S. Army.

Enlisting in 1964, Kelley chose Army aviation; Burbank aspired to be a paratrooper. The two boys from Boston met in Vietnam shortly after their arrival at the 1^st Air Cav base at An Khe in the Central Highlands. 

Inspired by a friend who had served with the 101st Airborne Division in World War II, Burbank decided, to the great distress of his parents, to leave high school and pursue his dream. For his part, Kelley finished high school, then put in for a posting in Germany where he hoped to work as an aviation mechanic and become a helicopter crew chief, as well as to enjoy the company of beautiful women and the limitless range of German beers.

To his dismay, Kelley received orders to join C Troop C the 1st Squadron in the 9^th Cavalry Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division. Upon learning he was going to Vietnam, Kelley was filled with dread. His sense of impending doom became a certainty that he was a dead man and powerless to prevent it. By contrast, Burbank was ecstatic knowing he would soon be in combat. 

Their training began during the advisory years of America’s commitment to Vietnam. In 1964, the number of U.S. troops in the country was a tiny fraction of the more than 550,000 who would be there four years later. By the end of 1965, the build-up was well underway. On arrival, Burbank and Kelley found themselves in the shadow of the Battle of Ia Drang Valley that was fought by 1st Cav troops only days before. Losses on both sides were shockingly high, and the message was sobering—an American victory in Vietnam would neither be easy nor swift.

Michael L. Kelley

The authors’ accounts of their daily lives during their tours are vivid. For Burbank, minutes drifted into months as he and his friends fought the elements as much as the enemy. Heat and humidity, insects and leeches, and snakes of every kind were constant companions. Every day resembled the one before. The only way he knew it was Sunday was when he was told to take his weekly malaria pill. The war turned into a blur of movement and action, fear and endurance.

When Michael Kelley began the book decades later and invited his friend to participate, Peter Burbank was reluctant. Kelley, however, was insistent, saying, “History untold is history unremembered.”

Burbank agreed, and together they have created a joint narrative of their Vietnam War tours that is well worth the read.

–Mike McLaughlin