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

I was in the Army for two years and served in Vietnam as a Scout Dog Handler. I bought this book because I knew one of my students from many years ago was on one of the patrols covered in this book. He was the antithesis of the war story telling hero. He was the real stuff. Folks who served in SOG, recon units, and the LURPS were and are different from most of us. Every American should read about what these men accomplished. We should also remember that we ask young men to die for our Country and we have a responsibility to not ask them unless it is a just war that can be won.

At the risk of offending those who gave this book such high reviews, it must be pointed out that the size letters in this very overcrowded book, footnotes and all, are around 7 - 8 Pt. This may not mean much to an eagle eye, but for the conventional reader who has grown accustomed to around 12, or even 10, makes a world of difference. These are very small letters, and the footnotes and other pertinent information, happen to be even smaller (magnifying glass small, that is). Who wants to enjoy a book that might require a magnifying glass? Tedious reading on an otherwise fine book, with lots of points of view. About a year ago I stumbled onto the same issue, a 3 series book about the Holocaust that was printed in such small letters, that one had to wonder whether the issue was one of money, the more words in the page, the cheaper the end result? They were returned immediately, and even though I will not be returning this one, I close the book halfway through.Contrary to what some may think size does matter when enjoying a book, and it is sad that this book suffered such a diminutive size problem. The book is great, and Mr. Lawrence C. Vetter Jr., is definitely a very able author. I have read that small letters save a substantial amount of money towards publishing a book, and perhaps that is the reason why.I can not imagine a movie with subtitles and letters that are hard to read, why would anyone settle for it in a book I will never agree with whatever the excuse is. Sad, because it is a fine book about Vietnam, but how good can it be if reading it is extremely tedious and difficult. Standard 12 Pt was required. 4.5 for Never Without Heroes, 1.5 for presentation. Average 3 Stars.

The book provides an excellent picture of what real heroes are as opposed to the very greatly overuse of the term hero now days. The men of the Third Recon Battalion served themselves, their buddies, Corps and country with great honor. This book provides very good insight on what they did in a very tough climate and under sometimes questionable leadership, especially civilian leadership including president, Secretary of Defense and others. It also shows how politics can adversely affect military leadership. Where at times decisions are made for political gain and promotion rather than for the men who give so much of themselves. As a Marine Mustang officer who served 25 years active in three Marine Divisions among other duty I found the book to be excellent in presentation and quite factual in respect to just how challenging times were for the Marine Corps in Vietnam. Where Marines fought a very skilled and determined enemy in the toughest part of Vietnam (I Corps).The book also recognizes those who served, earned medals and sometimes died for Corps and country. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Vietnam War and Marine reconnaissance.Chuck CameronMajor, USMC-Rte

I was at Khe Sanh for the HIll Fights, Spring, '67, Echo, 2/3, and it sucked. The only thing worse, to me, than slugging it out with the NVA, would have been being overrun -- or being in Recon and being obviously outnumbered or chased through the bush. Had I been told to ''break contact, continue with mission,'' after calling for an extract, I would have shot someone when I returned to base.If anyone had asked me if I wanted to volunteer for Recon, the answer would have been an emphatic NO!That said, these guys had a bit more guts, courage, patriotism than the average Marine, and I'd have to accept that label as I wouldn't have wanted any part of being inserted into any of the areas they reconned in.What I loved about this book was the detail of I Corps and descriptions for all the places around Hue, Rockpile, Camp Evans, etc.Definitely a book for anyone interested in I Corps during this time period and seeing what Recon was really up to. What a crazy bunch!Semper Fi All! THANK YOU FOR SERVING!

Detailed account of areas of operations of 3rd recon in Vietnam. Narrated by those who actually participated in the operations. Semper fi

What a great book! There's tremendous insight into Recon missions that were taken in that five year period. Much information is presented on the Marines executing the patrols as well as how the information wasn't used. Sadly too many Marines were wounded and lost their lives gathering intelligence that just piled up in the S-2 and S-3 offices. The accumulation of troops starting as early as late 1966 did all but put up billboards saying a big offensive is coming soon. Great read although it leaves me sad for my brother Marines. Semper Fi!

On time and good shape. Most interesting book about some Viet Nam war history that not a lot of people know very much about.. Maybe it can be something of a monument to those recon Marines who died trying to carry out their orders in a nearly impossible task. May they rest in peace.

Basically from chapter 1 until the last chapter, it gives you the viewpoint from the grunts perspective of every day life in SVN running RECON right on the DMZ. Every chapter details one particular RECON patrol and the events encountered. Fairly long read, containing some military facts I wasn't aware of. Worth reading tho. 3rd RECON guys have my respect, they earned their combat pay.

interesting

dry but thorough.

AN EXCELLENT ACCOUNT .

It might be the style or mismatch in my expectations, but I didn't like it. It is a high level overview of what the Recon were doing. Little personal or individual perspective or experience from the field. The personal accounts is what I am looking for in general - not just the history books with statistics, dates and anonymous at the end. If you are like me and look for the individuals and their stories - you will be disappointed I am afraid.