Ambush Valley: I CORPS VIETNAM,1967
Eric Hammel
The Story of a Marine Infantry Battalion's Battle for Survival.
In the summer of 1967,the Marines in I Corps,South Vietnam's northern most military region, were doing everything they could to lighten the pressure on the beseiged Con Thien Combat Base.
Still fresh after months of relatively light action around Khe Sanh, the 3rd Battalion,26th Marineswas sent to the Con Thien region to secure the combat base's endangered main supply route. On September 7,1967,its first full day of patrolling in the new area of operations, separate elements of the battalion were attacked by at least two battalions of of North Vietnamese infantry, and both were nearly overrun in night-long battles.
Three days later,September 10, while advancing to a new sector near Con Thien, the 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines, was attacked by an entire North Vietnamese regiment, the same NVA Unit which had attacked it two days earlier. Isolated into two separate defensive perimeters, the Marines battled thru through the afternoon and evening against repeated direct assaults by waves of NVA regulars intent upon achieving a major victory. Only by the narrowest of margins did the Americans prevail.
Ambush Valley is an unforgettable account of bravery and survival under impossible conditiosns.It is told entirely in the words of the men who faced the ordeal together- an unprecedented mosiac of action and emotion woven into an incredibly clear and vivid combat narrative by one of today's most effective military historians. Ambush Valley achieves a new standard for oral history. It is a war story not to be missed.
Historian's note: The cover art is by the reknown combat artist Colonel Charles Waterhouse,USMCR (Ret.). The book is printed in the USA.
It may interest one to know that Major Carl Munday, later Commandant of The Marine Corps was Executive Officer of 3/26.
A true story, an easy to read book..but extremely interesting.
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Jim Cannon,Major USMC(Ret.)
