Peter A. Taylor's Home Page

Tag: vietnam-war

  • SHORT!

    For most soldiers, sailors and marines who were assigned to Vietnam our tour of duty was one year or 365 days. In some cases it was longer than that but for most of us that anniversary of our arrival in Vietnam was also the anniversary of our departure one year later. Some basic facts about →

  • The Starlight Scope

    Recently I was watching a movie about some soldiers in Afghanistan and I noticed that they were wearing this device on their helmet. It was night time and occasionally they would lower it and look out across the horizon and detect movement. It was a modern night vision device. I had to laugh because when →

  • Merry Christmas – Christmas in Vietnam

    I spent three Christmases in Vietnam. Each one of them was different but then again each of them was the same. Christmas 1969 I had arrived in Vietnam early in the fall of 1969 and had been assigned to my first team. I was at Ap Bac on our three-man team there. I was a →

  • My Recollections as an Intelligence Officer in Vietnam

    Based upon my writings you can probably easily tell that I was a Military Intelligence officer serving in Vietnam during my three tours over there. So, what was it like? I had no intention of becoming a Military Intelligence officer. I enlisted in the United States Army in the US infantry, 11-Bravo. When I was →

  • Enduring The ‘Gun’ and other medical issues in Vietnam

    Most of us who were in the army in the 1960s can tell some interesting stories about medicine. I think one of the most ‘endearing’ stories deals with the infamous vaccination gun. I can remember as a buck private standing in a long line of other soldiers and as you looked up the line you →

  • Saving our Vietnam War Stories

    A couple of days ago I was at a book signing and one of the gentlemen that was there who was also a Vietnam veteran asked me why did I write my books. I asked him what he had done in Vietnam, and he had told me that he’d been an infantryman up in I →

  • Official After Action Report – Battle of Long Khot

    HEADQUARTERS US MILITARY ASSISTANCE COMMAND VIETNAM LESSONS LEARNED NO. 78 UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE Command, VIETNAM APO 96222 MACJ3-052                                                                                                                 17 February 1970 SUBJECT: Vietnam Lessons Learned No. 78: Action at Long Khot SEE DISTRIBUTION FOR THE COMMANDER: Incl FOREWORD Vietnam Lessons Learned No. 78 is a summary of a recent combat operation →

  • Meeting My ‘Muse’

    As I mentioned in a previous blog I had never written a novel before. I was trained as a military historian, and my degrees are in history and political science. And while I was an avid reader I had never really thought about writing anything other than documented history. When I wrote my book ,” →

  • Staying in Touch with Home in Vietnam

    In my “Advisor Series” I use ‘letters’ as a ‘vehicle’ to tell my stories. In some cases, the letters are from home or from Tyler’s girlfriend in Saigon. In the stories these letters allow Tyler and his family as well as his girlfriend to reflect on events that are occurring in their daily lives. In →

  • The Ambush at Nhon-Nhin-Three; Command Decision (Part Two)

    Previously, we found Second Lieutenant, Sargant First Class Bennett and a platoon of South Vietnamese soldiers outside the small village of Nhon-Nhin-Three preparing to ambush a group of high-ranking Việt Cộng political cadre and their guards. Due to an unforeseen delay, they had gotten into position after the VC had entered the village. They now →

  • Getting around in the Plain of Reeds

    As I’ve mentioned a couple of times in my writing the Plain of Reeds is one enormous swamp. And of course, we had basically two seasons over there it was either hot and wet or hot and dry. This was as a result of the monsoons and their effect on the weather. When I say →

  • Welcome back to all my readers and especially my Brothers and Sisters,

    We are a receding generation of Vietnam Veterans, as our numbers continue to diminish over time remember these few words from the Bard, William Shakespeare who wrote: “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; but he ne’er so vile, This →

  • Vietnam Advisor series; ‘Exotic foods’.

    Welcome Back! As advisors, we encountered changes in our diets. Initially housed at a large replacement depot in Saigon, I awaited my assignment at Camp Alpha, located at Tân Sơn Nhựt Airforce Base. During this time, we processed in, received uniforms, weapons, field equipment, and managed (or mismanaged) administrative and financial matters. My pay and →

  • March 29, 1973 – the last Combat Troops leave Vietnam

    At about 11:00 am, Saigon time, on March 29, 1973, the last ‘direct combat’ troops left Vietnam ending the United States involvement in the Vietnam Conflict. I happened to be one of those last guys out. It had been a harrowing ten days. I was initially scheduled to leave around March 20th, but there were →

  • Was it Worth It? Why Was I There?

    This is a question that is well over sixty years old. Was my going to Vietnam worth it and was it worth the blood and treasure of the United States. Guenter Lewy, a German-born American author and political scientist estimated 1,353,000 total deaths in North and South Vietnam during the period 1965–1974 in which the U.S. was most →

  • The Chiêu Hồi Program

    The Chiêu Hồi (pronounced roughly as Chew Hoy) was an interesting program that I dealt with on a daily basis. In my book I talk about our “Man Friday”, Ông Hai, or Mr. Hai. He was our go-to guy as far as maintaining our Jeep, boats, trailer, generator, and almost anything else that we needed to →

  • The Brown Water Navy

    “Brown Water Navy” In my books I talk a lot about the relationship that we had with the US Navy River Division that we dealt with at Ap Bac (aka Ap Bing) and at Moc Hoa (aka Moc Loi) When I arrived at Ap Bac (Ap Bing in “The Advisor”, we were heavily involved with →

  • Counterparts

    In my books I often describe some of the issues in dealing with our Vietnamese counterparts. As American Advisors we faced a philosophical and cultural difference with many of the Vietnamese that we dealt with. As westerners or Americans tend to think in concepts such as “never put off until tomorrow what should be done →

  • Colonel David “Hack” Hackworth, 44th Special Tactical Zone Commander

    Another senior officer mentioned several times in my books is Colonel David Hackworth. Colonel David ‘the Hack’ Hackworth, like John Paul Vann, was a controversial figure during the Vietnam War and had a military career spanning World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam Conflict. David Hackworth joined the US Merchant Marine at the →

  • Mr. John Paul Vann

    10 February In my books I often refer to my professional relationship with two men, John Paul Vann and Colonel David Hackworth.  In this week’s blog I’ll discuss my relationship with Mr. John Paul Vann. My recollections of Mr. Vann are nothing like those expressed by Neil Sheehan in his book “A Bright and Shining →

  • A Romantic Interlude?

    Once again, I’m discussing my first book “The Advisor, Kien Bing. South Vietnam, 1969-1970; A Novel” with emphasis on the individuals that were really a part of the story. I’ve chosen not to use real names, particularly for my Vietnamese counterparts. Even though many may have passed away, I prefer not to identify them to →

  • Where is Ap Bing???

    Good morning! Readers who bought my book “The Advisor; Kien Bing, South Vietnam 1969-1970 a Novel” won’t find the locations on a map of Vietnam. Following the invasion from the north in 1975, many locations mentioned in my book were renamed. The town previously known as Ap Bing was actually named Ap Bac. The new →