Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan: Comparing memoirs of small unit ground combat

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Monday, March 5, 2012 - 6:31 AM Share

A reader writes from one of our formerly rebellious southern states:

I have consumed a fair number of 1st-hand (usually company/platoon level) accounts of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq combat (currently reading Outlaw Platoon). While reading your post today on the Vietnam war, I had a thought/question -- are you aware of any papers, articles, or books that research the ground combat experiences in each of these conflicts, and seek to specifically compare and contrast the experiences of small unit leaders (lieutenants and captains)?

I would love to see the results of solid research of selected first-hand accounts (like Outlaw Platoon and Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat) to see what was similar, what was different, what were the unique challenges in each conflict, what worked in one conflict that did not work it others, what worked in all three conflicts, etc. I can imagine that this research would not only be extremely interesting reading, but could also benefit our young commanders in the field today, and those who will be in the field in the future.

I think reading all the memoirs of platoon and company command or enlisted service during the three wars, and then looking for commonalities and differences, would make a fine master's or even doctoral dissertation for someone.

I've mentioned in the past that one of the striking things to me about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has been that the accounts by enlisted soldiers and younger officers have been much better than those by generals. And more intellectually and morally serious -- just line up the books by Fick, Exum, Bellavia and Mullaney against those by Franks, Sanchez, Bremer, Rumsfeld and Feith.

By contrast, I can think of five good books by generals about Vietnam: Those by Bruce Palmer, Dave Richard Palmer, Ray Peers, Douglas Kinnard and (cheating a bit, since even though he is now a general he wrote it as a captain) Herbert R. McMaster.

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64DRIVER

12:47 PM ET

March 5, 2012

New this month

Enduring Battle: American Soldiers in Three Wars, by Chris Hamner (George Mason University) compares and contrasts ground combat in the Revolution, Civil War, and World War II, but doesn't cover Vietnam or more recent conflicts.

 

JPWREL

1:43 PM ET

March 5, 2012

Good topic!

Tom is on to something here. After reading I don’t know how many memoirs from as obscure as ‘Diary of the American War – A Hessian Journal by Capt. Johann Ewald (which is quite good) to Ernst Junger’s ‘Storm or Steel’ to Lawrence’s ‘Seven Pillar’s of Wisdom’ I have found a field officers perspectives far more interesting that those of flag rank.

One exception to that is ‘Defeat into Victory’ by FM Bill Slim in my view easily the vest best General officer memoir of any nation in World War Two. He writes with the eye of a junior officer but never loses his humility by celebrating himself. On the other hand Omar Bradley’s absolutely awful ‘A Soldier’s Story’ in my view tops the charts as one of the worst and and joining him is the egregiously bad supreme egoist FM Bernard Montgomery’s ‘Memoirs’ laughably self-serving and deceptive.

Fortunately, through the efforts of good modern historians these books can pretty much be consigned to the dustbin with little remorse. For instance, Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett have convincingly expose the jealous, unimaginative and inept Bradley and reduced him to the status where he likely belongs which is among other second rate Colonels promoted way above their capacity.

Junior and middle ranking officers see war from the ground level and seem less interested in molding their reputations for posterity than General officers. These are usually youngish men with their lives ahead of them not elder generals grasping for fame and glory. A junior officer is in no position to adjust history like Guderian in ‘Panzer Leader’ to claim renown for himself.

 

JAYLEMEUX

3:21 PM ET

March 5, 2012

How is it striking?

"I've mentioned in the past that one of the striking things to me about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has been that the accounts by enlisted soldiers and younger officers have been much better than those by generals."

How is this surprising?

 

TOM RICKS

4:34 PM ET

March 5, 2012

Because there aren't many from the past

There is a centuries-old tradition of good books by generals, beginning with Xenophon. But until the 20th century there wasn't much writing by the rankers. I can't think of any memoirs by enlisted from the Civil War (except for some diaries and letters not intended for publication).

In World War I we got a lot of good writing from junior officers, especially British literary types--Robert Graves, Siegfried Sasson, Wilfred Owen. But I can't think of much by enlisted men. Frederic Manning attributed authorship of his novel "The Middle Parts of Fortune" to a private, but he was an officer.

I think it really starts with World War II that we start getting a lot of good writing from former enlisted, and from junior officers. We also got a lot of good writing from generals out of that war, such as Slim's 'Defeat into Victory' and Eisenhower's memoir.

Since then, I can't think of many terrific books by generals, though I did mention that some Vietnam generals wrote some pretty good ones. (And McMaster's book is terrific.)

Best,
Tom

 

JPWREL

4:42 PM ET

March 5, 2012

Tom, don't forget U. S.

Tom, don't forget U. S. Grant's outstanding memoir which is not only superbly written (while dying from throat cancer) but fair and even handed. Mark Twain help this project along to fruition and obviously had an eye for a natural born writer.

 

VEXEDDUCK

3:52 PM ET

March 5, 2012

Good Idea

Tom, I think this (or a big down payment on it) would make an excellent MA Thesis. If I do accept my offer from King's to do War Studies, you just might see this idea bear fruit in about a 18 months.

 

MATTERLAW

6:45 PM ET

March 5, 2012

suggestion

Hackworth, David, Steel My Soldiers' Hearts : The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam (2002).

 

MATTERLAW

10:33 PM ET

March 5, 2012

2nd suggestion

there is also the first 200 pages or so of Hackworth's ABOUT FACE, through 1st Lt.

 

MATTERLAW

8:40 PM ET

March 6, 2012

2002 Hackworth interview

http://www.military.com/NewContent/0,13190,NI_Hackworth_1202,00.html

2002 Hackworth interview with Navl Inst Proceedings about "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts"

 

TYRTAIOS

9:06 AM ET

March 6, 2012

What are those Soldiers firing at over in the trees. . .

Should they be assuming a more tactical rice paddy prone position thereby minimizing their exposure? Shouldn't someone be directing a blooper put some 40mm out front? Don't these fellows in the picture have any magic markers to inscribe graffiti on their helmet liners? Is making a coffee cup out of a small can, comm wire, and a grenade spoon, a lost art form?

I have so many questions, but alas, I'm researching Napoleon's dithering in Moscow for six weeks instead of pulling back to Smolensk. . . . . . . .

 

RVN SF VET

1:57 AM ET

March 7, 2012

GUT FEELING

I have no idea why, but gestalt, I thought this was an artillery position. No LBE.

 

EWITHHELD

10:32 PM ET

March 12, 2012

Convoy Ops

This isn't about small unit leadership directly, but it's a fascinating study comparing the development of hardened convoys in Iraq with what happened in Vietnam. From the intro to the paper, after he sets up how our guys in Iraq went from arming vehicles to rolling in groups to armoring vehicles trucks to developing TTPs for hardening convoys, he says:

"Unwittingly, most of the transportation units in Iraq were reinventing the wheel. They walked step-by-step along the same path gun-truck design- ers had nearly four decades before them. The solution that developed out of Iraq had roots reaching far back into history. With the exception of the Vietnam veterans still serving in the National Guard and Reserve compa- nies, and a few of the soldiers who happened to visit the Transportation Corps Museum, most currently in Iraq do not know the US Army has faced a similar threat before and defeated it. The solution was the gun truck."

It's a fascinating paper:

http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/killblane.pdf

 

CNW

9:57 PM ET

March 14, 2012

benefits of history

Thanks EWITHHELD, I now have something to fresh read this evening!

This is exactly the kind of comparative research that we need (and need more of it!). If more of our officers and non-comms serving in Iraq had known about the Vietnam gun trucks, could their patrol learning curves have been shortened, and lives saved?

I firmly believe that history, rightly understood and applied, increases combat effectiveness (and thus, saves lives).

 

MAXIMB

2:01 PM ET

March 22, 2012

I've never heard that quote.

I've never heard that quote. I agree it is confusing, because Stalin is known to have asked and encouraged the Allies to open a second front by invading France from the English Channel in 1943, one year before it actually happened..

"Is rio orange war always forfait b and you inevitable ?"
MaximB

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military for the Washington Post from 2000 through 2008.

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