Michael D. Mahler

Mahler was a major who served in a brigade headquarters of a division north of Saigon and then in a cavalry squadron that was in action all over. His experiences in the brigade headquarters were not satisfy as he ran into self serving officers who tried to micro manage the war including the skirmishes that sometimes led to unnecessary casualties.
The time spent with the armoured section seems to have been a satisfying, albeit dangerous period of his time in Vietnam. Mahler saw how the improvements his units brought to their combat areas made it safer for the Vietnamese as well as the US troops. While there are descriptions of battles and skirmishes, he spends much of his book on how the officers plan and coordinate activities such as battles, insertions and organizing road traffic so necessary supplies get through. He also is critical of some of the officers he worked with who put their careers ahead of the lives and comforts of their men. He is especially critical of officers who did not take the time to learn from the experiences of the personnel who had been in the field for some time so they did not repeat the mistakes of the past. This is a different look at the War than is usual in a Vietnam vet's memoirs.… (més)