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The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader’s Journal of Vietnam (Volume 11)
“In my year in Vietnam, I walked the booby-trapped rice paddies of the Delta, searching for the elusive Viet Cong, and later macheted my way through the triple-canopy jungle, fighting the North Vietnamese Regulars. . . . I sweated, thirsted, hunted, killed. Somewhere in all my experiences, I overlapped the situations of nearly every infantryman and many others who served.”
Michael Lee Lanning’s journal of his first tour of duty in Vietnam provides an unvarnished daily account of life in the field—the blood, fear, camaraderie, and tedium of combat and maneuver. Fleshed out with narrative and detail years later, the pages of this memorable book, first published in 1987, show an eager young recruit growing before the reader’s eyes into a proud but bloodied combat veteran.
Subsequent volumes in his Vietnam Trilogy will detail Lanning’s tour as a company commander and his post-war investigation into the mind of the enemy. Through his eyes, readers see the reality of a war that did not always receive glory but was, in his words, “the only war we had.”
Michael Lee Lanning’s journal of his first tour of duty in Vietnam provides an unvarnished daily account of life in the field—the blood, fear, camaraderie, and tedium of combat and maneuver. Fleshed out with narrative and detail years later, the pages of this memorable book, first published in 1987, show an eager young recruit growing before the reader’s eyes into a proud but bloodied combat veteran.
Subsequent volumes in his Vietnam Trilogy will detail Lanning’s tour as a company commander and his post-war investigation into the mind of the enemy. Through his eyes, readers see the reality of a war that did not always receive glory but was, in his words, “the only war we had.”
320 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 1987
71 people want to read
About the author
Michael Lee Lanning
39 books12 followersLieutenant Colonel Michael Lee Lanning (USA, Ret.) is an American retired military officer and writer of non-fiction, mostly military history.
After spending his early life in Texas, in 1964 Michael Lee Lanning graduated from Trent High School (Trent, Texas) and entered Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas), where in 1968 he earned a BS in Agricultural Education.
Upon graduation from Texas A&M in 1968, Lanning was commissioned a second lieutenant and received infantry, airborne, and ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After serving as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and rifle company commander in the 2d Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. During subsequent tours of duty he served throughout the United States and Germany, as (among other things) an instructor in the U.S. Army Ranger School, a mechanized infantry company commander in the 3rd Infantry Division, and executive officer of an infantry battalion in the 1st Cavalry Division. He also served in several non-command assignments, including positions as public affairs officer, serving in that role first for General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and later as a member of the Department of Defense public affairs office. In 1979, he earned an MS in Journalism from East Texas State University (Commerce, TX); he was selected to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, KS) that same year.
Lt. Col. Lanning's first book, 'The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam' was published by Ivy Books/Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. in September 1987.
After spending his early life in Texas, in 1964 Michael Lee Lanning graduated from Trent High School (Trent, Texas) and entered Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas), where in 1968 he earned a BS in Agricultural Education.
Upon graduation from Texas A&M in 1968, Lanning was commissioned a second lieutenant and received infantry, airborne, and ranger training at Fort Benning, Georgia. After serving as a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was ordered to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as an infantry platoon leader, reconnaissance platoon leader, and rifle company commander in the 2d Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. During subsequent tours of duty he served throughout the United States and Germany, as (among other things) an instructor in the U.S. Army Ranger School, a mechanized infantry company commander in the 3rd Infantry Division, and executive officer of an infantry battalion in the 1st Cavalry Division. He also served in several non-command assignments, including positions as public affairs officer, serving in that role first for General H. Norman Schwarzkopf and later as a member of the Department of Defense public affairs office. In 1979, he earned an MS in Journalism from East Texas State University (Commerce, TX); he was selected to attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, KS) that same year.
Lt. Col. Lanning's first book, 'The Only War We Had: A Platoon Leader's Journal of Vietnam' was published by Ivy Books/Ballantine Books/Random House, Inc. in September 1987.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 1, 2021
When Michael Lee Lanning was preparing for deployment as an officer to Vietnam he was advised to record his experiences in a journal. Lanning wisely heeded this counsel and regularly made brief notations in a book, and these notes formed the basis for this memoir, written about 10 years after the war. These notes would be pretty dull reading without elaboration: fortunately, Lanning starts chapters off with a notation from his journal and then goes on to explain exactly what occurred on that date.
Readers expecting a rousing shoot-em-up will be somewhat disappointed. Lanning's unit was in combat and no doubt had a few hairy encounters but none of the intensity of combat makes it onto the written page. The book is nonetheless interesting with engrossing anecdotal incidents like the time when, during an ambush, an enemy combatant picked up a Claymore mine and was trying to read it when it was touched off, or the time Lanning opened up on friendly forces in an incident in which his enthusiasm was greater than his marksmanship. A lot of officers would have left that one out.
Be warned that the book is anything but politically correct. It was written in the early 80's, before everyone was overwhelmed by sensitivity and hurt feelings. Consequently enemy combatants are referred to as "dinks" and "gooks" and probably other disparaging terms that escaped my notice. It's not pleasant to read now, but I'm sure that anyone in combat will dehumanize their opponent in similar terms. After all, the bugger is trying to kill them. More disturbing was the war crime of collecting gold teeth from dead enemies. Lanning mentions that this was done, although he doesn't claim to have done it himself or even to have witnessed it. I have no issue with taking a souvenir from a fallen foe, something like a bayonet or belt buckle, maybe military insignia, but personal property of the fallen should be off limits. Sadly, it isn't - for anyone.
Another bit of nonsense that grinds my gears is that Lanning speaks of other branches of the military in such disparaging terms. I know this is common everywhere, probably participated in it myself on occasion, but let's not forget that Lanning is a commissioned officer, supposedly required to be an example to his men. Being insulting toward other trades within the military, or worse, fighting with them, is something that should be beneath him.
I found this account to be very readable and an excellent presentation of day-to-day life in an Infantry platoon. Lanning even goes to the trouble of explaining the makeup of an infantry platoon and shows how the platoon fits into the organizational structure. My biggest complaint: how in hell do you write a book on Vietnam without going to the trouble of including a single damned photo? Inexcusable!
Readers expecting a rousing shoot-em-up will be somewhat disappointed. Lanning's unit was in combat and no doubt had a few hairy encounters but none of the intensity of combat makes it onto the written page. The book is nonetheless interesting with engrossing anecdotal incidents like the time when, during an ambush, an enemy combatant picked up a Claymore mine and was trying to read it when it was touched off, or the time Lanning opened up on friendly forces in an incident in which his enthusiasm was greater than his marksmanship. A lot of officers would have left that one out.
Be warned that the book is anything but politically correct. It was written in the early 80's, before everyone was overwhelmed by sensitivity and hurt feelings. Consequently enemy combatants are referred to as "dinks" and "gooks" and probably other disparaging terms that escaped my notice. It's not pleasant to read now, but I'm sure that anyone in combat will dehumanize their opponent in similar terms. After all, the bugger is trying to kill them. More disturbing was the war crime of collecting gold teeth from dead enemies. Lanning mentions that this was done, although he doesn't claim to have done it himself or even to have witnessed it. I have no issue with taking a souvenir from a fallen foe, something like a bayonet or belt buckle, maybe military insignia, but personal property of the fallen should be off limits. Sadly, it isn't - for anyone.
Another bit of nonsense that grinds my gears is that Lanning speaks of other branches of the military in such disparaging terms. I know this is common everywhere, probably participated in it myself on occasion, but let's not forget that Lanning is a commissioned officer, supposedly required to be an example to his men. Being insulting toward other trades within the military, or worse, fighting with them, is something that should be beneath him.
I found this account to be very readable and an excellent presentation of day-to-day life in an Infantry platoon. Lanning even goes to the trouble of explaining the makeup of an infantry platoon and shows how the platoon fits into the organizational structure. My biggest complaint: how in hell do you write a book on Vietnam without going to the trouble of including a single damned photo? Inexcusable!
March 9, 2011
I bought this book when it was first published Lanning's memoir of his time as a platoon commander in Vietnam, like all Vietnam War memoirs highlight the differences of time and place in regards to expeirence
February 11, 2018
Good description of a Texas A & M graduate's first six months in Vietnam. Lots of action. A separate book describes the 2nd six months.
August 7, 2022
One of the best autobiography / memoir I read !!
February 13, 2011
Edited from the blood-splattered pages of a diary, this memoir is about as immediate as possible.
March 16, 2015
If you ever really want to know what the Vietnam War was like, this is the book to read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews