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We're Taking Fire: A Reporter's View of the Vietnam War, Tet and the Fall of LBJ
“Peter Arnett is a great reporter. He was then and he is now.” –Dan Rather, Journalist "If you had to invent a reporter for the Vietnam War, you would have invented Peter." –David Halbertsam, Journalist and Historian "Peter Arnett is one of the greatest war correspondents of all time. – Lee Winfrey, Philadelphia Enquirer On the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive comes “We’re Taking Fire,” a powerful examination by Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Peter Arnett of what led to that pivotal moment of the Vietnam War in 1968 and the tumultuous aftermath. Through his reports for The Associated Press from the early 1960s to the fall of Saigon in 1975, and interviews conducted during and after the war, Arnett explains the complexities that drove the decisions made by the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations and how each was unable to achieve a winning strategy that would put an end to the unpopular and controversial conflict. As an eyewitness to the battles, maneuvers and cultural challenges that prevented a definitive victory, Arnett provides unique insights that only one who was on the ground can share as well as perspectives shaped by decades of observing America and Vietnam since the war. Illustrating Arnett’s compelling story are more than 50 images from AP’s Photo Archives and his personal collection. “We’re Taking Fire,” which deciphers the war and its toll on Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, is a must-read about lessons learned and lessons forgotten.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 21, 2018
About the author
Peter Arnett
14 books11 followersPeter Gregg Arnett, ONZM (1934–2025) was a New Zealand-American journalist. Arnett worked for National Geographic magazine, and later for various television networks, most notably CNN. He was well known for his coverage of war, including the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. He was awarded the 1966 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for his work in Vietnam, where he was present from 1962 to 1975, most of the time reporting for the Associated Press news agency. In 1994, Arnett wrote Live from the Battlefield: From Vietnam to Baghdad, 35 Years in the World's War Zones. In March 1997, Arnett was able to interview Osama bin Laden. The Journalism School at the Southern Institute of Technology is named after him.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 7, 2018
I'm reviewing the Kindle edition. I found the book is a mixed bag: the author, a journalist who covered the war throughout the period of US involvement, had an excellent first-person vantage point. Consequently there is a lot of really vivid and insightful content, and well-founded conclusions about why certain decisions were made and why things turned out as they did. On the other hand, the historical coverage is rather patchwork, with many details missing. Finally, there are 2 major flaws (described at the end) that prevent me from giving it a higher rating.
The book has a somewhat strange structure: it starts with a dramatic description of the Tet Offensive in 1968, then jumps back to 1952, midway through the Eisenhower administration. From then on, it proceeds to catch up the reader on a loose selection of the major events of the conflict in chronological order, until the narrative once again reaches the dramatic climax during Tet in 1968 and Johnson's decision soon after to seek peace talks and pause US escalation. There is rather thin coverage of what happened after 1968.
Most of the book is a loose history of the war, based on the author's first-person reporting (much of it directly from the battlefields), as well as interviews both during and after the war. He fills in some of the gaps by referring to participants' diaries and memoirs, and documents from for example the Johnson presidential library. There's also a limited amount of straight historical narration, to provide additional context. Overall, this format makes the history seem very personal and immediate, rather than dry and academically detached.
Considering the somewhat patchwork format, the book does a surprisingly good job of summarizing the now-standard historical account of the conflict from the US perspective. There is also a lot of insightful first-person detail about such critical turning points as Johnson's decision to escalate US involvement in 1964, then seek peace after Tet in 1968. Finally, the author relates many telling anecdotes and memorable episodes that he witnessed firsthand.
However, the perspectives of South Vietnamese, Viet Cong, and North Vietnamese don't get much coverage, although there are a few postwar interviews with some of the important leaders. This is a common weakness of books about the war, and it's perhaps more forgivable in this case because the author intended to focus on what he saw and reported on himself, which was centered on American troops and leaders rather than South Vietnamese, while he had much less access to Communist sources.
The book contains a selection of photos, many from the author's personal collection. These aren't famous or dramatic scenes, but rather pictures of the author in various locations in South Vietnam, as well as official portraits and interview photos of key US figures from the war (with a handful of Vietnamese included as well).
Despite the book's many virtues, it has two major flaws that are unacceptable in a book by a journalist about history: very poor editing and a complete lack of bibliographic references. The worst aspect of the editing is that there are many glaring typos, as if the book was never proofread. Some of the phrasing and structure could also have benefitted from further polishing. And there is no index.
The worst flaw, however, is that there is no bibliography at all, let alone footnotes and references. This is very puzzling, because the main text generally attributes the quotes to specific sources, and in fact many of the interviews summarized by the author were conducted specifically for a well-known comprehensive Canadian documentary called "The Ten Thousand Day War". (Incidentally, I highly recommend this documentary if you want a fuller overview on the war--it's available in full on Youtube as I write.) I happened to be watching some of the episodes around the same time as I read this book, and it was clear many of the passages in the book are taken verbatim from interviews in the documentary. But in the book the author conspicuously avoids naming either the documentary or its accompanying book (also called "The Ten Thousand Day War"), let alone providing proper references to news articles he wrote, or memoirs, diaries, or documents that are mentioned or even quoted in the book. And naturally there is no suggested bibliography for further reading. Given the care with which the author must have reviewed and selected all these materials, the complete lack of proper references is utterly mysterious.
So as I said, it's a mixed bag: there's a lot of insightful first-hand observation and analysis of what happened and why, but a maddening lack of references for those who might want to dig deeper.
The book has a somewhat strange structure: it starts with a dramatic description of the Tet Offensive in 1968, then jumps back to 1952, midway through the Eisenhower administration. From then on, it proceeds to catch up the reader on a loose selection of the major events of the conflict in chronological order, until the narrative once again reaches the dramatic climax during Tet in 1968 and Johnson's decision soon after to seek peace talks and pause US escalation. There is rather thin coverage of what happened after 1968.
Most of the book is a loose history of the war, based on the author's first-person reporting (much of it directly from the battlefields), as well as interviews both during and after the war. He fills in some of the gaps by referring to participants' diaries and memoirs, and documents from for example the Johnson presidential library. There's also a limited amount of straight historical narration, to provide additional context. Overall, this format makes the history seem very personal and immediate, rather than dry and academically detached.
Considering the somewhat patchwork format, the book does a surprisingly good job of summarizing the now-standard historical account of the conflict from the US perspective. There is also a lot of insightful first-person detail about such critical turning points as Johnson's decision to escalate US involvement in 1964, then seek peace after Tet in 1968. Finally, the author relates many telling anecdotes and memorable episodes that he witnessed firsthand.
However, the perspectives of South Vietnamese, Viet Cong, and North Vietnamese don't get much coverage, although there are a few postwar interviews with some of the important leaders. This is a common weakness of books about the war, and it's perhaps more forgivable in this case because the author intended to focus on what he saw and reported on himself, which was centered on American troops and leaders rather than South Vietnamese, while he had much less access to Communist sources.
The book contains a selection of photos, many from the author's personal collection. These aren't famous or dramatic scenes, but rather pictures of the author in various locations in South Vietnam, as well as official portraits and interview photos of key US figures from the war (with a handful of Vietnamese included as well).
Despite the book's many virtues, it has two major flaws that are unacceptable in a book by a journalist about history: very poor editing and a complete lack of bibliographic references. The worst aspect of the editing is that there are many glaring typos, as if the book was never proofread. Some of the phrasing and structure could also have benefitted from further polishing. And there is no index.
The worst flaw, however, is that there is no bibliography at all, let alone footnotes and references. This is very puzzling, because the main text generally attributes the quotes to specific sources, and in fact many of the interviews summarized by the author were conducted specifically for a well-known comprehensive Canadian documentary called "The Ten Thousand Day War". (Incidentally, I highly recommend this documentary if you want a fuller overview on the war--it's available in full on Youtube as I write.) I happened to be watching some of the episodes around the same time as I read this book, and it was clear many of the passages in the book are taken verbatim from interviews in the documentary. But in the book the author conspicuously avoids naming either the documentary or its accompanying book (also called "The Ten Thousand Day War"), let alone providing proper references to news articles he wrote, or memoirs, diaries, or documents that are mentioned or even quoted in the book. And naturally there is no suggested bibliography for further reading. Given the care with which the author must have reviewed and selected all these materials, the complete lack of proper references is utterly mysterious.
So as I said, it's a mixed bag: there's a lot of insightful first-hand observation and analysis of what happened and why, but a maddening lack of references for those who might want to dig deeper.
March 22, 2023
This book was fairly interesting. It explored the progression of the Vietnam war and the political fallout it had on LBJ from a war reporter's point of view.
I don't think anyone actually liked how the Vietnam war (or "conflict" to be more politically accurate) progressed and ultimately failed, but war reporters especially disliked everything about it. This may be because they were in the middle of it witnessing the missteps and their tragic consequences as they unfolded, or maybe reporters tend to be anti-establishment types that also know how to keep a news outlet's sales high. Whatever the reason, that bias against any war, and Vietnam in particular, will always come out in their writing. This book is no exception. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to take the stand that the mistakes and eventual outcome were obvious and inevitable and that is the implication throughout the book.
If you ignore the political slant that is woven throughout, this is an interesting first-person view of how a war that America doesn't like to talk about unfolded and how political decisions led to the its outcome for the US and their allies.
Audiobook Specific comments:
My main problem with this book isn't with its writing or even its content and therefore didn't affect my rating. I "read" this book in audiobook form which was read by the author. I applaud Mr. Arnett for putting the work into producing the audiobook, but I am baffled by the publisher's decision to allow him to read it. To put it bluntly, Mr. Arnett has a voice made for silent movies. I found it instantly grating and difficult to understand. Strangely, for an Australian, he has a distinctly non-Australian nasally accent which sound like a clash between the classic New Jersey gangster and a Bostonian, and not in a good way. I eventually attuned myself to it and was able to follow along without a lot of difficulty, but the first couple of chapters were tough. This is a shame because it isn't the author's fault that he hurts my ears, but it did take away from my overall experience.
I don't think anyone actually liked how the Vietnam war (or "conflict" to be more politically accurate) progressed and ultimately failed, but war reporters especially disliked everything about it. This may be because they were in the middle of it witnessing the missteps and their tragic consequences as they unfolded, or maybe reporters tend to be anti-establishment types that also know how to keep a news outlet's sales high. Whatever the reason, that bias against any war, and Vietnam in particular, will always come out in their writing. This book is no exception. With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to take the stand that the mistakes and eventual outcome were obvious and inevitable and that is the implication throughout the book.
If you ignore the political slant that is woven throughout, this is an interesting first-person view of how a war that America doesn't like to talk about unfolded and how political decisions led to the its outcome for the US and their allies.
Audiobook Specific comments:
My main problem with this book isn't with its writing or even its content and therefore didn't affect my rating. I "read" this book in audiobook form which was read by the author. I applaud Mr. Arnett for putting the work into producing the audiobook, but I am baffled by the publisher's decision to allow him to read it. To put it bluntly, Mr. Arnett has a voice made for silent movies. I found it instantly grating and difficult to understand. Strangely, for an Australian, he has a distinctly non-Australian nasally accent which sound like a clash between the classic New Jersey gangster and a Bostonian, and not in a good way. I eventually attuned myself to it and was able to follow along without a lot of difficulty, but the first couple of chapters were tough. This is a shame because it isn't the author's fault that he hurts my ears, but it did take away from my overall experience.
July 5, 2022
An interesting look at the conflict in Vietnam from not only a journalist's point of view but from someone who was on the ground for a large part of the war. While sometimes rambling the author highlights some interesting points that, as a nation, we (the United States) were doomed to repeat years later in a very different faraway place. History buffs and armchair poli-sci folks will find this an interesting read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews