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Mekong First Light: An Infantry Platoon Leader in Vietnam
“Before we got to Vietnam, the troops all thought you would be the first lieutenant killed, and in the end, you were the only one left. We were all wrong. You were the best.”
—Sgt. Lonnie “Tallman” Caldwell
December, 1966: Platoon leader Lt. Joseph Callaway had just turned twenty-three when he arrived in Vietnam to lead forty-two untested men into battle against some of the toughest, most experienced, and best-trained guerrilla soldiers in the world. Callaway soon learned that most events in this savage jungle war were beyond his control. But there was one thing he could do take the best damn care of his troops he knew how.
In the Viet Cong–infested provinces around the Mekong Delta where the platoon was assigned, the enemy was always ready to attack at the first sign of weakness. And when the jungle suddenly erupted in the chaos of battle, the platoon leader was the Cong’s first target. Mekong First Light is at times horrific, heartrending, and heroic, but is always brutally honest. Callaway’s account chronicles a soldier’s painful realization of the true nature of America’s war in It was a war that could not be won.
—Sgt. Lonnie “Tallman” Caldwell
December, 1966: Platoon leader Lt. Joseph Callaway had just turned twenty-three when he arrived in Vietnam to lead forty-two untested men into battle against some of the toughest, most experienced, and best-trained guerrilla soldiers in the world. Callaway soon learned that most events in this savage jungle war were beyond his control. But there was one thing he could do take the best damn care of his troops he knew how.
In the Viet Cong–infested provinces around the Mekong Delta where the platoon was assigned, the enemy was always ready to attack at the first sign of weakness. And when the jungle suddenly erupted in the chaos of battle, the platoon leader was the Cong’s first target. Mekong First Light is at times horrific, heartrending, and heroic, but is always brutally honest. Callaway’s account chronicles a soldier’s painful realization of the true nature of America’s war in It was a war that could not be won.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 30, 2004
49 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Joseph W. Callaway Jr.
1 book2 followersJoseph W. Callaway Jr. (Boston University, 1972) entered the army as a private in 1965 and, after being commissioned as an officer through Infantry OCS (Officer Candidate School), served in Vietnam from December 1966 until July 1968 as an infantry platoon leader with the 9th Division, a combat advisor to the first Thai regiment deployed to Vietnam, and as a staff officer with the 5th Special Forces.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 24, 2024
A great look into the war at all levels. Calloway rubbed shoulders with a lot of different people with different ranks and developed a unique perspective on the war. He gives many thoughtful insights into why the war was fought and how it affected the soldiers who fought it.
February 9, 2022
I feel this is an important book, but I gave it four stars instead of five because I feel it needs some good editing. For example, there is a lot of military jargon about who-where-what which is important, but could be put in an appendix. Also, Callaway is garrulous - if there is a long way to tell a story he will take it. He is, however, capable of being concise, which he often was in summing up our national experience in Vietnam.
When he is in his narrative, he is unparalleled in his open-heartedness, his total caring for the welfare of soldiers in his charge -- and in his open-hearted sharing of his grief, loss, anguish, pain, insanity.
He begins as a teenager who was a fuck-up at everything he did. A couple of months later, he is a gifted leader of men, honed unexpectedly in the fires of combat. And he ends, having revisited the hell of his experience again in order to attempt to recover from PTSD. And being a 'good enough' father to three men!
It was a privilege to read this man's story.
When he is in his narrative, he is unparalleled in his open-heartedness, his total caring for the welfare of soldiers in his charge -- and in his open-hearted sharing of his grief, loss, anguish, pain, insanity.
He begins as a teenager who was a fuck-up at everything he did. A couple of months later, he is a gifted leader of men, honed unexpectedly in the fires of combat. And he ends, having revisited the hell of his experience again in order to attempt to recover from PTSD. And being a 'good enough' father to three men!
It was a privilege to read this man's story.
March 25, 2024
An extraordinary well written book that gives the reader a look at the mental and physical demand the front line soldiers enduring during the tour of duty. Callaway lays bare his soul in this book and holds nothing back as far as his views of leadership, the military in general, his love of his troops, his respect for his enemy and his total hatred and distrust of our politicians and the political system that mired us in that war. The combat scenes are real, riveting and disturbing but necessary to convey his experiences. One of the better books I have read on the Viet Nam war and the men who fought it.
September 30, 2022
My book review
Callaway is a very good writer. He's also a thinker. His insights into the war are phenomenal. He leaves the combat zone half way through the book to become an advisor based on his experience. To me the book became less interesting at that point. Others may find the second half very interesting.
Callaway is a very good writer. He's also a thinker. His insights into the war are phenomenal. He leaves the combat zone half way through the book to become an advisor based on his experience. To me the book became less interesting at that point. Others may find the second half very interesting.
November 10, 2023
WOW!
Having read over one hundred accounts of service in Nam, this rendering lays it on the line and may well be the last for me. Having not served but on campus during these years, it is the best summation of all the issues that were floating around in this period. This is a completely balanced restatement of those issues from so many perspectives. Well done, Lt. Callaway.
Having read over one hundred accounts of service in Nam, this rendering lays it on the line and may well be the last for me. Having not served but on campus during these years, it is the best summation of all the issues that were floating around in this period. This is a completely balanced restatement of those issues from so many perspectives. Well done, Lt. Callaway.
July 1, 2022
I have been accumulating books about the Vietnam War for a few decades and I am finally able to read some of them. I felt this was a really well written first person account about some one who experienced the war up close and personal.
June 22, 2024
Excellent account.
One of the best accounts of the war on the ground in Vietnam I have read. Well written and a clear, concise review of the problems the US troops faced, coupled with the solutions they engineered. I will read again in a year or so.
One of the best accounts of the war on the ground in Vietnam I have read. Well written and a clear, concise review of the problems the US troops faced, coupled with the solutions they engineered. I will read again in a year or so.
April 20, 2022
Interesting read, maybe worth your time
The author is a bit redundant even so his story is interesting if a bit self congratulatory. Probably worth your time.
The author is a bit redundant even so his story is interesting if a bit self congratulatory. Probably worth your time.
December 13, 2022
A fine book that did not shy away from tough topics on the Vietnam war.
July 5, 2023
One of the most boring slow reading books about the war in Vietnam I’ve ever read. Don’t waste your money or time on this book.
March 15, 2016
Callaway didn't write this book for us. He wrote it for his sons, and for himself. But it got published, and I read it, so here we are with a review.
The long introduction to this book is Callaway's childhood in Alabama, which he regards as idyllic despite segregation, and then a middle-class adolescence in New Canaan, Connecticut, which he found alienating and pointless. Callaway drifted through high school, and after flunking out of college for the third time, joined the Army because he was going to be drafted anyways. He finally found his talent at bootcamp, went to Officer Candidate School, and then Vietnam as a platoon leader with the 9th Infantry Division.
The writing is, well, serviceable is about the kindest way I can describe it. This memoir was written nearly 40 years after the events it concerns, and memory gets worn smooth. I was idly flipping through, when on page 68 Callaway describes a soldier under his command getting shot in the jaw in front of him, which was the first moment in this book with gut-wrenching immediacy. Callaway lost a lot of friends in Vietnam, and writes movingly about grief in a combat zone, but these are short passages buried in a mass of memories that have lost their finer details and generalities about the war.
It's a shame, because Callaway had some unique experiences. He was a better-than-average platoon commander, with all the duty, courage, and tactical skill that entails (note: I've railed against the six month Vietnam combat tour for officers in other places, but Callaway argues he was totally spent at the end, and continuing in command would have gotten himself and a lot of other Americans killed from sheer exhaustion. Hard to disagree with the man.) Afterwards, Callaway joined the Special Forces and had a REMF job in the midst of absolutely insane luxury and financial corruption. When he retired from the Army and went back to college, he protested the war and co-taught a class on Radical Marxism under the guidance of Howard Zinn. All of this is super interesting, but Callaway doesn't have the chops as a memoirist to bring these stories back to life in the way that they deserve. I applaud him for writing this book, but I can't honestly recommend that people beyond his friends and family should read it.
The long introduction to this book is Callaway's childhood in Alabama, which he regards as idyllic despite segregation, and then a middle-class adolescence in New Canaan, Connecticut, which he found alienating and pointless. Callaway drifted through high school, and after flunking out of college for the third time, joined the Army because he was going to be drafted anyways. He finally found his talent at bootcamp, went to Officer Candidate School, and then Vietnam as a platoon leader with the 9th Infantry Division.
The writing is, well, serviceable is about the kindest way I can describe it. This memoir was written nearly 40 years after the events it concerns, and memory gets worn smooth. I was idly flipping through, when on page 68 Callaway describes a soldier under his command getting shot in the jaw in front of him, which was the first moment in this book with gut-wrenching immediacy. Callaway lost a lot of friends in Vietnam, and writes movingly about grief in a combat zone, but these are short passages buried in a mass of memories that have lost their finer details and generalities about the war.
It's a shame, because Callaway had some unique experiences. He was a better-than-average platoon commander, with all the duty, courage, and tactical skill that entails (note: I've railed against the six month Vietnam combat tour for officers in other places, but Callaway argues he was totally spent at the end, and continuing in command would have gotten himself and a lot of other Americans killed from sheer exhaustion. Hard to disagree with the man.) Afterwards, Callaway joined the Special Forces and had a REMF job in the midst of absolutely insane luxury and financial corruption. When he retired from the Army and went back to college, he protested the war and co-taught a class on Radical Marxism under the guidance of Howard Zinn. All of this is super interesting, but Callaway doesn't have the chops as a memoirist to bring these stories back to life in the way that they deserve. I applaud him for writing this book, but I can't honestly recommend that people beyond his friends and family should read it.
March 29, 2009
Mr. Callaway does an excellent job of taking the reader to Vietnam. He doesn't dwell too much on pre-Vietnam biographical material except as it related to how he got to Vietnam. His story unfolds sort of like sitting with an uncle or grandparent would tell the story sitting on a front porch drinking iced tea. His writing has a rambling style that jumps back and forth at times. We can feel his pain, his fear, his frustration, and, unfortunately, at times, his ego.
After awhile, Callaway comes across as extremely judgmental. He complains about inept officers so much that the reader begins to believe that nearly every superior officer Callaway ever came in contact was inexperienced, ignorant, incompetent, etc.
That isn't to say that one does not feel gratitude for Callaway's work in Vietnam, minimizing his own platoon's losses. I expect Callaway did an excellent job in Vietnam. His description of military tactics are informative and enlightening. His descriptions of battlefield geometry,fields of fire, defensive perimeters, patrol operations, etc. are spot on.
It is good to read a book by someone who was there in the thick of things.. this one just rambled a bit too much and offered a bit too much criticism of others for me to rate it any higher than I did.
Sorry, Mr. Callaway... if you are reading this somehow, I appreciate your service on behalf of our country.. it is your book I was not overly impressed with.
After awhile, Callaway comes across as extremely judgmental. He complains about inept officers so much that the reader begins to believe that nearly every superior officer Callaway ever came in contact was inexperienced, ignorant, incompetent, etc.
That isn't to say that one does not feel gratitude for Callaway's work in Vietnam, minimizing his own platoon's losses. I expect Callaway did an excellent job in Vietnam. His description of military tactics are informative and enlightening. His descriptions of battlefield geometry,fields of fire, defensive perimeters, patrol operations, etc. are spot on.
It is good to read a book by someone who was there in the thick of things.. this one just rambled a bit too much and offered a bit too much criticism of others for me to rate it any higher than I did.
Sorry, Mr. Callaway... if you are reading this somehow, I appreciate your service on behalf of our country.. it is your book I was not overly impressed with.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews