Mobile Guerrilla Force: With The Special Forces In War Zone D

Naval Institute Special Warfare Series

by James C. Donahue

Without artillery support, without reinforcements, they turned a suicide mission into a success.

Battered and depleted by the Vietcong guerrillas' sadistic style of warfare, allied intelligence unleashed their secret weapon: an experimental Army Special Forces unit that the government brass didn't know existed. They used the enemy's booby-trapped trails and grenade-in-you-backpack tactics in a sprawling mass of jungle.

James C. Donahue, a member of Operation Blackjack-31, chronicles the treacherous trek through War Zone D by thirteen handpicked Green Berets who infiltrated the VC's "secret zone" and proved just how far determination can go.

Genres: Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History, History

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb was right. Donahue was able to place its readers in the midst of a steaming Vietnamese jungle and captured the feel of running recon deep behind the lines. However, the book read like a very long-winded after operation report. It lacks details on tactics, techniques and procedures that similar books on the subject have (John Plaster's SOG and Secret Commandos).

A quick, easy but not so fulfilling read.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book. It is told as a story by one of the Special Forces medics as they were out in war zone D.

[RA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engrossing Viet-nam war bio, with plenty of military details.

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donahue gives us a surprisingly warm view of special ops on the ground in Vietnam. His eye for nature and respect for the ethnic Cambodians he served with is apparent. I'll read his other books.