Khe Sanh: Siege in the Clouds

by Eric Hammel

From critcally acclaimed military historian Eric Hammel comes a vivid oral history account of the Tet 1968 siege of the Khe Sanh Combat Base. The words of American fighting men caught up in the grueling, deadly seventy-seven-day ordeal create a harrowing tapestry of tragedy and triumph.

As two North Vietnamese Army divisions move to surround them, the vastly outnumbered U.S. Marines rush to strengthen their defenses at the isolated base and several nearby hilltop positions. The Communist forces repeatedly attack, are repeatedly repelled, and then dig in to take the American base by siege–the makings of a classic, modern “set-piece” strategy in which the defenders become bait to tie the attackers to fixed positions in which they can be pummeled and pulverized by American artillery and air support.

Khe Siege in the Clouds is a ground-breaking step forward in the oral history genre. This gripping–and moving–narrative flows from the masterfully woven threads provided by nearly a hundred men who gallantly endured the wrenching all-out struggle to hold the combat base and its vulnerable outlying positions.

PRAISE FOR KHE Siege in the Clouds and Eric Hammel

A harrowing, gut-level record of the Vietnam War’s Khe Sanh Campaign . . . a vivid, day-by-day log. . . . Hammel conveys the ironies as well as the horrors of the protracted engagement. ——Kirkus Reviews

A remarkably accurate account of a crucial 77-day battle . . . Khe Siege in the Clouds is retold as an oral history by the men who fought in it, which gives the account not only a vividness and immediacy but a human perspective so many other war analyses are missing. ——Playboy

The author sets the stage for this epic battle, but then turns the narrative over to the vivid accounts of nearly 100 individuals who survived. The accounts cover all the bases—from privates in foxholes, to cooks, chaplains, and the commanding generals. . . . A masterful telling of history. ——Air Force Magazine

The story of the thankless siege is told in this vivid oral history by nearly 100 articulate survivors, mostly U.S. Marines, who convey the frustration experienced by men trained for aggressive mobile warfare forced for the most part to huddle inside a crowded perimeter. ——Publishers Weekly

Hammel’s book captures the full flavor of day-to-day life and death that was Khe Sanh. ——Marine Corps Gazette

Hammel’s ability to reveal both the immediacy and the humanity of war without judgment or bias makes all his books both readable and scholarly. With Khe Siege in the Clouds, he elevates the standards of oral history as well. ——San Francisco Chronicle

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, Military Fiction, War

516 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 1989

About the author

Eric Hammel was born in 1946, in Salem, Massachusetts, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central High School of Philadelphia in January 1964 and earned a degree in Journalism from Temple University in 1972. His road to writing military history began at age twelve, when he was stuck in bed for a week with a childhood illness. Eric's father bought him the first paperback book he ever owned, Walter Lord's Day of Infamy. As he devoured the book, Eric realized that he wanted to write books exactly like it, what we now call popular narrative history. Lord had pieced together the book from official records illuminated with the recollections of people who were there. Eric began to write his first military history book when he was fifteen. The book eventually turned out to be Guadalcanal: Starvation Island. Eric completed the first draft before he graduated from high school. During his first year of college, Eric wrote the first draft of Munda Trail, and got started on 76 Hours when he was a college junior. Then Eric got married and went to work, which left him no time to pursue his writing except as a journalism student.

Eric quit school at the end of his junior year and went to work in advertising in 1970. Eric completed his journalism degree in 1972, moved to California in 1975, and finally got back to writing while he operated his own one-man ad agency and started on a family. 76 Hours was published in 1980, and Chosin followed in 1982. At the end of 1983 Eric was offered enough of an advance to write The Root: The Marines in Beirut to take up writing books full time. The rest, as they say, is history.

Eric eventually published under his own imprint, Pacifica Press, which morphed into Pacifica Military History and IPS Books. At some point in the late 1990s, Eric realized he had not written in five years, so he pretty much closed down the publishing operation and pieced together a string of pictorial combat histories for Zenith Press. Eric nominally retired in 2008 and took up writing as a full-time hobby writing two novels, 'Til The Last Bugle Call and Love and Grace. Fast forward to 2018 and Eric was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and on August 25th 2020, Eric passed from this life to the next at the age of 74.

Reviews

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book which gives all the nuts and bolts about the Siege of Khe Sanh, this isn't the book for you. But if you're looking for personal recollections of those who were there, this book is perfect. The author interviewed dozens of American soldiers and Marines who were stationed at Khe Sanh or the surrounding areas, along with many others who provided fire support, medevacuation support, or who flew in supplies and equipment. The passages vary in length and many of the individuals pop up several times, thus providing a good overview of how things changed from the early days of the NVA attacks all the way through until American forces fought their way into the besieged area. Some of the stories are humorous, but many showcase the bravery, fortitude and skill of the Americans stationed at Khe Sanh. There is also plenty of tragedy and loss, so this isn't a happy rah-rah book all the time. Furthermore, if ethnic slurs and profanity upset you, this book might not be for you.

While the book is one-sided in that there are no recollections from ARVN soldiers who were there or from the NVA troops who opposed the Americans, that does not take away from the excellence of this book. This is oral history at its finest and a book which anyone interested in the Vietnam War should pick up.

[Jim Updike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a Corpsman with Fox, 2/26 on hill 558. Certainly brought back lots of memories and filled in quite a few blank spots about other areas of Khe Sanh.

[Jim Updike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a Navy Corpsman with 2nd Bn., 26th Marines at Khe Sanh. This was a hard read for me...

[Ilena Holder · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband already owns this book and I wanted to read it. A former Marine in the last office worked in was in the battle. All he would say about it when other men asked him was "it was no picnic." That was it. All I had to say--- it was very brutal. Some of the descriptions I had to skip over. But was an event in the Viet Nam war and it is good someone wrote about it.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is individual accounts of their experiences during the battle for Khe Sahn.

[Zachary Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part this is an excellent oral history on the Marines at Khe Sanh during the siege in 1968. After speaking with several of the surviving veterans in the book I can attest it’s mostly factual and true to the account.

[Seth J. Vogelman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first person tribute to the heroes who served there.

[Mike McFadden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic