Into Laos: The Story of Dewey Canyon II/Lam Son 719, Vietnam 1971

by Keith William Nolan

An eyewitness account of the last major operation the Americans fought in Vietnam, focusing on the soldiers as individuals and on the previously neglected aspects of the battles that were not reported by the press

Genres: Nonfiction

408 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1986

About the author

Keith William Nolan was an American military historian, focusing on the various campaigns of the Vietnam War. Nolan obtained a history degree from Webster University. Nolan pioneered and excelled at his own special brand of military history: the excellent combining of in-depth interviews with those who took part in the fighting and deep research into the official records. That, along with a fluid writing style, added up to ten (eleven, counting one he co-authored) of the best books on Vietnam War military history. Keith Nolan died of lung cancer in February 2009 at the age of forty-five.

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my money, Keith Nolan is one of the preeminent Scholar –Historians on the Vietnam War. All of his Vietnam books are recommended. This book is about the last major operation executed by the U.S. Army in Vietnam, the ARVN invasion of Laos in 1971: OPERATION DEWEY CANYON II/LAM SON 719. This is late in the war, with Vietnamization in full swing. In the backdrop of the invasion, the U.S. forces are struggling to deal with racial strife, rampant narcotics use, and fratricide, on top of the malaise stemming from the phased withdrawal.

The first part – planning, equipping, logistics, and attempts at Operational Security– was a bit of a slow read. But then I realized that pretty much mirrored some of what I saw in Iraq. Parts of war are pretty darn boring. I picked it up and put it down more than once. However, once the operation kicks off – it’s full speed ahead and guns blazing ‘till the last man leaves Loas, Khe Sanh, and Route 9. It goes from a tabletop planning and sandbox very quickly to a full on, nonstop firefight. The view of battle is both top-down and from the intimate perspective of the individual trooper. Highly recommended for Military Historians, Asian Studies, or Counterinsurgency scholars.

[Gary Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book focusing on Operation Lam Son 719 in 1971, the South Vietnamese operation into Laos, and Operation Dewey Canyon II, the US supporting operation in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The book spends a relatively equal amount of time between three aspects: the South Vietnamese operation into Laos, the US ground force operations (offensive/defensive and support) along Route 9 in South Vietnam, and the US aerial support (USAF fixed wing and USA helicopters) from South Vietnam into Laos. My personal interest was mostly related to the US ground support role provided by 1/5 ID's operations, which included 1-1 CAV, 1-77 AR, 3-187 IN, and others. As a current Soldier in 1-1 CAV, I was happy to learn about some of my unit's history.

[Lori Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty, painful courageous story about the USA's attempt to help cut off the ho-chi-min trail in Laos during the Vietnam war.

It's a great book that shows just how horrible it was for the soldiers and the Laotians. Lots of examples of how truly f-ed up and unorganized it was there. The book also tells of greatness and courage among some of the people.

Good read to learn about one specific part of the war from quite a few points of view.

I think the book was written by someone who wanted to understand battles. Lots of details about which battalions did what and where.

[Clint W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have no military background this book is a tuff read. Lots of acronyms all of which are not listed in the glossary. It also would have been nice if there would have been a couple maps in the book showing the areas where the battles took place. He did do a good job explaining what the soldiers went through and giving you an idea of what their perspective of the war may have been.

[Chad Montabon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a few specific pieces of information and found one or two, but this style of writing is hard to get through.
People really into military history will enjoy it, but overall it was a dud and hard to work through.

[Peter Woltemade · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lack of consistent editing is evident, and Nolan's writing is somewhat repetitive.

[Terry Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of detail, well written, much like Into Cambodia, also by Keith.

[Kges1901 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best accounts of Lam Son 719.

[Rickey Martin]

A little slow at first, but includes a lot of information which is not easy to find elsewhere. Having been at many of the locations and time-frame mentioned I found it very interesting over all.