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We Were Soldiers

Phil Chu
Author
Phil Chu
Making software since the 80s

We Were Soldiers Once… and Young: Ia Drang — The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam is one of the most memorable war books I’ve read (up there with Band of Brothers).

I had already watched the film starring Mel Gibson and enjoyed it, but that didn’t prepare me for the book’s matter-of-fact tone, which somehow makes the recounted bravery and suffering even more stark.

And yet the single moment that lingers in my memory of this book is the end, with the general making the battle-weary soldiers stand in the rain with their food while commending them on what a good job they did. Makes you wonder who the real enemy is.