Mekong First Light, Joseph W. Callaway, Jr.
Mekong First Light, Joseph W. Callaway, Jr.
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Mekong First Light

Author: Joseph W. Callaway, Jr.

Narrator: Richard Ferrone

Abridged: 2 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/30/2004


Synopsis

“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 well: 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 Vietnam: It was a war that could not be won.

About The Author

Joseph W. Callaway Jr. grew up in Enterprise, Alabama, and New Canaan, Connecticut. He 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. He graduated from Boston University in 1972 and is currently the western sales manager for CYRO Industries, a major chemical and plastics manufacturer. He lives in California with his loving wife, Susan, and has three sons, Tucker, Casan, and Quinn.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Wharton

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......more

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 rest......more

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 i......more

Goodreads review by Bob

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.......more