West Dickens Avenue, John Corbett
West Dickens Avenue, John Corbett
List: $6.95 | Sale: $4.87
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West Dickens Avenue
A Marine at Khe Sanh

Author: John Corbett

Narrator: Eric Conger

Abridged: 2 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/03/2004


Synopsis

In January 1968, the 26th Marine Regiment was ordered to a place in the far northwest corner of South Vietnam called Khe Sanh. John Corbett, an untested replacement in a clean, green uniform, and his fellow leathernecks were responsible for building and defending the combat base, and holding positions on the strategic hills overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail as it crossed into Laos and South Vietnam from nearby North Vietnam.

Only days after Corbett arrived at Khe Sanh, some twenty thousand North Vietnamese soldiers surrounded the base, outnumbering the American Marines seven to one. What followed over the next seventy-seven days became one of the deadliest fights of the Vietnam War—and one of the greatest battles in military history.

Private First Class Corbett, an “ammo humper” in an 81mm mortar section, made do with little or no sleep for days on end. The enemy bombarded the base incessantly, and Corbett’s mortars returned the fire, day and night. Extremes of heat, cold, and fog added to the misery, as did all manner of wounds and injuries too minor to justify evacuation from frontline positions. The emotional toll was tremendous as the Marines saw their friends suffer and die every day of the siege. Corbett relates these experiences through the eyes of an eighteen year old but with the mind and maturity of a man now in his fifties. His story of life, death, and growing up on the front lines at Khe Sanh speaks for all of the Marines caught up in the epic siege of the Vietnam War.

About The Author

John Corbett returned home to Nyack, New York, following his service in Vietnam. He now lives in Key Largo, Florida. West Dickens Avenue is his first book.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anthony on April 02, 2019

Great book. Enjoy reading about the authors experience in Khe Sanh. A quick read as well.......more

Goodreads review by Jörgen on June 05, 2019

This book is about the vicious and cruel battle at Khe Sanh during the Vietnam war. From his own memories the writer puts together an exciting and interesting book. Reality, thoughts, humour, death -all in a mixture that makes this book a keeper. For me, Before, Khe Sanh was only a line in a Bruce Spr......more

Goodreads review by Kate on June 24, 2020

I want to make one thing clear before I begin my review, I am thankful to men like Mr. Corbett for what they do for our country and I certainly acknowledge the importance of the sacrifice that every member of our armed forces engages in. With that said, what did I think of West Dickens Avenue? It's......more


Quotes

“REMARKABLE . . . This story, made even more poignant by today’s headlines, can stand shoulder to shoulder with the handful of classic accounts of Marines under fire.”
—Flint Journal

“In this short, readable account, Corbett describes his days at Khe Sanh in almost dispassionate prose and in great detail. . . . effectively convey[ing] the siege from a Marine grunt’s point of view.”
—Publishers Weekly