America's Last Vietnam Battle: Halting Hanoi's 1972 Easter Offensive / Edition 1

by Dale Andrade

Overview

In the spring of 1972, North Vietnam launched a massive military offensive designed to deliver the coup de grace to South Vietnam and its rapidly disengaging American ally. But an overconfident Hanoi misjudged its opponents who, led by American military advisers and backed by American airpower, were able to hold off the North's onslaught in what became the biggest battle of a very long war.

Dale Andrade rescues this epic engagement from its previous neglect to tell a riveting tale of heroism against great odds. Originally published in cloth in 1995 as Trial by Fire and drawing upon recent Vietnamese-language sources, this new paperback edition will finally allow a true classic on the war to reach the wide readership it deserves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700611317
Publisher:	University Press of Kansas
Publication date:	12/04/2001
Series:	Modern War Studies
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Introduction: On the Eve of Destruction

Part I. Main Thrust: The Battle for Quang Tri and Hue

1. The Blazing Front Line

2. Western Collapse

3. Piercing the Ring of Steel

4. The Bridge at Dong Ha

5. Surrender at Camp Carroll

6. Firebase Pedro

7. Consolidation and Counteroffensive

8. Things Fall Apart

9. The Citadel

10. The Imperial City

11. The Slow March North

12. Retaking Quang Tri

Part II. Divide and Conquer: The Battle for II Corps

13. Setting the State

14. Intelligence Picture

15. Opening Shots

16. Closing In on the Highlands

17. Designing a Defense

18. Crisis at Kontum

19. Tightening the Nose

20. Regrouping

21. ARVN on the Offensive

22. Mopping Up

Part III. Besieged: The Battle for An Loc

23. Hell in a Very Insignificant Place

24. Loc Ninh

25. Tanks in the Wire

26. Preparing for the Worst

27. The Shelling Game

28. Air Supply

29. Second Round

31. End Siege

Part IV. Suffering the Consequences

32. War in the Delta

33. Taking the War to Hanoi

34. Winners and Losers

Epilogue: The Last Patrol

Notes

Bibliographic Essay

Index

Editorial Reviews

"One of the best books on the Vietnam War."—Washington Post Book World

"A masterful account of the last great engagement of the Vietnam War in which American forces participated. Andradé does his subject proud and sets a high standard for any who follow."—Kirkus Reviews

"Andradé’s book on this brutal and bloody struggle fills an important gap in the history of the Vietnam War."—Foreign Affairs

"Where previous accounts have focused entirely on small slices of the Easter Offensive, Andradé gives us the full panorama of this important campaign and does it in a style of classic military history. He covers actions from the battle for Quang Tri to the Central Highlands and siege of An Loc; even the Mekong Delta gets its share of attention as Andradé moves successively from one front to the next. . . . A book that well repays the reading."—Journal of Military History

"A highly readable work that walks us through the heavy, climactic battles sweeping across South Vietnam in the halcyon year of 1972. . . . Most interesting are the vignettes inserted throughout based on NVA soldier interviews and captured papers. They tell the battle from their side—the hard passage down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the horror of U.S. air strikes, the travail of battle, the hunger and thirst, and the wounded's cries. The NVA soldiers' war was also terrible, and Andradé's story of it is long overdue."—Military Review

"A fascinating read and outstanding contribution that captures the blend of the heroic, inept, banal, and brilliant that characterized the effort in the Easter Offensive as well as the entire war." —Infantry Magazine

From the Publisher

One of the best books on the Vietnam War.

Washington Post Book World

A masterful account of the last great engagement of the Vietnam War in which American forces participated.

Kirkus

Andradé's book on this brutal and bloody struggle fills an important gap in the history of the Vietnam War.

Foreign Affairs

Andradé gives us the full panorama of this important campaign and does it in a style of classic military history.

Journal of Military History

The NVA soldiers' war was also terrible, and Andradé's story of it is long overdue.

Military Review

A fascinating read and outstanding contribution.

Infantry Magazine