The 9th Engineer Battalion, First Marine Division, in Vietnam: 35 Personal Accounts

by Jean Shellenbarger

Overview

The combat engineers of the First Marine Division, 9th Engineer Battalion, risked their lives daily in Vietnam as they cleared the roads of mines, repaired and paved the famous "Highway 1," disarmed booby traps, built bridges and culverts, and destroyed enemy bunkers and tunnels. Despite their sacrifices and pain, the combat engineers in Vietnam have heretofore largely been ignored.

This is the first oral (or other) history of the 9th Engineers, the only Marine battalion formed specifically to go to Vietnam. More than 35 men of the 9th talk about why they joined the Marines and their experiences in basic training. They speak candidly and compellingly about their five years (1966 to 1970) in country. The soldiers also discuss what it was like to come home and get on with their lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476613369
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	09/03/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	239
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jean Shellenbarger, an accountant, lives in Pennsylvania.
Jean Shellenbarger, an accountant, lives in Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction     
List of Contributors     

History of the Battalion     
Formation of the Battalion     
Why They Joined     
Basic Training     
Going Over     

1966 May–July      
1966 August–September      
1966 October–December      
1967 January–April      
1967 May–August      
1967 September–December      
1968 January–April      
1968 May–August      
1968 September–December      
1969 January–June      
1969 July–December      
1970 January–June      

Homecomings      
Yesterday and Today     
Highway One to Heaven     
Contributor Biographies     

Appendix A: “Today I Went to Hear Dr. Graham”     
Appendix B: Familygram     
Appendix C: The Longest Bridge      

Glossary     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

easy to read”—Military; “provides a poignant, intimate perspective into the experiences and feelings of the men who made up the battalion...a tremendous job...excerpts of interviews, letters to home, and diary entries are assembled into chapters that cover every phase of the battalion’s life, including formation of the battalion, basic training of the unit, embarkation and movement to Vietnam, and several-month blocks of time between 1966 and 1970”—Marine Corps Gazette.

From the Publisher

"provides a poignant, intimate perspective into the experiences and feelings of the men who made up the battalion...a tremendous job...excerpts of interviews, letters to home, and diary entries are assembled into chapters that cover every phase of the battalion's life, including formation of the battalion, basic training of the unit, embarkation and movement to Vietnam, and several-month blocks of time between 1966 and 1970"

Marine Corps Gazette

easy to read

Military