By Christopher Miskimon
A battalion of North Vietnamese troops attacked the Marines of 1st Platoon, Company A, 1/9 Marines in their section of the Khe Sanh defenses on February 8, 1968. They got through the barbed wire at the perimeter and placed machine guns to keep reinforcements from getting close. Vietnamese soldiers poured into the trenches. Second Lieutenant Terence Roach led his Marines in a counterattack down the trenchline, fighting hand to hand. Within a few minutes he was mortally wounded; nearby, a private felt a Chinese-made stick grenade hit his helmet and saw it land at his feet. He picked it up to throw it back and it exploded in his hand. In a freak piece of luck, it barely harmed him, and he stayed in the fight. Soon the A Company commander led a counterattack and drove the enemy back and into a clearing where the entire battalion opened fire on them.
This anthology collects stories of American Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen in combat, ranging from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam. Each is an interesting episode in American military history, presented with veteran accounts and background information to place the action in time, place and importance. The work is written as a tribute to these service members and their dedication to duty.
The Greatest Military Mission Stories Ever Told (Edited by , Lyons Press, Essex CT, 2022, 256 pp., bibliography, $19.95, softcover)
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