For two years in Vietnam, one marine squad fought to save the village. Fifteen walked in . . . eight walked out.
In 'Black Hawk Down', the fight went on for a day. In 'We Were Soldiers Once & Young', the fighting lasted three days. In 'The Village', one Marine squad fought for 495 days - half of them died.
Few American battles have been so extended, savage and personal. A handful of Americans volunteered to live among six thousand Vietnamese, training farmers to defend their village. Such "Combined Action Platoons" (CAPs) are now a lost footnote about how the war could have been fought; only the villagers remain to bear witness.
This is the story of fifteen resolute young Americans matched against two hundred Viet Cong; how a CAP lived, fought and died. And why the villagers remember them to this day.
Includes 8 pages of photos and a new epilogue by the author. 'The Village' is a core selection of the Marine Corps Commandant's reading list.
