The Siege at Hue
George W. Smith | | ISBN: 978-1-62637-974-9 $28.50 |
| ISBN: 978-1-955055-01-7 $28.50 |
2021/198 pages/LC: 99-11843
Paperback now available!
Originally published in hardcover in 1999. |
DESCRIPTION
Charged with monitoring the huge civilian press corps that descended on Hue during the Vietnam War’s Tet offensive, US Army Captain George W. Smith witnessed firsthand a vicious twenty-five day battle.
Smith recounts in harrowing detail the separate, poorly coordinated wars that were fought in the retaking of the Hue. Notably, he documents the little-known contributions of the South Vietnamese forces, who prevented the Citadel portion of the city from being overrun, and who then assisted the US Marine Corps in evicting the North Vietnamese Army. He also tells of the social and political upheaval in the city, reporting the execution of nearly 3,000 civilians by the NVA and the Vietcong.
The tenacity of the NVA forces in Hue earned the respect of the troops on the field and triggered a sequence of attitudinal changes in the United States. It was those changes, Smith suggests, that eventually led to the US abandonment of the war.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
George W. Smith (1940-2017), a veteran of the Vietnam War, was a sports writer at the Hartford Courant for twenty-five years, until his retirement in 1995. He is author of Carlson's Raid: The Daring Assault on Makin (a Military History Book-of-the-Month Club selection) and Do-or-Die Men: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion at Guadalcanal.
CONTENTS
- Next Stop Vietnam.
- The Lotus Flower.
- Staying Alive.
- To the Rescue.
- Help for the Citadel.
- Facing the Unknown.
- Total War.
- The Tide Turns.
- Live, From Hue.
- The Citadel.
- A Jump Start.
- Beginning of the End.
- Credit the ARVN.
- The Aftermath.
"A riveting, first-person account of the pivotal 25-day 1968 Battle of Hue."—The VVA Veteran
"Smith has put together a harrowing eyewitness account of the largest single engagement of the Vietnam War.... [It is] a disturbing and informative book that would be a welcome addition to any military library." —Chris Patsilelis, Hartford Courant
"Smith provides a sense of intimate knowledge as he outlines the desperate nature of the urban combat. His inclusion of South Vietnamese units and the description of the role played stands out in the reporting of the war."—Library Journal