UP-CLOSE & PERSONAL

The Vietnam War has tormented American consciousness for more than half a hundred years, and Up-Close & Personal is a signal contribution to understanding that drawn-out conflict from a soldier's point of view, informed by knowledge gained from being “up-close” at the basic, ground-pounding or river-patrolling combat level. Drugs, sex and blind resistance to authority at home exported its rot to the military in Vietnam as morale collapsed and Army leadership went adrift. 1969-1970, the era covered by this book, was the nadir. That the stalwarts who dubbed themselves "Bushwhackers" were actually Military Police assigned an infantry role -- and thus unique in US military history -- makes the tale all the more compelling.