Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam

McKenna, in his first book, presents a well-researched, heavily detailed look at the 1972 North Vietnamese Army invasion of South Vietnam%E2%80%94the so-called Easter Offensive designed to topple the South Vietnamese government and end the war. The massive, three-pronged attack, aided by Soviet and Chinese weaponry, came as the United States was rapidly withdrawing its combat troops under Nixon's "Vietnamization" plan. But tens of thousands of American troops, including advisers to the South Vietnamese Army such as McKenna, remained, and Nixon unleashed American airpower, including massive, sustained B-52 bombing operations. That onslaught overcame a less-than-stellar performance by the South Vietnamese Army, although one ARVN division stood up well. The successful defense of Kontum (and South Vietnam) was led by the legendary John Paul Vann, working for the U.S. Foreign Service. McKenna served under Vann, the subject of Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie, and offers an illuminating picture of the colorful, contradictory ex-military man in action. McKenna, severely wounded near the end of the offensive, switches from the first person to the third and includes excessive military minutiae, but does an effective job of melding his own story with the bigger picture. 29 photos; 6 maps. (Aug.)