Leading the Way: How Vietnam Veterans Rebuilt the U.S. Military, an Oral History

Santoli ( Everything We Had ) traveled to military bases and headquarters around the country interviewing career personnel who served during the troubled Vietnam years and the postwar period when morale plummeted in all branches of the service. The first half of the book makes for disturbing reading as veterans recall the racial tensions, drug abuse and antiauthoritarianism that crippled the spirit of the U.S. military establishment in the '60s and '70s; but the second half, dealing with the mechanics of reenergizing the forces and the successful operations in Grenada, Panama and the Persian Gulf, is upbeat. Participants in this oral history that will primarily interest advocates of maintaining a strong military include the present Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell; the former commandant of the Marine Corps, Al Gray; Navy SEAL commander Timothy Holden; Colonel Barbara Smith, chief nurse of Central Command; and Marine tanker Gunnery Sergeant James Graham. Photos. (Oct.)