A Shau Valor: American Combat Operations in the Valley of Death, 1963–1971 Paperback – July 20, 2020

This is a great little book that tells the nine year struggle to control the flow of NVA formations and supplies into S Vietnam through the A Shau Valley. The valley represented the first major off-ramp from the Ho Chi Min Trail into S Vietnam allowing access to the coastal lowlands, Hue and backdoor access to the Marines along the DMZ.I got this book because of what I had read in another Vietnam War history. The author was attempting to make a point about how improved the situation was in the war after Abrams took command. He covers the battle for Hamburger Hill and then says, “After driving out the 29th NVA, the 3rd Brigade [of the 101st Airborne Division] stayed in the A Shau for months, then passed the mission to other units.” The author then quotes the 3rd Brigade commander: “We and our successors controlled the area until ordered out of Vietnam three years later.” So the 101st and “successor” units “controlled the area” from May of 1969 until 1972. I already knew that in 1970 the Battle of FSB Ripcord had been the last large engagement for the American part of the war. The drawdown was in full swing, Americans were going home. I found it hard to believe the A Shau was “controlled” after Ripcord was abandoned because it had never been “controlled” before that.Thomas Yarborough does a magnificent job of chronicling the large engagements fought in the attempt to control the valley. After the Battle of Hamburger Hill he says, “By October 1 [1969] the entire 101st Airborne Division had left the valley…[it] became yet another aborted attempt to subjugate “the place from the beginning of time.” Following the Battle for FSB Ripcord Yarborough says, “For the remainder of 1970, US and ARVN mainline units stayed clear of the Valley of Death, just as they had during the period 1966 to 1968. Following Ripcord and O’Reilly, the NVA pushed more troops than ever into the valley, all of them better armed, better supplied, and ready to fight, but there was nobody there to oppose them.” So, no “successor” units took the handoff from the 101st. There was no handoff and absolutely no control. It was exactly as I suspected from what I had already learned and I now suspect that the above quote allegedly from the 3rd Brigade commander to be false. Attempts to control NVA access to the South through the A Shau ended in 1970, not 1972.Thomas Yarborough has done a great service in chronicling the significant combat operations in and around the A Shau Valley. It is a very well written book that gives deserving credit to the men who fought with great courage and valor to accomplish an overwhelmingly difficult mission. The combat decorations they earned are documented.

Years after the end of the Vietnam War, veterans still spoke of the A Shau Valley of South Vietnam with mingled pride and fear. Members of the 10st Airborne Division put the ferocity of the fighting at the infamous Hamburger Hill on a par with the World War II battles of Normandy and Bastogne. For the Special Operations community, the A Shau Valley was a place where recon teams got into trouble or went missing altogether. As one veteran put it to this reviewer, the A Shau was Mr. Victor Charlie's back yard...Author Thomas Yarborough has provided a unique history of the American experience in the A Shau, combining Army and Marine Corps unit records of operations in the valley with details lifted from various individual award citations for valor, and with short vignettes of events stateside that were the context in which these events were perceived. The result is a fascinating, page-turning read that combines a number of viewpoints, shaped by a knowing sense for relevant detail by a veteran who served in the area.This reviewer was especially interested in the fight for Hamburger Hill. Hill 937, adjacent the border with Laos, become an object of obsession for one tenacious infantry battalion commander in the 101st Airborne Division, eventually pulling in multiple battalions in a week-long bloodbath. Perhaps most telling, those hard-won gains were abandoned shortly thereafter in favor of other priorities. The book includes a small selection of maps and photographs. Highly recommended as a good read for students of the conflict.

Very well done.I liked the references to the awards the many heroes received.To me, this book showed how poorly the top Generals at MACV ran things and caused many many more causualties as then continued to send these heroes into terrible losing situations.Also, I would have like more attention to the USAF pilots and crews and how they went in on on terrible conditions to support the Good Guys. I am especially familiar with C-123 missions were carried out under terrible wx conditions and enemy ground fire. The base at Kam Duc while not in the valley was fairly close. So sorry, I can't remember the pilot, but in the late stages of the war, that base was very nearly over run while US military guys were still at the base when the pilot diverted from his mission to land there under fire from the bad guys who were very close. The runway was in bad condition, but they landed and waited for all the "good guys" including all the US military to come out of hiding and jump on. They took off while under heavy gunfire and safely flew to Danang. The Aircraft Commander, was deservedly awarded the The Medal of Honor.

Well written & researched. Yarborough brings up points that make a lot of sense, like for example the SOG insertions at company level had a much higher survival rate than the seven man teams that simply, well, were never heard from again…

Great read! Most "Vietnam Readers" will enjoy this book. It's basically a military history of the A Shau Valley,the most dangerous piece of real estate in Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The book starts out in the early 60s during the early days of the "advisory effort" & goes through 1973. It covers all of the main campaigns in the area: Special Forces Camp A Shau, Hamburger Hill etc. I never realized that Gen. Colin Powell was a Special Forces qualified officer, wounded (by a punji stick) in 1963 in the A Shau). A Shau was where the "Titans" fought: NVA. ,101ST Airborne, SOG,1st Air Cavalry. The NVA actually used heavy artillery as well as heavy flak guns in this area. A Shau was essentially a conventional war fought in the worlds most difficult terrain, as well as a very strategic location for both the US/ARVN, as well as the NVA/VC. Most compelling read! No "dull" spots in this book!

OK read. Too much narrative from the individual citations. I spent some time in the Ashau with the 101st in 1968 - miserable experience.

Excellent coverage of the battles between the US Forces and the NVA, in the area which sat astride the Ho Ch Minh Trail and the Communist supply routes into South Vietnam.

The best, honest and concise book about A Shau.The bravery of the Special Forces is astounding, what a pity for the futility of it . A.K.