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by T. S. Miller Marine (Author)
In January of 1970, Alpha Company was redesingated Alpha CUPP as part of the Combined Unit Pacification Program, which turned out to be anything but peaceful. During the next 6 months the company led the 1st Marine Division in frequency of fire fights. The communist Viet Cong and North Vietnam Army soldiers were more than willing to take on squads of a dozen or so Marines isolated in each of the nine villages where they were assigned the missions of training the local defenders, driving the enemy out of the villages, helping open schools and market places, and winning over the people to the side of the often corrupt South Vietnam government officials. Based upon his combat journal and myriad media articles about the operation, their former platoon leader T.S. Miller's rather objective reporting of significant events is in sharp contrast to the unedited, emotional tone of the stories shared by his Marines at several reunions, decades later. What was it like to be a teenaged American Marine assigned to a foreign village, where you neither spoke the language nor understood the culture, to face off against a determined, combat hardened amoral enemy who was dedicated to destroying you and any Vietnamese who was willing to stand by you and your buddies, the only people you could really trust? Add to that conundrum the readily available temptations of drugs, sex, and alcohol in the villes and you get a sense of the pressures they endured 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, month after month. How did they respond? Read on and find out!
Author Biography
As Lt. T.S. Miller ("Tough Shit" to his Marines) was leading his small react team into the burning village set ablaze by relentless mortar fire while Viet Cong terrorist were murdering innocent civilians for cooperating with his Marines, he vowed that if he lived he would make sure the world would learn of the heroic efforts his Marines were making defending their villages against a merciless enemy. He sensed that his life would be forever changed not only by the horror of that night, but also the sequences of events that he and his men had endured during their combat tours together. During the rest of his military career and later personal and professional lives he was alternately inspired, traumatized, haunted and obsessed by his experiences. This book is how he has finally come to terms with his past. Tom Miller enlisted as a private, rose to the rank of sergeant before becoming and officer, and retired as a major. He earned Silver and Bronze Stars for combat heroism and leadership. While on active duty he earned bachelors and masters degrees in civil engineering and engineering management, respectively. After retiring he earned a doctorate in performance psychology. While writing this book, Dr. Miller also developed and taught leadership training for managers based on these true life illustrations from Vietnam. T.S. is currently preparing to publish LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM VIETNAM FOR TODAY'S MANAGERS.
