Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat

Book Description

A remarkable memoir of small-unit leadership and the coming of age of a young soldier in combat in Vietnam.'

"Using a lean style and a sense of pacing drawn from the tautest of novels, McDonough has produced a gripping account of his first command, a U.S. platoon taking part in the 'strategic hamlet' program. . . . Rather than present a potpourri of combat yarns. . . McDonough has focused a seasoned storyteller’s eye on the details, people, and incidents that best communicate a visceral feel of command under fire. . . . For the author’s honesty and literary craftsmanship, Platoon Leader seems destined to be read for a long time by second lieutenants trying to prepare for the future, veterans trying to remember the past, and civilians trying to understand what the profession of arms is all about.”–Army Times

Customer Reviews:

Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat .......2007-03-09

Platoon Leader was an excellent read, and one I would recommend for all those enjoy military reading. I would especially suggest it to all junior military leaders. Entertaining and well written, the author discusses at length his role as a leader, and what he views as good and bad leaders. The aspect of the book I enjoyed the most was it allowed the reader to see leadership, on a small-unit level, working in real-world combat conditions. Unlike many books leaders read for professional development, it shows how leadership works when employed and doesn't just philosophize about leadership principles.

This book isn't just for Lieutenants........2007-02-17

As a junior officer I have an entire list of professional reading that I am trudging my way through, but so far McDonough has been by far the most enjoyable and has made the biggest impact on my own leadership style. Both Platoon Leader and Defense of Hill 781 are great books, but Platoon Leader is so far the best military memoir I have read. It has been over a year since I read this book, but the three things that have stuck with me are:
1. Do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.
2. Death in a combat zone is more about just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sooner or later your luck runs out, but you have the duty to your fellow soldiers to do everything in your power to protect them.
3. The stealing of a bottle of soda from a grandmother leads slowly but inevitable to the rape of her granddaughter. If you let your soldiers steal at all you are setting the stage for what atrocities they will commit later. You must always be vigilant in your discipline.

While I do not have combat experience, I am currently serving in Iraq and know second handedly that these concepts still hold true.

Other than the leadership aspect of the book, Mcdonough is just a great story teller and is able to make the book engaging and addicting.

Outstanding Book .......2006-02-23

James McDonough provides an in-depth look at infantry platoon operations in Vietnam. This is a must read for anyone who intends to pursue a military career. The book is very graphic, but also very succint and to the point. McDonough doesn't waste time with superfluous details, every word is well chosen and critical to the telling of the story. Once you begin reading, you will not want to stop. It is a quick read, and well worth the time it takes.

A gripping Vietman narrative.......2004-11-04

"Platoon Leader: A Memoir of Command in Combat," by James R. McDonough, chronicles the author's experiences as an officer in the Vietnam War from 1970-71. His platoon is charged with manning an outpost next to the village of Truong Lam.

This is a fascinating, well-written account. McDonough fills his narrative with vivid details that really made his story come alive in my mind. He doesn't flinch at describing the goriest and most horrific images of war. There are also moments of irony and bitter humor. Also noteworthy is the informative material about tactics used in Vietnam. And the author humanizes the story by touching on such "down-and-dirty" issues as the latrine his platoon used.

McDonough's story is populated with a compelling cast of characters. Particularly intriguing is his exploration of relationships among the various groups he encountered in the war zone--U.S. enlisted men, his fellow Army officers, Vietnamese military allies, enemy forces, and the many civilians caught up in the conflict.

While rich in scenes of combat, "Platoon Leader" goes beyond being just an action-packed war yarn. The book explores the ethics and morals of war. McDonough deals directly with the danger a soldier faces in becoming dehumanized by the brutality of war. He vividly portrays the struggle of a leader to remain wise and humane, yet also tough and resolute, under the most trying of circumstances. This book is both a profound meditation on wartime leadership and a powerful work of American literature.

A very different kind of war story........2004-01-16

Lieutenant Colonel James McDonough has written a truly different memoir of his experiences in Vietnam. I believe that this is because McDonough is a different type of leader and individual. His account of his personal experience in Vietnam is not glorified or gory, it is a more emotional recollection of the things that he did, good and bad, while serving as platoon leader in Vietnam. This book is a must for young military officers as well as those considering military service. There is no bravado in this book, because there is nothing fantastic about killing another man, or trying to help civilians who have been needlessly attacked. The book has a very real quality to it, which I found at different times both unsettling and moving. McDonough is not a killer, he is a soldier and an officer. While he may often silently question the purpose of the things he did or was ordered to do in Vietnam, he never hesitated in carrying out his responsibilities as platoon leader. Although he may have been afraid, he was still responsible for 25 other men who were even more afraid than he was. Overall, one of the best memoirs I have ever read.

Book Description

Holy Blood, Holy Grail rocked the very foundations of Christianity. Now four more years of research have uncovered shocking material — and its earthshaking consequences.

• What extraordinary meaning lies behind Jesus' title — "King of the Jews"?
• Was there more than one Christ?
• Who really constituted Jesus' following — and what were the real identities of Simon Peter and Judas Iscariot?
• Who now has the ancient treasure of the Temple of Jerusalem?
• What is the true source of today's Christian "Fundamentalism"?
• What links the Vatican, the CIA, the KGB, the Mafia, Freemasonry, and the Knights Templar?
• What is the stunning goal of the European secret society that traces its lineage back to Christ and the House of David?

The Messianic Legacy. Here is the book that reveals the answers to these intriguing, potentially explosive questions. Utilizing the same meticulous research that catapulted their first book onto the best seller lists, the authors again bring an enlighteneing message of truth — and urgent importance — to Christians and non-Christians the world over.

Customer Reviews:

Tres historias.......2007-04-06

Aunque el subtítulo del libro dice ¿hubo mas de un Cristo? en realidad sobre este punto se escriben pocas páginas.

En realidad estamos hablando de tres libros tan independientes entre sí que pueden leerse en cualquier orden. El primero de estos libros es para mi el mas interesante y habla sobre la historia del Cristianismo hasta aproximadamente el Concilio de Nicea. Se expresan los conceptos y significados de por ejemplo lo que era un mesias. Se describe la formación del cristianismo por Pablo y como se fue apartando inexorablemente de las enseñanzas reales para formar una religión mas políticamente correcta que pudo subsistir y crecer a la sombra y el apoyo del imperio romano de los últimos tiempos, es algo así como la verdadera historia de la religión cristiana (apostólica y romana)

El segundo libro expone la necesidad humana desde siempre de tener símbolos, rituales, mitos y arquetipos y como sobre esta necesidad se han desarrollado no solo religiones sino gobiernos como los de Mussolini o Hitler.

Finalmente, el tercer libro desarrolla la historia de lo que sucedió luego de la aparición en el mercado del libro anterior de los autores. Esta historia está inconclusa y finalmente no se desvela el misterio que los mismos autores plantean sobre quién está detras de todo, aunque se puede inferir a la luz de sus exposiciones.

Por todo es un libro para lo que son libros, para contar una historia, entretener, ilustrar un punto de vista.

STARTLING!.......2006-12-15

I was startled by the real historical facts about Constantine that are presented in this book. Like everyone else I had been taught that Constantine was a Christian and had established Christian churches. I was knocked for a loop to discover that Constantine actually worshipped the sun in the "cult" of Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun. That might not sound like much, but so much of "Christian Church History" is just as full of BS as is the party line about Constantine. The Messianic Legacy will open your eyes to much BS that passes as history in this culture and will give you the actual facts and the sources where you too can verify these facts. The second half is not quite as good as the first half, but the first half is so good it doesn't really matter.

This book is eye opening, besides being a very enjoyable read. I have only mentioned one point in passing so as not to give too much away. Four stars and two thumbs up for The Messianic Legacy.

Read I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED for two of the wildest rides ever!

An Interesting Sequel.......2006-09-12

I purchased this book with some trepidation, why? Well I wondered whether the authors really needed to write this book, particularly as they had just republished The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, or were they simply riding the crest of the wave of publicity surrounding the court case brought by themselves against Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown.

In fact this book does have new facts to compliment their previous efforts and new investigations into the society of the `Prieure de Sion' The Guardians of the Holy Grail. They also delve into the world of politics, Freemasonry and religion.

If you say it sincerely and with conviction you can make a lot of people believe a lot of things. I am not saying that the book is not factually accurate, only that it is down to the individual to put their own interpretation on to the facts that are placed before them. The thing about books like this is that if you do not read them you cannot form an opinion one way or the other.

3 in 1 - More is Less.......2006-08-26

The follow-up to best-selling Holy Blood, Holy Grail continues the search for the historical Jesus, at least in Part 1 of the book. Part 2 begins to disassemble and discuss Messianic trends in general, and Part 3 deteriorates completely into a rant about a unified Europe and all sorts of conspiracy theories, as well as the now familiar Priory of Scion. Let's look only at the first 130 pages (Part 1).

Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln cover much of the same ground they did in their previous book, dispatching the obvious myths and lies about the life of Jesus. If you enjoyed the previous book, you will also enjoy this one. They rightfully point out that his name wasn't Jesus, he didn't live in Nazareth, he wasn't the peacenik he was portrayed to be, the family weren't peasants, etc. If you like this line of thinking, you should also look at http://www.jesuspolice.com which provides a more evidentiary approach to the same issues.

Readers of Baigent's 2006 book The Jesus Papers will see that The Messianic Legacy is a transitional piece, somewhere between HBHG and The Jesus Papers in its portrayal of Jesus as a Zealot. What the authors suggest in this book, Baigent runs with in his recent book. While you might disagree, they do provide more than a sufficient amount of evidence to suggest that Jesus was certainly aligned with the Zealots in many of their aspirations, even if he wasn't a card carrying assassin.

There are some obvious errors in the book. For example...

- The authors claim that "Herod felt threatened by a recently born child" (p. 30) of the Davidic line, but this seems strange since, by logiocal extension, he should have been afraid of Joseph, who shared a similar heritage, or Joseph's father, Jacob, who also came from this line.

- They claim that "the three wise men" (p. 29) came seeking Jesus, when in fact a careful reading of the gospels shows that there were not three nor were they wise: they were an unspecific number of magi that tradition has transformed into three wise men.

But the few errors contrained therein are far outnumbered by the myths/errors that they correct.

The book is well written and generally accurate, at least for the first 130 pages. Readers who enjoyed their other books will enjoy this one too. If I was only rating Part 1, I would probably give it a 4, but the inclusion of Parts 2 and 3 cause the rating to go down.

I Was Startled.......2006-04-13

El Legado Mesianico/ the Messianic Legacy (Divulgacion Enigmas y Misterios)

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El Legado Mesianico/ the Messianic Legacy (Divulgacion Enigmas y Misterios)
Michael Baigent , and Richard Leigh
Manufacturer: Booket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

El Enigma Sagrado/ the Holy Blood and the Holy Grail
Angeles y Demonios / Angels and Demons

ASIN: 8427032056

THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL - with - THE MESSIANIC LEGACY

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Reason and the Real Mystery
international bestseller
fact, fancy, or something else...?
Challanging

THE HOLY BLOOD AND THE HOLY GRAIL - with - THE MESSIANIC LEGACY
Michael; Leigh, Richard; Lincoln, Henry Baigent
Manufacturer: Arrow Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

A nineteenth century French priest discovers something in his mountain village at the foot of The Pyrenees which enabled him to amass and spend a fortune of millions of pounds. The tale seems to begin with buried treasure and then turns into an unprecedented historical detective story — a modern Grail quest leading back through cryptically coded parchments, secret societies, the Knights Templar, the Cathar heretics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a dynasty of obscure French kings deposed more than 1,300 years ago. The author's conclusions are persuasive at the core is not material riches but a secret — a secret of explosive and contraversialproportions, which radiates out from the little Pyrenees village to all the way to contemporary politics and the entire edifice of the Christian faith. It involves nothing less than the Holy Grail.

Customer Reviews:

Reason and the Real Mystery.......2005-08-27

This is one of my favourite books because of what it symbolizes. This book was first published nearly a quarter of a century ago, BEFORE there was a market for historical fiction and non-fiction works relating to Jesus and his family. The 21st century Jesus-mania has inspired all kinds of sensational publications by all kinds of crackpots.

But these guys - Baigent, Leigh, Lincoln - were the real deal. They investigated a mystery in Rennes-le-Chateau and stumbled upon a supposed secret society called the Priory of Sion. Although some of the claims made by certain parties have proven doubtful or false, there are several threads in this book that remain as valid and important today as when the book was first written.

This is the foundation book that introduces one to the issues of (often fraudulent) claims of the early Church, the potential messianic bloodline, questions regarding the Knights Templar and the repression of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Once a person has read through this 'introductory text', there is a plethora of related reading with which to follow up. These same authors (in ones or twos or all three) have also written The Messianic Legacy, Temple & The Lodge, Dead Sea Scroll Deception, Inquisition and Ancient Traces. The first three are great books for following up the various threads from Holy Blood Holy Grail. The fourth book is interesting for the detail of the events leading up to the monstrous Inquisition; Ancient Traces is a solo effort by Baigent which is interesting for its discussion and refutation of commonly accepted archaeological and other theories.

Another great book in this stream is Robert Eisenman's James, the Brother of Jesus. A great academic book in its own right, also useful for weightlifting, this book depicts the actual history of the man who would later be known to the world as Jesus and discusses, indepth, the events preceding and succeeding his lifetime.

The most important aspect of these books is not so much their conclusions but the possibilities and ideas they present. For those of us who are curious about actual history, outside of the religion- and politically-motivated spoon-fed pablum history that has become the status quo, these books are a great find.

Although Holy Blood Holy Grail is dry reading in some places, overall it is a really good book that introduces us to many of the concepts that are being thrown around by academics, sensationalists and academic sensationalists today regarding messianic bloodlines, etc.

Happy Reading!

international bestseller.......2004-02-29

This book has sold millions of copies in Europe... and no wonder! It is an intriguing history of the tenuous thread of a bloodline being passed down through the royal houses of Europe... that bloodline being in large part what made (makes) them royal.

The 1996 edition is a revised edition so the better of the two. There is some controvery over the reality of the Priority of Sion, but IMHO this has not been disproved, and I suspect a disinformation campaign.

I also recommend a follow up with The Elixir and the Stone (available at Amazon.ca but as of this date, not here at Amazon.com) and Laurence Gardener's History of the Grail Kings.

Extremely interesting reading!

fact, fancy, or something else...?.......2003-11-04

When my mother gave me this book, saying she could never take communion again, I was shocked. When I read the introduction, I was intrigued. When I began reading in earnest, I was enthralled...
Could Jesus have actually been married, fathered a family, and had them escape the Romans?
Fantastic, crazy, UNORTHODOX, yes- but could it be true, and does it MATTER? Since we were small, we have been told that Jesus was a poor, gentle peaceloving, almost non-Jewish Jew(after all, Hollywood has always gone to great lengths to make him look positively gentile), who allowed himself to be murdered by the Romans with barely a whimper, and that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute that inhabited the periphery of the very male world of first century Palestine.

But what if we look at the story from a truly historical perspective...
The region was swollen with fundimentalists, not unlike the Islamists we face today, and Jesus would have been a very orthodox Jew. Perhaps his story has been filtered over the centuries so that it is no longer recognizable...
And nowhere in the Bible does it refer to Mary as a prostitute- historians are begrudgingly now laying this interpretaion at the feet of a chauvinistic revisionist church- is it so unlikely that a woman in the company of a group of men traveling throughout the Holy Land, would have been married to one of those men? And why would it have been so unlikely that that man was Jesus? After all, a man of Jesus' age would have been looked upon with suspicion if he was NOT married...
Ah, the historical possibilites!
Link these intrigues with the Knights Templar and the mystery of their origins and purpose, the secretive Prior de Sion and a strange priest who was able to face down the power of the Catholic Church after the discovery of a secret in the mountains between France and Spain, while he amassed a fortune and built a tower dedicated to the Magdalene- put all this together and you have a yarn that will grip the heart of any mystery buff, history fan or conspiracy nut!
True- I don't know.
Plausible- yes...just plausible enough to make you look at history and religion from a new perspective, and perhaps make communion impossible.

Challanging.......2003-03-10

If you like life inside "the box," then this is not a book for you. I have been a conspiracy theorist and a follower of the so-called "secret societies" for years. Most of the book deals with these aspects of history and politics.

However, I found the most interesting chapters to be the ones dealing with the practical side of Jesus' life in Roman occupied Palastine in the first century. Some of the conclusions will absolutely astonish you!!!

Being raised in an orthodox religious atmosphere, my perceptions of Christianity and Jesus himself have been radically altered. Although shaken, I have not faltered because I read David R. Hawkins' books which gave me a contexts for the authors' suppositions.

This is an intellectual as well as a spiritual read. If you can wade through the first 10-11 chapters, I highly recommend it to dedicated, Christian (or even non-Christian), spiritual seekers.

THE MESSIANIC LEGACY
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THE MESSIANIC LEGACY
MICHAEL BAIGENT
Manufacturer: CORGI BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S9LLZ6

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THE MESSIANIC LEGACY
Michael Etal Baigent
Manufacturer: Corgi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K5O0XI

The Messianic Legacy:
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The Messianic Legacy:
Michael,Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln Baigent
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NE42HU

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THE MESSIANIC LEGACY
Michael Etal Baigent
Manufacturer: Corgi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K5Q2BG

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THE MESSIANIC LEGACY
Michael, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln Baigent
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H0SRIU

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The Messianic Legacy

Manufacturer: Corgi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000G9WAS0

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Messianic Legacy
Michael Baigent
Manufacturer: ARROW (RAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHYJLU

Customer Reviews:

Fine bio of country music's revered brother harmony duo.......2003-01-01

Wolfe does a fine job of capturing the Louvin's hard-scrabble roots, and, most impressively, the atmosphere that fostered their music. His description of the Louvins' home of Sand Mountain, Alabama -- with cultural and societal development heavily influenced by the mountain's physical isolation -- is worth the read alone. Similarly, his discussions of Sacred Harp singing and shape note music books provide a priceless introduction to some of the nineteenth-century roots of twentieth century folk and country music.

A chronology of the Louvins' recording sessions (with detailed discussions of most every song) is neatly interspersed throughout the book, and Wolfe does an admirable job of capturing the interpersonal brotherhood that drove the act. He provides a palpable sense of how the Louvins came to fame, the setbacks (some external, some self-imposed) and hard work that created and cemented their legacy.

This book originated as the text accompanying Bear Family's CD box set "Close Harmony," and, unfortunately, does not include the complete discography presented in the notes. Further, having sprung from annotation, the text is often heavy with discussions of the Louvin's recordings in lieu of the artists (and those enabling the recordings) themselves. Finally, there are some rather obvious editing and factual errors (e.g., the geography of California's Central Valley and Bay Area is poorly represented) that should have been cleaned up before going to press.

All in all, a terrific biography of one of country music's most revered (and best) harmony acts.

Biosphere 2000: Protecting Our Global Environment/Study Guide
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Biosphere 2000: Protecting Our Global Environment/Study Guide
Donald G. Kaufman , and Cecilia M. Franz
Manufacturer: Harpercollins College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Conservation | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060435771

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