Lost in Translation: Vietnam: A Combat Advisor's Story

Book Description

In September 1962, when Martin Dockery landed in Saigon, he was a young, determined, idealistic U.S. Army first lieutenant convinced of America’s imminent victory in Vietnam. While most of the twelve thousand U.S. military advisors in-country at the time filled support positions in Saigon and other major cities, Dockery was one of a handful of advisors assigned to Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) combat units.

For eight months Dockery lived and fought in the heart of the Mekong Delta with an ARVN infantry battalion on missions and operations that often lasted several days. And for most of that time, whether tramping through the steaming, leech-infested jungle, hiking across canals, or engaging in sudden firefights, Dockery was the only American soldier with the unit.

Dockery’s solitary assignment with ARVN during the infancy of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia afforded him an understanding of Vietnam far more profound than most other Americans. Lost in Translation is his riveting account of the largely overlooked role of American combat advisors in the war. As he vividly evokes the sounds, smells, and vistas of the country and its people, Dockery depicts an army poorly trained, incompetent, and unwilling to fight for a government every bit as corrupt as that of the French colonial empire it replaced. Yet even worse than his daily fare of isolation, frustration, and danger was Dockery’s growing conviction that the advisory program was doomed. Though these dedicated, highly motivated advisors would do their best and persevere under the most trying circumstances, they would not succeed.

The author’s eyewitness testimony provides inescapable evidence that as early as 1962 the writing was already on the wall concerning the outcome of the Vietnam War. Although it would take U.S. leaders more than a decade to divine what the young officer learned in a single year, Dockery’s personal and penetrating analysis of the war—which he presented in a lecture at a Special Forces facility in Germany one week after his tour in Vietnam ended—proved chillingly accurate. Those who send soldiers to war should consider the realities and truths within these pages.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

A slow read, nothing really new in this book.......2007-07-29

After reading everything out there on the Vietnam war, this book brings nothing new to light. I found it hard to stay interested in. The author spend a lot of time on the problems of the war, and not enough time on his personal experiences. Rather boring.

Read twice.......2006-05-30

Terse and void of embellishments Dockery chronicles his frustration with moral compass to ultimately discover self actualization as tenacious warrior turn civilian. I highly recommend this book for Policy Planners and those interested in histography, volunteerism, and Asian American Studies. Especially potent for those compelled in the circuitous rational, that ground conflict establishes a venerated democratic value system. The reader is left to speculate as to why entrenched corrupt civil war settings consistently prompt this "Christo-American" reaction.

Dockery's voice is original, masterful, and commanding. Weaving a penetrating insight on the human condition with its flaws and zeniths making this reader suggest that Random House Publishers keep a pulse on additional Dockery writings, clearly he has more to contribute. Read it twice, time well spent.

An enterprise doomed from the start.......2005-03-16

This is a very worthwhile account of one young officer's experience in the early years of America's Vietnam War when President Kennedy sent a couple of thousand advisors to Vietnam to show the South Vietnamese Army how to fight their war. Reading Dockery's account it is incredible that anyone really believed that seasoned Vietnamese commanders, many who had a totally different agenda, would take advice from a few fresh-faced Americans. Query? Are we in the process of making the same mistake this very minute in Iraq?
The reviewer is the author of "Killed In Action..." a book about the other end of the Vietnam War, told through the life of SP4 Stephen H. Warner, an anti-war activist, who was drafted and killed in action while serving as an Army journalist in February 1971.

All the reasons we went wrong in Vietnam........2004-11-17

Dockery list in a clear and concise manner all of the reasons for our ultimate failure in Vietnam. From the arrogance of our views of people and culture to our total misunderstanding of the influence of the dead on a culture. This is a must read for anyone who needs evidence that the military is not in the business of winning the hearts and minds of a people.

Thanks to Martin Dockery for sharing this long overdue piece of American military history.

Vietnam.......2004-09-06

This is a well-written book. The author has pretty much sanitized it of all emotion except that of frustration, which makes it a good historical work. I recommend this over Tour of Duty.

Lost in Translation--Vietnam--A Combat Advisor's Story.(Book review): An article from: Infantry Magazine

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Lost in Translation--Vietnam--A Combat Advisor's Story.(Book review): An article from: Infantry Magazine
Sundi Rose
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Infantry Magazine, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 518 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Lost in Translation--Vietnam--A Combat Advisor's Story.(Book review)
Author: Sundi Rose
Publication: Infantry Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 95 Issue: 2 Page: 50(1)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood
Average customer rating:

Highly informative

Useful book for lower division instruction

Good choice for lay people or undergraduates

Concise, Readable, Essential

Superb, Stylish summary of Jewish History

A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood
Raymond P. Scheindlin
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195139410

Amazon.com

"Jewish history is often told not as a narrative of real people with human problems and interests but as an idealized national myth," writes Raymond Scheinlin, in the introduction to his excellent A Short History of the Jewish People. Scheinlin is an observant Jew, but his book is not a history of the Jewish religion. It is a history of Jewish tribes around the world and the ways "they have interacted with the nations and cultures among whom they have lived, adapting to their environment while retaining a variety of continuities." The book's brevity precludes exhaustiveness, but its focus on particular Jewish communities and its disciplined analysis of their political successes and foibles give readers a firm grasp on the movements in Jewish history that have shaped the Middle East, Europe, and America. Amply illustrated with maps and photographs, the fluid prose of Scheinlin's History make this book a useful starting point for anyone seeking a secular history of Judaism that is neither skeptical nor hostile to religion. --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

Where did the Jews come from? How did they retain their strong sense of community through centuries of dispersion? How have the Jews of the present, with their proud ethnic identity and thriving national home, emerged out of the downtrodden Jews of the past? Such questions arise naturally in the minds of anyone contemplating the long history of Jewish people. In one concise, authoritative volume, A Short History of the Jewish People provides insights and answers. This sweeping and highly informative work presents the major geographical, cultural, and political forces that have determined the course of Jewish history, introducing the many individuals, both religious and secular, who have shaped the character, mindset, and prospects of the Jewish people. Organized chronologically, the narrative follows the Jewish experience from legendary times to the peace agreements currently being negotiated in the Middle East. And, to give this overview an international and timely perspective, Raymond P. Scheindlin focuses his study on the pivotal events and dominant communities within each historical period. Written by a respected Hebrew scholar, cultural historian, noted author, and rabbi, A Short History of the Jewish People carefully describes the story of a people as varied as the many cultures in which they have lived. Including detailed maps and stirring photos, as well as timelines and sidebars, this pioneering work is a valuable resource for anyone broadly curious about the Jewish people.

Customer Reviews:

Highly informative.......2007-08-24

This book is packed with information that is offered in a very readable manner. The author did an exceptionally fine job. I did not expect to learn so much or be so fascinated.

Useful book for lower division instruction.......2006-12-23

Scheindlin has managed to write nearly the perfect book for a lower division course on Jewish history. He successfully spans the entire scope of Jewish history from legendary times to the modern State of Israel in a mere 263 pages of very readable prose. His writing is neither dry nor laden with jargon. He writes like Leon Uris or Herman Wouk.

Two issues of debate in the book should be supplemented with additional readings. The first is that the portrayal of the Jewish-Christian schism is only presented in the context of medieval Antisemitism, and a more balanced and informative view of the formative period of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity is found in From Text To Tradition by Lawrence Schiffman. The second is the lachrymos portrayal of Jewish life in the Middle Ages. That should be balanced with Salo Baron's groundbreaking article "Ghetto and Emancipation," reprinted in The Menorah Treasury, ed. Leo W. Schwarz (Philadelphia, 1964).

With those two caveats, I would recommend this book for any introductory Jewish history or Jewish studies survey class.

Good choice for lay people or undergraduates.......2005-12-09

I teach a survey of Jewish history course at the freshman/sophomore level, and this is a great text for a course of this sort. It is easily understandable, concise and has all the important information. The index is helpful. I would also recommend it for the non-student looking for a quick introduction to the basics of Jewish history. Scheindlin is particularly good with material from Jews in the Middle East. For my course I supplement it with primary texts.

Concise, Readable, Essential.......2005-01-13

In taking a "Survey of Jewish History" course this fall, which is a broad subject, a broad and sweeping primary textbook was needed. In the short space of 263 pages, Scheindlin covers equitably the history of world Jewry, balancing coverage of religious and sociopolitical elements.
Although accurately described as a secular book, Scheindlin is a practicing Jew and the book is certainly not irreligious. In most cases (esp. premodern situations,) Scheindlin approaches an event or a conflict as a neutral observer, a historian documenting causes and effects. Importantly, he explains the way Jewish societies around the world conceived of and reacted to their circumstances, without actually adopting their views in his writing. This allows both Jew and non-Jew to feel comfortable with the book.
Anyone who faults the book for its lack of detail misunderstands the point of the text and the feasability of what they are asking for. What Scheindlin does with stunning success is give an interesting, accurate depiction, albeit with broad brushstrokes, of the forces that have shaped Jewry throughout the ages.
(I especially recommend the chapter on the Holocaust as riveting and awe-inspiring. Scheindlin, in his understated tone, evokes the horror of "Shoah" (destruction) in a way that impresses even veteran readers with its vividness.)

Superb, Stylish summary of Jewish History.......2005-01-06

Although one can quibble over specific statements and interpretations (e.g. he writes that Yiddish is a dialect of modern German, when actually it derives from Middle German and is as much a dialect as English is, which also evolved from Middle German) or his inclusion or exclusion of certain figures, facts, etc.-- overall Scheindlin has created a superb work. It is concise, well written, and nicely complemented with clear historical timelines, maps, and small topical essays.

The book is well organized with sensitivity to the difficulty of understanding the tremendous amount of material being covered. The chapters break down as follows:
1) Israelite Origins and Kingdom [Biblical] (c1220 BCE - 587 BCE)
2) Judea and the Origins of the Diaspora [2nd Temple Period] (587 BCE - 70 CE)
3) Roman Palestine and Sassanid Babylonia [Classical Rabbinic Period] (70 CE - 632 CE)
4) Jews in the Islamic World: From the Rise of Islam to the End of the Middle Ages (632 CE - 1500 CE)
5) Jews of Medieval Christian Europe (9th century to 1500)
6) Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Middle East (1453 - 1948)
7) Jews of Western Europe (1500 - 1900)
8) Jews of Eastern Europe and the United States (1770 - 1940)
9) The Holocaust (appx. 1925 - 1946)
10) Zionism and the Origins of the State of Israel (appx. 1862 - 1948)
11) The Jewish People after 1948

This is an excellent historical primer and contains a good bibliography for further study.

A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood

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A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary Times to Modern Statehood
Raymond P Scheindlin
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Book Description

This paperback is composed of strategies and methods to provide teachers with an inquiry approach to promote the teaching of the concepts, skills, and attitudes of science in the classroom. This book is derived from the successful third edition of Teaching Science for All Children by the same author team. The authors have taken their popular 4E Learning Cycle (Exploration, Explanation, Expansion and Evaluation) teaching method and applied it throughout this edition. Continuing to incorporate the National Science Education Standards, the authors provide ways for teachers to foster an awareness among their students of the nature of science. This books allows them to implement skills in the classroom using science inquiry processes and develop in their students an understanding of the interactions among science, technology, and society. For pre-service and in-service elementary and middle school teachers.

Teaching Science for All Children: Inquiry Methods for Constructing Understanding (4th Edition)

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Teaching Science for All Children: Inquiry Methods for Constructing Understanding (4th Edition)
Ralph Martin , Colleen Sexton , Teresa Franklin , Dennis McElroy , and Jack Gerlovich
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Science for All Children: Lessons for Constructing Understanding

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Science for All Children: Lessons for Constructing Understanding
Ralph Martin , Colleen M. Sexton , and Jack A. Gerlovich
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This book is composed of lessons, activities, and teaching materials to meet the goals of elementary and middle school science. This book is derived from Part IV of the successful third edition of Teaching Science for All Children. Intended for both pre-service and practicing teachers, the book provides a wealth of lessons and activities that follow the learning cycle. The two introductory chapters provide information on the learning cycle, specifically the 4 "E"s - exploration, explanation, expansion, and evaluation - and on science safety. Each lesson is then matched to specific grade levels according to the National Science Education Standards. For pre-service and in-service teachers at the elementary and middle school levels.

Teaching Science for All Children: Inquiry Lessons for Constructing Understanding (3rd Edition)

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Teaching Science for All Children: Inquiry Lessons for Constructing Understanding (3rd Edition)
Ralph Martin , Colleen Sexton , and Teresa Franklin
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Science for All Children: Methods for Constructing Understanding (2nd Edition)

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Customer Reviews:

A must-have for beekeepers or those simply interested in bees.......2006-06-05

A beautiful book about beekeeping and the need for us all to change our attitudes about beekeeping to be more caring of the bees. The honeybee population is in decline, this book gives explanation why and how we can begin to address the real issues and causes in order to save our wonderful honeybees.

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