Navy Seals: The Vietnam Years - Hardcover

Dockery blends oral history and conventional narrative with consummate skill. --Booklist

This is the second volume of Kevin Dockery's collection of oral history of the Navy SEALs. His first volume, 'Navy SEALs: A History Of The Early Years' was released about a year ago. I believe a third and final volume about the Navy SEALs and their operations during the Persian Gulf conflict will be released next year. In part two of this fascinating history of the Navy SEALs Kevin Dockery again presents a collection of oral accounts by former UDT and SEAL team members. Famous, former, frogmen like Richard Marcinko (Commander, USN (Ret.)) and Governor Jesse Ventura are just some of the SEALs that recount their operations during the South East Asian conflict. My favorite feature about this second volume are the numerous rare black and white photographs depicting the UDT and SEAL team members in action. If you have enjoyed Chief James Watson's 'Point Man' and all the other Richard Marcinko books, then you will definitely want to read 'Navy SEALs: A History Part II: The Vietnam Years. --By Leslie S. Gn

This book is an Ode to the Navy Seal, and there are many personal stories in the "there I was in the jungle" and "the making of a Navy Seal" veins, but any type of overview, or where the Seals fit into the overall strategy, or critical analysis of how the political considerations driving the civilian leadership either directed or limited the actions of the Seals, is largely missing. Analysis is largely limited to "the President said go, and we went." Even the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, widely acknowledged to be mistaken, is accepted at face value. The many interviews quoted at length give the book a very episodic feel. There is, I believe, not one negative word about the Seals, or their success in Vietnam, in this book. The pictures and narratives are good in giving the reader a sense of what it's like to be a Seal, how the Seals operate on their missions, the tools they use, and how important the concept of "team" is to the effectiveness of the Seals. Buy it for this purpose, if you wish, but not to gain any concept of history. --By Frank