On Full Automatic: Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam - Hardcover

by William Taylor (Author)

True Story of a young 18-year-old Marine Infantryman at the height of the Vietnam War. Every platoon lieutenant, sergeant, and squad leader was either killed, wounded or relieved of command. Bill survives 13 months after 25 battles (Operations) during the worst of times of the Vietnam War. In one battle there were only seven Marines left out of fifty. Most people who have read this story say they feel like they were right there. Taylor's unit was and still uses this ingenious concept to this day. Ready Group Alpha is a battalion sized unit, always available to attack because their base was the USS Okinawa LPH-3 along with a fleet of ships and its own helicopter squadron (The Evil Eyes). Included in the convoy were the LPD Duluth, USS Sanctuary, USS Repose and sometimes the USS New Jersey Battleship. Bill starts his journey immensely proud and naive about the world. He goes into battle for the first time and feels truly scared for the first time in his life. As the months begin to pass, he begins to realize the war is not what he thought it was. The realization of the enemy he was fighting began to confuse him. He was fighting the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong. Who were the Viet Cong? They were the South Vietnamese. As time passes, he realizes he wants to go home, but he has six more months to go. After three more months of constant battles, he feels he may not make it. Toward the end of his tour, he begins to think he is going to die. He took part in multiple actions, facing being overrun, attacking North Vietnamese forces in the Demilitarized Zone, and holding out until air support arrived. Never received a hot meal in the field and go for over a month at a time sweeping, attacking, or blocking the NVA and Viet Cong. The book is not only about the battles, but the interactions with the Indigenous people of the area. This book has won the Globe and International Gold Book Awards. It is a number one bestseller for 62 weeks in a row. The ratings are almost five stars, and people cannot stop reading once they pick it up. This is one book you will remember for the rest of your life.