Vietnam 360

Combat troops and the support units that kept them in the fight.

In Vietnam, danger could come from an ambush, a minefield, the jungle itself, or a stranger whose loyalties were impossible to read.

Vietnam 360 tells the story of the war through the Australians who experienced it firsthand. Drawing on veterans’ vivid recollections, Jeff Steel follows young men from conscription and training to the rubber plantations, dense jungles and uneasy routines of Nui Dat. Alongside the infantrymen were the cooks, signallers, drivers and logistics personnel whose vital contributions and remarkable experiences are too often overlooked.

Their voices reveal the fear, confusion, resolve and dark humour of service, the bonds forged under fire, and the split-second moral decisions that could determine who lived or died. Extending beyond the battlefield to withdrawal, homecoming and the fate of those left behind, Vietnam 360 is an intimate account of a war whose echoes remained with its survivors for the rest of their lives.