Dead Center
A Marine Sniper's Two-Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War
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4.4 • 135 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
WHEN YOU'RE IN THE DEATH BUSINESS,
EACH DAWN COULD BE YOUR LAST.
Raw, straightforward, and powerful, Ed Kugler's account of his two years as a Marine scout-sniper in Vietnam vividly captures his experiences there--the good, the bad, and the ugly. After enlisting in the Marines at seventeen, then being wounded in Santo Domingo during the Dominican crisis, Kugler arrived in Vietnam in early 1966.
As a new sniper with the 4th Marines, Kugler picked up bush skills while attached to 3d Force Recon Company, and then joined the grunts. To take advantage of that experience, he formed the Rogues, a five-sniper team that hunted in the Co Bi-Than Tan Valley for VC and NVA. His descriptions of long, tense waits, sudden deadly action, and NVA countersniper ambushes are fascinating.
In DEAD CENTER, Kugler demonstrates the importance to a sniper of patience, marksmanship, bush skills, and guts--while underscoring exactly what a country demands of its youth when it sends them to war.
Customer Reviews
An interesting perspective
I have read many books about the war in Vietnam, most of which were written by active participants. The general consensus always seems to revert back to the fact that the politicians in Washington tied the hands of the military, thus crippling their efforts to win the war. Having seen first hand how true this is, it is a wonder that even more Americans weren’t killed in this war. This book follows that same pattern.
First hand accounts of war can be gruesome, enthralling, and downright terrifying to those not accustomed to such carnage. The author does a good job of mixing the realities of the brutalities of war with the very human side of its participants. This is evident in the episode where the snipers are actually cheering for an enemy soldier to make it to freedom before being taken out by air support.
I especially liked the prologue where the author gives an update on the many characters found in the book. I thought that was nice touch.
Overall, I recommend this book to all readers who are interested in the Vietnam war.
Tells it like it was.
Very graphic and well within.
Great thanks to these warriors and long live the heroes!
We will never forget!!!