Life of a skytrooper in Vietnam
By Joshua and Wilbur Bowe
Books and other materials used as sources in The Ground You Stand Upon:
1994, by CPT Bernard E. Grady (Ret), Bravo Company, 5/7th Cav’s Executive Officer, then Commander of Charlie Company during the battalion’s initial tour of duty from August 1966 to August 1967.
2009, by Robert K. Powers, an infantryman in Bravo Company’s mortar platoon. Drafted in January 1966 and sent to Vietnam in October, he was wounded in action on May 18th 1967.
TRUE BLUE, A Tale of the Enemy Within
2007, by Joe Sanchez, an infantryman in Alpha Company. His book tells of his experiences as a New York City cop and his fight to expose corruption but also relates his memories of Fort Carson and Vietnam, where he was wounded in action in January 1967.
1978, by Winston Groom, a fellow Vietnam veteran who also wrote Forrest Gump. His novel follows the fictional Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 7th Cavalry, sent to Vietnam in August 1966.
THE 1ST CAV IN VIETNAM, Anatomy of a Division
1987, by CPT Shelby L. Stanton (Ret), who served in the 82nd Airborne Division in Southeast Asia and was wounded in action. The book tells of the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s development of the Airmobile concept in Vietnam.
THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN ARMY, U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965 to 1973
1985, by CPT Shelby L. Stanton (Ret). An assessment of the toll the Vietnam War took on the U.S. military, along with the government’s refusal to mobilize the National Guard and other reserve forces.
STREET WITHOUT JOY: The French Debacle in Indochina
1961, by Bernard B. Fall. Tells of the French military’s struggle to regain control of Vietnam from the end of World War II until their defeat by the Viet Minh in 1954.
DEAR AMERICA: Letters Home From Vietnam
1985, edited by Bernard Edelman. A collection of letters home from servicemen and women serving in Vietnam. The book was also made into an HBO documentary. Both the book and film include the letter written by Alpha Company’s Richard Cantale about the death of his friend Donald Rankin.
A WALK AMONG THE BRAVE
2011, by Tina Susedik. A collection of veterans’ experiences with profiles of Rodney Henning, Wilbur Bowe, his brother Darrell Bowe, and others from the Chippewa Falls area.
HEROES: A Year in Vietnam With the First Air Cavalry Division
2008, by Mike Larson. Memoir of a combat journalist writing for the Cavalair newspaper.
THE FACES BEHIND THE NAMES: The Vietnam War
1996, by Don Ward. Profiles of Minnesotans who gave their lives in Vietnam.
2020, by Business Insider reporters Charlie Herman, Julia Press, and Sarah Wyman. Features interviews with Pan Am stewardesses who flew servicemen in and out of the war zone.
1ST CAVALRY DIVISION, Memoirs of the First Team, Vietnam, August 1965 to December 1969
1970, edited by J.D. Coleman.
AIR CAV: History of the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam 1965 – 1967
1970, edited by J.D. Coleman.
2015, by Frank L. Jones.
COMBAT OPERATIONS: Stemming the Tide, May 1965 to October 1966
2000, by John M. Carland.
COMBAT OPERATIONS: Taking the Offensive, October 1966 to October 1967
1998, by George L. MacGarrigle.
2002, by Michael P. Kelley. A Comprehensive guide to the firebases, military installations and Naval vessels of the Vietnam War 1945 – 1975
AFTER ACTION REPORT (September 3rd 1966 attack on Camp Radcliff)
September 17th 1966, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) Headquarters.
BATTALION DAILY SITUATION REPORTS, September 1st 1966 to March 12th 1967
5/7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), from National Archives.
BATTALION DAILY STAFF JOURNALS, January 1st to August 9th 1967
5/7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), from National Archives.
PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION for the period September 30th 1966 to March 30th 1967, Supporting Documentation
5/7th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), from National Archives.
INTERIM REPORT OF OPERATIONS, 1st Cavalry Division, July 1965 to December 1966
Compiled by Charles S. Sykes, published by 1st Cavalry Division Association.
OPERATIONAL REPORT - LESSONS LEARNED, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), Period Ending 31 July 1967
1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) Headquarters, Declassified 31 December 1973.
OPERATIONAL REPORT - LESSONS LEARNED January to June 1967
USARV.
TOPOGRAPHIC MILITARY MAPS OF VIETNAM
University of Texas Libraries website.
VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND WALL OF FACES
Memorial website by the organization that built The Wall.
THE COFFELT DATABASE (National Archives Online)
Lists all servicemen killed in the Vietnam War with date of birth, date of death, home of record, branch of service, unit, rank, MOS, and enlistment status.
2007, by Norman Lloyd, a CBS journalist embedded with Bravo Company, 5/7th Cav during their incursion into Cambodia in May 1970. Film features footage taken as they fought the NVA. Named for the young soldier, Chris Keffalos, nicknamed “Shakey,” who was killed atop a hill shortly after discovering a massive underground stockpile of weapons. While producing the film decades later, Lloyd reunited many Bravo Company men who served during the mission.