Book Review

BLACK OPS VIETNAM: The Operational History of MACVSOG
By Robert M. Gillespie
Naval Institute Press; First Edition (September 15, 2011)
320 pages
Available for purchase online from all major booksellers. It is can be purchased in hardcover, paperback, ebook & audiobook (Audible through Amazon)

By Steve Bric

This incredible and historically accurate history of the concept, the creation, the growth, and month-by-month events from the early 1960’s through the final days of MACVSOG would seem impossible. Robert Gillespie somehow achieved that with a passion that would take digging through archives and 80 years of witness descriptions and Top Secret documents. His source of information could never be matched. You can feel his determination and desire to answer questions not yet asked.

He shows how events around the world (seen and unseen) by allies and enemies alike were extremely complex and played a role in the USA intervention. His analysis chapter after chapter of “How” and “Why” we ended up exiting Saigon at the end is worth having on the shelf of any High School or College. He never criticizes commanders or troops but does heap praise on the heroes and units who went in Harm’s Way and performed the impossible time after time.

It is said that history teaches us to learn and avoid our mistakes in the future. His book helps us do that as Robert Gillespie shows no bias, and he offers us the chance to truly find a way to bring out something positive from this conflict.