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MWSA Review
Death in the Highlands presents a very thorough analysis and reporting of the attack on Plei Me in 1965 by the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong, along with its defense by American and South Vietnamese forces. While going into great detail, the author, J. Keith Saliba, still tells a story that portrays the human aspects of sacrifice and perseverance. In addition to using a plethora of written history, Saliba also interviewed a number of the survivors of this long and deadly battle to provide a realism that is hard to pull from documents alone. The author holds no punches in describing the horrific results of the battle. Well researched and documented. A must read for anyone interested in modern military history and especially for anyone interested in the war in Viet Nam.
Review by Bob Doerr (March 2021)
Author's Synopsis
In fall 1965, North Vietnam’s high command smelled blood in the water. The South Vietnamese republic was on the verge of collapse, and Hanoi resolved to crush it once and for all. The communists set their sights on South Vietnam’s strategically vital West-Central Highlands. Annihilate ARVN’s defenses in Kontum and Pleiku provinces, the communists surmised, and the region’s remaining provinces would topple like dominoes. Their first target was the American Special Forces camp at Plei Me, remote and isolated along the Cambodian border.
As darkness fell on 19 October, 1965, two North Vietnamese Army regiments—some 4,000 troops— crept into their final strike positions. The plan was as simple as it was audacious: one regiment would bring the frontier fortress under murderous siege while the other would lie in wait to destroy the inevitable rescue force. Initially, all that stood athwart Hanoi’s grand scheme was a handful of American Green Berets, a few hundred Montagnard allies—and burgeoning U.S. airpower. Cut off and beleaguered, Plei Me’s defenders fought for their lives, while a daring band of helicopter, close air support, and resupply pilots braved a withering storm of antiaircraft fire to help save their brothers on the ground.
But as the overland relief force bogged down, 5th Group ordered in the legendary “Chargin” Charlie Beckwith and his elite Project Delta to help hold the line. Soon, the newly formed 1st Cavalry Division, under its aggressive commander Maj. Gen. Harry Kinnard, would join the fray, setting the stage for its bloody Ia Drang Valley fights a few weeks later. Before it was over, the siege of Plei Me would push its defenders to the brink and usher in the first major clashes between the U.S. and North Vietnamese armies.
Drawing on archival research and interviews with combat veterans, J. Keith Saliba reconstructs this pivotal battle in vivid, gut-wrenching detail and illustrates where the siege fit in the war’s strategic picture.
ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13 : 978-0811738811, ASIN : B08DKHMTC1
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 280