We Walked Across Their Graves

In 1967, John Strunk is a newly minted 19-year-old Marine with a 10th grade education, little self-esteem, and no particular understanding of what he is doing in Vietnam. His memoir is an unvarnished account of his personal experiences as part of a Marine Regiment, which over several months repeatedly clashed, buckle-to-buckle, with the 2nd North Vietnam Army 2nd Division, neither side willing to give up control of the strategic valley, no matter the cost. Strunk's story moves from the very personal, to the travails and losses of his team and squad, to company and battalion tactics, and back again. In this candid and sometimes shocking narrative, Strunk makes no apologies and no concessions to those who would view armed conflict as a somehow noble exercise. For Strunk and his brother Marines, nobility was a quick casualty in the battle for the Que Son Valley. The goal was day-to-day survival.