"Mekong First Light"
By
Lt. Joseph W. Callaway Jr.
Platoon Leader
2nd Battalion - 60th Infantry - 9th Infantry Division
December, 1966: Platoon leader Lt. Joseph
Callaway had just turned twenty-three when he arrived in Vietnam to lead
forty-two untested men into battle against some of the toughest, most
experienced, and best-trained guerrilla soldiers in the world. Callaway soon
learned that most events in this savage jungle war were beyond his control. But
there was one thing he could do well: take the best damn care of his troops he
knew how.
In the Viet Cong–infested provinces around the Mekong Delta where the platoon
was assigned, the enemy was always ready to attack at the first sign of
weakness. And when the jungle suddenly erupted in the chaos of battle, the
platoon leader was the Cong’s first target. Mekong
First Light is at times horrific, heartrending, and heroic, but
is always brutally honest. Callaway’s account chronicles a soldier’s painful
realization of the true nature of America’s war in Vietnam: It was a war that
could not be won.
About the Author
JOSEPH W. CALLAWAY, Jr. grew up in Enterprise, Alabama, and New Canaan,
Connecticut. He entered the army as a private in 1965 and, after being
commissioned as an officer through Infantry OCS (Officer Candidate School),
served in Vietnam from December 1966 until July 1968 as an infantry platoon
leader with the 9th Division, a combat advisor to the first Thai regiment
deployed to Vietnam, and as a staff officer with the 5th Special Forces. He
graduated from Boston University in 1972 and is currently the western sales
manager for CYRO Industries, a major chemical and plastics manufacturer. He
lives in California with his loving wife, Susan, and has three sons, Tucker,
Casan, and Quinn.
The book is available at these locations:
http://www.amazon.com/Mekong-First-Light-Joseph-Callaway/dp/0891418164
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mekong-First-Light/Joseph-W-Callaway/e/9780891418160