One of the longest and most controversial wars in American history, the Vietnam conflict, was a time of great advances in military technology. Readers explore the world of military machines and the science behind the United States’ battles in Vietnam. Full-color photographs will show readers the airplanes, artillery, and chemical weapons that powered the American attack. Firsthand accounts from soldiers who developed and operated these weapons will help readers understand how the development and application of technology can mean the difference between winning and losing the biggest battles in history.

Field gear and inert weapons and ordnance have long been popular items with militaria collectors. The Vietnam War by its very nature offers an incredible range and variety of these items for the interested collector. The North Vietnamese and their puppet troops of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong or VC) relied primarily on communist allies (Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba and various Eastern Bloc countries of the era) for their weapons and field gear. For this reason, Vietnam represents a microcosm of gear from all of this century's wars, dating back to World War I, as well as a wide range of improvised weapons and equipment. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the variety of hand grenades used by the enemy, including Russian, Chinese, North Korean, Eastern European, French, Japanese and even modified, captured U.S. grenades. Although impossible to completely catalog the extreme variety of weapons and field gear used by the PAVN and VC, author Edward Emering has made a determined effort to present a wide overview of the weapons and field gear used from the late-1950s through the modern era. He has been aided in his goal by obtaining access to the world class collection of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, located in Chicago, Illinois and by material from a number of extensive private collections. This book will help both the serious collector as well as those individuals interested in acquiring only a token piece of history to avoid potentially costly mistakes. A value guide is included.

THIS GUT-WRENCHING FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF THE WAR IS A CLASSIC IN THE ANNALS OF VIETNAM LITERATURE. "Guns up!" was the battle cry that sent machine gunners racing forward with their M60s to mow down the enemy, hoping that this wasn't the day they would meet their deaths. Marine Johnnie Clark heard that the life expectancy of a machine gunner in Vietnam was seven to ten seconds after a firefight began. Johnnie was only eighteen when he got there, at the height of the bloody Tet Offensive at Hue, and he quickly realized the grim statistic held a chilling truth. The Marines who fought and bled and died were ordinary men, many still teenagers, but the selfless bravery they showed day after day in a nightmarish jungle war made them true heroes. This new edition of Guns Up!, filled with photographs and updated information about those harrowing battles, also contains the real names of these extraordinary warriors and details of their lives after the war. The book's continuing success is a tribute to the raw courage and sacrifice of the United States Marines.

With modern military emphasis on whiz-bang weapons technology and the constant quest for things that make a bigger bang on the battlefield, it’s easy to forget that at the dark heart of war stands an infantryman and his individual weapons. Those who understand warfare from research or from personal experience generally realize this about the conflicts that have plagued mankind since the dawn of time. Infantry weapons—often referred to as small arms—have fascinated soldiers and scholars for decades as they are the most personal aspects of combat. Small arms come into play when contact is close and potentially lethal. This was particularly true during the long, frustrating war in Vietnam, but much of the focus in studying that conflict has been either on aerial weapons—strike aircraft or armed helicopters—or on the originally much-maligned M16 rifle. There were huge numbers of other weapons used by both sides, but they are often ignored and rarely seen being used in combat action. This book solves that problem. Divided into easily digestible sections and preceded by cogent discussions of each weapon type, the authors have presented an intriguing collection of photographs that depict the primary small (and not so small) infantry arms most common on Vietnam battlefields. There are rare and stirring images here that depict what it was like to fight in the jungle-covered mountains and in the rice paddies. Viewing these images is like studying a primer about one of America’s longest and deadliest wars. "We have a new generation of combat veterans among us these days. Men and women who carried a new generation of weapons to war into places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, who have returned with a fresh understanding about the crucial importance of small arms in warfare. They understand...that there is no strategy or tactic that equals victory in armed conflict if it does not include that muddy, grimy, dog-tired infantryman with just his personal weapon to help him survive in a life-and-death encounter." – American Rifleman "It’s an excellent book for anyone with an interest in the details of 20th-century infantry weapons, especially historians and collectors." – Booksmith

Lurps is the revised edition of the memoir of a juvenile delinquent who drops out of ninth grade to chase his dream of military service. After volunteering for Vietnam, he joins the elite U.S. Army LRRP/Rangers—small, heavily armed long-range reconnaissance teams that patrol deep in enemy-held territory. It is 1968, and the Lurps find themselves in some of the war's hairiest campaigns and battles, including Tet, Khe Sanh, and A Shau. Readers witness all the horrors, humor, adrenaline, and unexpected beauty through the eyes of a green young warrior. Gone are the heroic clichZs and bravado as compelling narrative and realistic dialogue sweep the reader along with a powerful sense that this is actually happening. This poignant coming-of-age story explores the social background that shaped the protagonist's thinking, his uncertain quest for redemption through increased responsibility, the brotherhood of comrades in arms, women and sexual awakening, and the baffling randomness of who lives and who dies.

Men Against Fire, first published in 1947 (and updated in 1961), is an in-depth analysis of military leadership and infantry tactics, with numerous recommendations to improve the effectiveness of ground troops in combat situations. The psychology of combat (e.g., chapters “Why Men Fight” and “Men Under Fire”) is also examined by Marshall, himself a veteran of World War I and a combat historian during World War II. S.L.A. "Slam" Marshall was a veteran of World War I and a combat historian during World War II. He startled the military and civilian world in 1947 by announcing that, in an average infantry company, no more than one in four soldiers actually fired their weapons while in contact with the enemy. His contention was based on interviews he conducted immediately after combat in both the European and Pacific theaters of World War II.

Winner of the 2019 William E. Colby Award "The book I had been waiting for. I can't recommend it highly enough." —Bill Gates The era of autonomous weapons has arrived. Today around the globe, at least thirty nations have weapons that can search for and destroy enemy targets all on their own. Paul Scharre, a leading expert in next-generation warfare, describes these and other high tech weapons systems—from Israel’s Harpy drone to the American submarine-hunting robot ship Sea Hunter—and examines the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. “A smart primer to what’s to come in warfare” (Bruce Schneier), Army of None engages military history, global policy, and cutting-edge science to explore the implications of giving weapons the freedom to make life and death decisions. A former soldier himself, Scharre argues that we must embrace technology where it can make war more precise and humane, but when the choice is life or death, there is no replacement for the human heart.