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Fabulous, but in a different way than "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young" (and thanks, brother Doug, for that one). This book is affecting is so many ways:

• The process of researching the first book, meeting the Vietnamese commanders and historians, and even accidentally spending the night at LZ X-ray is told with great feeling and interesting detail
• The ambush and following cover-up of the disaster at LZ-Albany is described, including Westmoreland's first notable failure to handle the truth in the field.
• Some really wonderful bits about General Moore's family and career (some of which resonated with my own Army brat background).
• Postscripts of great empathy and feeling for two of the heros: General Moore's wife, Julia, and former Lt. Rick Rescorla (an expat Brit who, in his later life was security VP for Morgan Stanley who died in 9/11 in the process of saving over 2,000 people).
• Finally, their logical, succinct, yet heartfelt plea for thoughtfulness, wisdom, and caution among our civilian leaders, particularly the president. Much of the book, particularly the last bits, examine how the US gets into war and the spectrum of necessity for those wars. They are very hard on G. W. Bush and his lieutenants for the current Iraq conflict, but also note that there were many lessons that should have been learned before Vietnam, and it only would have taken a bit of reading to realize that there was no way the US could "win" there.

An example -- General Moore wrote about a speech he gave at West Point in the spring of 2005:

“In a long question-and-answer session following my speech I was asked about Iraq and then Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. In this place-where cadets live by a code that says they never lie, cheat, steal, or quibble-I was bound to speak the truth as I knew it.
The war in Iraq, I said, is not worth the life of even one American soldier. As for Secretary Rumsfeld, I told them, I never thought I would live long enough to see someone chosen to preside over the Pentagon who made Vietnam-era Defense Secretary Robert McNamara look good by comparison. The cadets sat in stunned silence; their professors were astonished. Some of these cadets would be leading young soldiers in combat in a matter of a few months. They deserved a straight answer."

For the book, see the Amazon link: We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam ... for the audio book (read by Gen. Moore!), get the Audible file ... also see the LZ X-ray website

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