{"product_id":"diary-of-an-airborne-ranger-isbn-9780804118804","title":"Diary of an Airborne Ranger","description":"Perhaps the most accurate story of LRRPs at war\u003cbr\u003eever to appear in print!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Frank Johnson arrived in Vietnam in 1969, he was nineteen, a young soldier untested in combat like thousands of others--but with two important differences: Johnson volunteered for the elite L Company Rangers of the 101st Airborne Division, a long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) unit, and he kept a secret diary, a practice forbidden by the military to protect the security of LRRP operations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNow, more than three decades later, those hastily written pages offer a rare look at the daily operations of one of the most courageous units that waged war in Vietnam. Johnson served in I Corps, in northern Vietnam, where combat was furious and the events he recounts emerge, stark and compelling: walking point in the A Shau Valley, braving enemy fire to rescue a downed comrade, surviving days and nights of relentless tension that suddenly exploded in the blinding fury of an NVA attack.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUndimmed and unmuddied by the passing of years, Johnson's account is unique in the annals of Vietnam literature. Moreover, it is a timeless testimony to the sacrifice and heroism of the LRRPs who dared to risk it all.Frank Johnson served in Vietnam as a member of L Company (Ranger), 101st Airborne Division. He received numerous combat awards, including the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars. Since leaving active duty he has served with 12th Special Forces Group (Abn.), U.S. Army Reserves; 4th Force Recon, USMC Reserves; 122d Armor Brigade; Nevada National Guard; 19th Special Forces Group (Abn.); and Utah National Guard. Currently he is serving with the Nevada Air Guard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe and his wife, Kipp, live in Reno. They have a son, Joshua, and a daughter, Jahnee.\u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDiary of an Airborne Ranger\u003c\/i\u003e is indeed a unique literary\u003cbr\u003ework. It is the day-by-day story of a nineteen-year-old\u003cbr\u003eyouth's one-year odyssey into manhood. It is unique\u003cbr\u003ebecause it is not written in the perspective of an aging\u003cbr\u003eveteran recalling his warrior years through memories and\u003cbr\u003erecollections softened and mellowed by the ravages of\u003cbr\u003etime. Frank Johnson's diary is the compelling and\u003cbr\u003erefreshingly honest portrayal of a young man's introduction\u003cbr\u003eto war, with all the fearless bravado, unquestioned\u003cbr\u003epatriotism, intense loyalty, raw courage, and lost innocence\u003cbr\u003ethat one can get only from being there. There are\u003cbr\u003eno pretenses here. What you see is exactly what you get.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Frank Johnson arrived in South Vietnam in the\u003cbr\u003efall of 1969, the war, for all intents and purposes, had\u003cbr\u003ealready peaked. \"Vietnamization'' was the new buzz word,\u003cbr\u003eand Richard Nixon was keeping his promise by announcing\u003cbr\u003etroop withdrawals and a reduction in U.S. forces. To\u003cbr\u003ethose of us who were there, the first indications of an army\u003cbr\u003ebetrayed were just beginning to surface. No longer was\u003cbr\u003ethere talk of defeating the enemy and achieving a just and\u003cbr\u003efinal victory. Withdrawing with honor and grace became\u003cbr\u003ean acceptable alternative. To those young men just arriving\u003cbr\u003ein-country came the impossible task of covering our \"withdrawal.'' \u003cbr\u003eThey knew that they would never savor the laurels\u003cbr\u003eof total victory. There would be no parades, nor would they\u003cbr\u003ebe welcomed home in the end. They knew all of this, yet\u003cbr\u003ethey still volunteered to perform this impossible task.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir actual mission was threefold: 1) to keep the\u003cbr\u003eenemy at bay by continuing to carry out offensive operations;\u003cbr\u003e2) to provide for a smooth and orderly transition of\u003cbr\u003eU.S. weapons and equipment to our allies, along with the\u003cbr\u003etraining and support to enable them to deploy it; and 3) to\u003cbr\u003eavoid alarming our allies by having them discover that\u003cbr\u003ethey were in all actuality being abandoned.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnder these somewhat stressful conditions, Frank\u003cbr\u003eJohnson and his teammates were ordered to take the war\u003cbr\u003eto the enemy. Unlike their predecessors, the long-range\u003cbr\u003ereconnaissance patrollers whose primary mission was to\u003cbr\u003egather intelligence, the Rangers were told to go out and\u003cbr\u003einitiate contact with the enemy. The army doctrine behind\u003cbr\u003ethis gross misuse of five- to twelve-man reconnaissance\u003cbr\u003eteams was the doctrine of \"force multipliers.'' Simply\u003cbr\u003eput, this meant to do more and risk less with smaller\u003cbr\u003enumbers of soldiers. The obvious benefit to our side was\u003cbr\u003eexperiencing fewer friendly casualties while still maintaining\u003cbr\u003ean acceptable attrition rate among enemy personnel.\u003cbr\u003eThe detriment was solely to the soldiers tasked to\u003cbr\u003eaccept the risk. Remember, this was an increasingly\u003cbr\u003eunpopular war back home. Frank Johnson and his fellow\u003cbr\u003eRangers were just such soldiers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs you read through the pages of this amazing work you\u003cbr\u003ewill find yourself wondering, \"Why did they keep going\u003cbr\u003eback out and doing what they did?'' The answer will surprise\u003cbr\u003eyou. You see, it was not that same sense of duty and\u003cbr\u003ehonor that had brought many of them into the service. It\u003cbr\u003ewas not the same patriotism that had inspired their fathers\u003cbr\u003eand grandfathers before them. And it was definitely not\u003cbr\u003epower nor the promise of wealth that sent these young men\u003cbr\u003einto harm's way, day after day, even when they knew the\u003cbr\u003ewar was already lost. \"Why then,'' you ask? Well, let me tell\u003cbr\u003eyou! It was camaraderie, the love that one teammate has for\u003cbr\u003eanother. It was their motto, \"Rangers don't leave Rangers\u003cbr\u003ebehind!'' This was not only their motto, but the guiding\u003cbr\u003eforce that dictated their ethics, their courage, and their loyalty\u003cbr\u003eto one another. Can you understand the power of such\u003cbr\u003efeelings . . . the emotion? It is a powerful motivator.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThroughout Frank Johnson's diary, the recurring theme\u003cbr\u003eof camaraderie, brotherly love, and living up to the Ranger\u003cbr\u003emotto is demonstrated. This was a glorious thing that all\u003cbr\u003ewarriors experienced to some degree or another during the\u003cbr\u003eVietnam War, perhaps to a greater extent among the small,\u003cbr\u003eelite special-operations units that so often stood alone.\u003cbr\u003eWhen you read through each page of this book, forgive the\u003cbr\u003elanguage and the style--the author was just a kid out of\u003cbr\u003ehigh school when he penned it. There will be no literary\u003cbr\u003eawards or prizes coming his way. But if you want to under-stand\u003cbr\u003ewhat heroes are made of, and why so many of our\u003cbr\u003eyoung men come home with emotional baggage they can\u003cbr\u003enever shed, then read this book from cover to cover. When\u003cbr\u003eyou're finished, go back and read it again--more slowly\u003cbr\u003ethe second time. All of the emotions, the pain, and\u003cbr\u003ethe memories, both good and bad, are right there. We know\u003cbr\u003ewhere they are. You'll have to find them for yourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGary A. Linderer\u003cbr\u003eF Company, 58th Infantry (LRP)\u003cbr\u003eL Company, 75th Infantry (Ranger)\u003cbr\u003e101st Airborne Division\u003cbr\u003eRVN 1968-1969\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRANGERS LEAD THE WAY!The only day-to-day account of this elite guerilla unit in Vietnam","brand":"Ballantine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303738757349,"sku":"NP9780804118804","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780804118804.jpg?v=1767725087","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/diary-of-an-airborne-ranger-isbn-9780804118804","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}