ANNEX G-8

Steel and Blood: South Vietnamese Armor-The War for Southeast Asia.

By Ha Mai Viet, former Colonel, ARVN.

Reviewed by LtCol Ray Stewart, USMC (Ret) previously published in, and republished here with approval of, the Leatherneck Magazine.

In an attempt to place Marine Corps Tanks’ and Ontos’ participation in the Vietnam War, this 7-Volume historical series is focused on what they did and how they did it. We know that we were significant players. However, I often wonder how we were perceived by the infantry to which we were assigned to support. We’ve found through a lot of research that, while the reviews are mixed, the positives outweigh the negatives by a significant measure. And further, in the larger picture, how did the VC/NVA enemy view us. If they questioned our ability to influence the fight, were we really all that effective? We never went tank-on-tank but the U.S Army did and the South Vietnamese did as well. By most accounts fought one helluva fight.

Here is a review of a book written with cooperation of the Association of the United States Army, by a highly decorated Senior ARVN Tank Officer that “presents a historically accurate and detailed account of the South Vietnamese armor forces.”

Col. Ha Mai Viet provides his meticulously researched, impressively written, and well-presented 2-part book about South Vietnam tanks in “Steel and Blood”. Part I details the combat history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Armor (AF) from “Ferocious Battles, 1963-68” through “Vietnamization, 1969-74” to the final days of the Republic in 1975 – “The Capture of South Vietnam”. His is a riveting account of tank battle after tank battle pitting the ARVNAF’s M-41 and M48 tanks against the NVA enemy’s T-54, T-59, T-34, and PT-76 tanks

Somewhat of surprise to a Marine Corps Vietnam Tanker – and possible Army Armor as well, and for certain to those who declared that Vietnam was not “tank country” - is the numbers and types of armored vehicles employed by both sides and the importance the VC/NVA enemy and ARVN alike placed on the use of armored vehicles in general and tanks specifically. Just one example – by 1975 the NVA had an estimated 600 T-54s in or on the border of South Vietnam supplied by 3-6” well-concealed fuel lines with sophisticated pumping and fueling stations that ran through Laos and Cambodia hundreds of kilometers from Haiphong in the north.

In battle after battle – from the Plain of Reeds through the three-front General Offensive and battles for the Central Highlands to the final assault on Saigon itself, Col. Ha Mai Viet provides the reader with the often heart wrenching candid and unwashed details of bloody victories and even more horrific defeats. He does not embellish the value of the ARVNAF in its successful fights nor does he minimize the faults of senior leaderships’ failed decisions contributing to catastrophic defeats. The author keeps to the rapid movement of armor and the battles in which tanks participate by extracting related details and placing them in “Notes” There are 80 pages of notes which add an impressive dimension of understanding of ARNVAF leadership – or lack of it.

For further background, two of the Central Highland Battles on which the Colonel elaborates – The Battle of Kontum and the Battle for An Loc - are written about in some detail by Army helicopter pilots http://www.thebattleofkontum.com/ graphics/index.html and a U.S. Army Advisor to the ARVNAF

http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/willbanks/willbanks.asp, respectively. They independently confirm the Colonel’s accounts.

In Part II, “Military History”, Col. Ha Mia Viet’s attention to detail and in-depth research provides the reader the historical background of the ARVN in general terms and, more specifically, traces the establishment, growth, and deployment of the Armored forces (ARVNAF). While certainly not the “grabber” that one finds in page after page of Part I, Part II is of significant value in understanding the development, structure, employment, logistics, and administration of the ARVNAF in terms of equipment. The Colonel also provides interesting information on the background and training – not only of the armored personnel but accounts – quite candidly – of the ARVNAF leadership.

To follow the battles, I found the paucity of maps – there are just 2 small-detail maps – made the reading (and enjoyment) of the book somewhat more difficult than need be. This, of course, can be overcome by the acquisitions of a few larger scale maps early-on. Also, command structure, order of battle, and TO&E diagrams, of which there are none, would have greatly helped in better understanding of the material.

Col. Ha Mai Viet states unequivocally that South Vietnam could have defeated the VC/NVA on the battlefield had the U.S. made good on its agreement to support the South after the withdrawal of American ground forces.

This thoroughly researched book – a ten year effort – relies on both personal boots-on ground knowledge and interviews of hundreds of former ARVN as well as VC/NVA soldiers and Officers of all ranks and MOSs. To obtain a more balanced view – and with a definite Tanker’s slant - of the war that took more than 58,000 Americans’ lives, this book is a highly recommended read.