Warriors - by Robert Tonsetic (Paperback)

About the Book

This firsthand account of an experience of war is written by an army rifle company commander in Vietnam during the first six months of 1968, the bloodiest year of the war. Original.

Book Synopsis

On the ground, in the air, and behind the lines, grunts made life-and-death decisions every day--and endured the worst stress of their young lives.

It was the tumultuous year 1968, and Robert Tonsetic was Rifle Company commander of the 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry in Vietnam. He took over a group of grunts demoralized by defeat but determined to get even. Through the legendary Tet and May Offensives, he led, trained, and risked his life with these brave men, and this is the thrilling, brutal, and honest story of his tour of duty. Tonsetic tells of leading a seriously undermanned ready-reaction force into a fierce, three-day battle with a ruthless enemy battalion; conducting surreal night airmobile assaults and treks through fetid, pitch-black jungles; and relieving combat stress by fishing with hand grenades and taking secret joyrides in Hueys.

During that fateful year, as unrest erupted at home and politicians groped for a way out of the war, Tonsetic and his men did their job as soldiers and earned the title "Warriors."

Review Quotes

"He tells the story ...with crisp, clean, fast-moving prose, unromanticized and unsentimental, but not without affection for the men of Charlie Company." -Carl Schoettler, Baltimore Sun April 7, 2004.

"His straightforward, low-key account of horror, boredom, camaraderie, humor, heroism, the...turmoil...at home, and his own...discomfort at how it was being conducted, demonstrates...the experience of a typical rifle unit." -Bostonia, Spring 2004

Awarded the "Writer of Excellence Award for 2004" by the 199th Light Infantry Brigade Association

About the Author

Robert Tonsetic was born in Pennsylvania. He was commissioned as an infantry lieutenant out of the University of Pittsburgh in 1964. After a one-year tour with Special Forces in Thailand, he joined the 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam. Assigned to Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry, he served as company commander for six months during the Tet and May Offensives of 1968. He returned to Vietnam in 1970 and served as a senior advisor to Vietnamese Ranger and Airborne units. He retired from the army in 1991 with the rank of Colonel after twenty-seven years of service. After leaving the army, he earned a doctorate in education and taught for five years as an adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida. He lives with his wife Polly on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Warriors is his first book.