Vietnam revisited
Where We Were In Vietnam.

By Michael P. Kelley. Hellgate Press. 520pp. $90.

Reviewer: Pte John Wellfare

The Vietnam War has generated a great deal of interest over the years and served as the topic of many books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Few however, would come close to the breadth of coverage offered by Michael P. Kelley’s Where We Were in Vietnam.

As the title suggests, the book is a comprehensive geographic encyclopaedia of military installations, landing zones and reference points from the Vietnam War.

The immense research invested in this book is evident from the first of its many hundreds of pages. The author, himself a Vietnam veteran, has obviously worked very hard to include every piece of ground walked by soldiers during the war.

Where We Were in Vietnam is a weighty publication that aims to leave nothing out.

Those who are interested in this book should bear two things in mind.

First, Michael P. Kelley served in the US Army and while locations of Australian units are included, the primary focus of the book is the US military.

Second, Where We Were in Vietnam is a reference book of a very broad nature and those looking for a collection of war stories will be sorely disappointed.

This is a book for people who have read extensively on the Vietnam War and want to put their knowledge into a topographic context. It will prove invaluable to anyone requiring information on specific locations, or veterans wishing to better understand where they were in relation to other units and positions.

As a reference work, Where We Were in Vietnam is thorough and extensive but surprisingly easy to peruse for specific information.

It is not for the recreational reader, but is definitely an ideal point of reference for anyone who wishes to find out a specific fact about the conflict in Vietnam.

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