The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966The first trade paperback edition of the New York Times best-seller about West Point's Class of 1966, by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Atkinson. This is the story of the twenty-five-year adventure of the generation of officers who fought in Vietnam. With novelistic detail, Atkinson tells the story of West Point's Class of 1966 primarily through the experiences of three classmates and the women they loved--from the boisterous cadet years and youthful romances to the fires of Vietnam, where dozens of their classmates died and hundreds more grew disillusioned, to the hard peace and family adjustments that followed. The rich cast of characters includes Douglas MacArthur, William Westmoreland, and a score of other memorable figures. The West Point Class of 1966 straddled a fault line in American history, and Rick Atkinson's masterly book speaks for a generation of American men and women about innocence, patriotism, and the price we pay for our dreams. |
Contents
Prologue | 1 |
PART I | 7 |
Beast | 9 |
Year of the Tiger | 42 |
Year of the Rabbit | 69 |
Year of the Dragon | 94 |
Year of the Horse | 121 |
PART II | 151 |
Farewell to Arms | 341 |
A Hard Peace | 365 |
Dishonor | 391 |
The Poplar Tree | 420 |
PART IV | 447 |
Walls | 449 |
Urgent Fury | 481 |
Firebase | 506 |
Other editions - View all
The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966 Rick Atkinson Limited preview - 1999 |
The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966 Rick Atkinson Limited preview - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
academy academy's Air Force American Army Army's arrived Art's artillery asked battalion battle Beast Barracks began Bill Bonifas Buck cadets called captain Carhart chapel chaplain classmates Colonel combat commander corps dead death door Doubek duty enemy father felt fight fire four George Crocker going graduate gray grenades Hall helicopter honor hundred infantry Jack Wheeler Jack's Jan Scruggs Jim Ford Jim Webb John killed knew Korean later lieutenant living Long Binh long gray line Marcia Matt memorial military months morning Mosley never night officers once paratroopers platoon plebe Pointers Ranger returned rifle Ross Perot Scruggs seemed soldiers South stood tactical Thayer thing thought told Tom's Tommy Tommy Hayes troops U.S. Army upperclassmen Viet Cong Vietnam Vonda VVMF walked wanted Washington weeks West Point Westmoreland William Westmoreland World War II wounded York young