Blood on the Risers: A novel of conflict and survival in special forces during the Vietnam War
Blood on the Risers: A novel of conflict and survival in special forces during the Vietnam War book cover

Blood on the Risers: A novel of conflict and survival in special forces during the Vietnam War

Paperback – Illustrated, February 25, 2015

by
Price
$26.95
Format
Paperback
Pages
508
Publisher
AuthorHouse
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1491813812
Dimensions
6 x 1.15 x 9 inches
Weight
1.46 pounds

Description

If you weren't there...the Vietnam War...this read will certainly take you there.xa0 As a 21 year old Green Beret Officer and commander of an 'A' Camp in the Plain of Reeds on the Cambodian border, Mike Shannahan's experiences as a patriotic teenager longing to serve his country, gradually transitions into the painful awareness that he will encounter three enemies; his innocence, the brutal communists, and his own countrymen who have sided with the enemy.xa0-SSG Brendan Lyons, IV Corps Mike Force, MACV SOG Recon, 1970-71-CCS&CCC/TF2AE."Mike O'Shea captures the adrenalin pumping essence of a recon team being chased by the NVA regulars, and gives full thought to the deadly game in SOG-Give no quarter; receive no quarter.The only thing that is missing is that sour smell of sweat."xa0 SSG Gene H.xa0Pugh (Ret.) One-One RT Asp, MACV SOG - CCN 1968-1969.With dialogue that keeps the pages turning, Michael O'Shea transports us directly back to the real American experience in Vietnam.xa0 It's been nearly fifty years since the US inserted troops into jungles and villages more than 8,000 miles away. Stories such as Blood on the Risers are important and necessary for today's readers and future generations; veterans like O'Shea are prized for sharing them. Chris Henning - Clarion Review Blood On the Risers is semi-autobiographical and saturated in O'Shea's combat experiences. Like actual war itself - to say nothing of the combat that was the Vietnam meat grinder - O'Shea's book is not for those prone to swoon easily away and suffer the vapors. Its portrayal of life at war is totally uncompromising. It is also factual.xa0 If you want a frank picture of life in a war zone, however, his book is a page turner. You might find yourself wanting to look away - and find yourself not able. Jeff Clarke - Tacoma Northwest Airlifter From the Inside Flap " At 21 years of age, Michael O ' Shea was the youngest Captain to command a Special Forces A-Team in Vietnam.xa0 His first assignment set the tone for what would prove to be a deadly tour of duty. Colonel " Iron Mike " Healy sends O ' Shea down to an isolated location near the Cambodian border region of Southern Vietnam.xa0 He ' s met with a failed command structure, corrupt Vietnamese Special Forces counterparts, and renegade Vietnamese troops who would rather run than fight.xa0 He quickly learns how to work through and around the system, relying on the experience of his senior NCOs to whip the camp back into fighting shape.xa0 Captain O ' Shea converted a potential disaster into a solid operation.xa0 W ithxa0their natural intuition of finding and killing the enemy, his menxa0terrorized and eliminated Vietcong ' s supply routes. The young Captain assembled a cadre of trusted and capable Cambodian assassins and ventured into the thick, steamy swampland to set up night ambushes along the infiltration routes; a tactic that soon provided the camp with the highest kill ratio from the end of the Ho Chi Minh trail to Saigon.xa0 A soldier was once quoted as saying, ' You don ' t become a Special Forces soldier ... you ' re born one ' . " Major George W. Petrie, Jr., U.S. Army Special Forces, (Ret)xa0- Distinguished Member of the Regiment.xa0 Assault team leader, Blue Boy 3, Son Tay Prison Raid. Don't forget to wear some flowers in your hair as you ditty-bop and sashay back through the purple haze during the Age of Aquarius in the 1960's.xa0 Tag along with the author as he endures years of rigorous training, then ride into battle with him as he tightly clutches on to the remnants of his soul. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • This artfully crafted saga depicts in vivid detail, the arduous journey of a young, impressionable patriot yearning to fulfill his destiny in the turmoil of the 1960's. The author draws you close to him as he encounters stiff challenges to his basic values, his character, as well as his faith in his fellow man. You'll taste the bitter prop blast as you stand in the open door beside him, holding your breath while he soars through the icy sky to the mountainous drop zone below. Discover the true nature of this Nation's most valiant fighting men as he progressively learns what it takes to lead Green Berets into battle. Share the distinct smell of death while he clutches on to the remnants of his tattered soul, constantly violated while he processes the tragedy of life unfolding before him. Witness the sheer resolve he and his men display in their commitment to their country, despite the disrespect and utter contempt shown to them by their own countrymen. This factual rendering allows you to eavesdrop on the innermost workings of a Special Forces A-Team as they train and ultimately prepare for battle. You'll be sprinting with a SOG Recon Team as they desperately work to elude the hordes of NVA soldiers, feeling the impact of explosions and the crackling of rifle fire along the way. This read will provide you with a renewed appreciation of what men endure when they make the commitment to defend their country and their way of life; despite the intimate danger and life-long consequences that accompany that decision.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(99)
★★★★
25%
(83)
★★★
15%
(50)
★★
7%
(23)
★
23%
(75)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

A tactical fighter, A humanitarian, An appreciation of Honor, Duty and Country

Mike pulls you in with his home area of operation, Kingsville, Texas home of the King Ranch, Texas A&I Javelinas, and the ROTC King's Rifles, a renown rifle drill team he belonged to in his first semester of college before he enlisted in the Army. Mike takes you through the almost lost art of identifying leaders from the enlisted mans ranks and sending them to officer candidate school.

He outlines the true objectives of his A-Team in Tau Cu near the Cambodian Border and answers all of the questions I ever had as I was his college friend when he returned home from Viet Nam. He keeps you riveted to the book. My head and body aching from some evenings as I fought every battle with him reading his book. We had vets come home and believe me they were not treated well or received well which is a crying shame.

Mike never talked about the war while at College. Reading this book shows you how much he knew we could not handle it. Mike describes war as liberating the oppressed and challenges each of us to really think about it. The type of guys he and his buddies were, are primarily of how noble some of us were raised. Ever prideful when we won and dejected when we lost.

I am 60 years old and have never read a personal novel or biography of a Viet Nam veteran. A Novel is a small word, I likened this to the way Mike O'Shea lived while being the youngest commander ever. Very little of this is fiction, I assure you. Mark, Jim, and Mike are as real as the day is long and their story is so near the truth, I do not know why Mike called it a Novel. Don't Google it, Read it like the man or woman you are, I challenge you to the truth.
14 people found this helpful
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A real special forces story

This is an amazing story of courage, honor, sacrifice, and coming of age. Michael Shanahan, an apparently somewhat academically underachieving south texas high school senior in the mid 1960's, is yet a highly capable young man who finds himself at odds with his stern, disciplinarian father, himself a decorated naval aviator, World War Two hero, and commander of a naval training facility in south Texas. Mike's close friendship with the rowdy, hell-raising, and less than patriotic Jim Nathan is but one source of his father's disapproval; and, the young man's conflicted feelings about his relationship with his father, his resentment of the naval aviator trainees under his father's command, his chagrin at failing to gain admittance to the U.S. Naval Academy (another source of disappointment for his father), and his own intense idealism, fervent patriotism, and deep concern for his fellow countrymen fighting in Vietnam, all combine to compel him to enlist in the army at the age of 18, with the goal of becoming a paratrooper. That his friend Jim has no intention of even submitting to the military draft only adds to Mike's angst.

Mike's intelligence and capability earn him recognition at each stage of the process of military training, and he advances quickly through basic and airborne training, and officer candidate school, eventually being placed in the elite Green Beret special forces. Along the way his own and his fellow trainee's dedication and sense of humor in the face of their harsh training is revealed in the author's taut, expressive prose. The description of his wry, stoic acceptance of the moderately sadistic hazing by the members of the company of Green Berets (in which he is installed as a newly minted second lieutenant and executive officer), all of them combat veterans, is particularly good. And although outwardly stoic, Mike struggles to reconcile his immature expectations of life in the special forces with the reality of the men and circumstances that he encounters.

Mike, at the age of 21, is placed in command of a Special Forces A Team camp near the Vietnam-Cambodia border, with the assignment of disrupting North Vietnamese Army supply routes and killing the maximum number of NVA and Viet Cong. He succeeds spectacularly despite corrupt and treacherous South Vietnamese army allies, and an inept Naval lieutenant who commands the naval personnel at the camp.

The action sequences will keep you reading until well after your bed time, and the descriptions of heroism and Mike's inner struggle to deal with the deaths of his friends and fellow warriors in the face of the non-committal U.S. military strategy, driven by perverse political imperatives, will inspire your outrage at the needless sacrifice of so many patriotic and honorable people.

I highly recommend this book.
2 people found this helpful
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the sad part is that we may never again have the ...

This story was a bittersweet reminder of a time in our country's history when there were moral convictions about resisting the spread of Communism in an area that needed help from our strong U.S. military; the sad part is that we may never again have the same caliber of dedicated soldiers as are portrayed in this novel. This book was definitely filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly !
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

the sad part is that we may never again have the ...

This story was a bittersweet reminder of a time in our country's history when there were moral convictions about resisting the spread of Communism in an area that needed help from our strong U.S. military; the sad part is that we may never again have the same caliber of dedicated soldiers as are portrayed in this novel. This book was definitely filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly !
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Five Stars

This book was Amazing!!!
✓ Verified Purchase

Terriffic Book

Great book that told it like it was, taken it from many who know first hand, good personal story told by a true hero
Bob Amrhein
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Blood on the Risers (get it now)

A book looking at some of the outstanding dedication and devotion America's young men display when they are placed in a war situation. We "train" them on some of the techniques they will need to use but most of the actual training begins when they arrive at the battlefront to face the enemy. The true growth of their abilities begins when they understand the realities of war and how they are to persevere over all. This book is a vivid account of the author's (Michael O'Shea) growth and understanding of the situation he has chosen/been placed into and how he can be "successful." The book also highlights the situation back in America during the Vietnam war and the questionable leadership and support given our troops which we put in harm's way. A book you will read from cover-to-cover in a hurry because feeling like you are beside MIke and pulling for him to succeed in spite of the obstacles. PIck-up and read this book, you will not be disappointed.

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