The true story of the U.S. Army's 240th Assault Helicopter Company and
a Green Beret Staff Sergeant's heroic mission to rescue a Special Forces
team trapped behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War, from New York
Times bestselling author Eric Blehm.
On May 2, 1968, a twelve-man Special Forces team covertly infiltrated a
small clearing in the jungles of neutral Cambodia--where U.S. forces
were forbidden to operate. Their objective, just miles over the Vietnam
border, was to collect evidence that proved the North Vietnamese Army
was using the Cambodian sanctuary as a major conduit for supplying
troops and materiel to the south via the Ho Chi Minh Trail. What the
team didn't know was that they had infiltrated a section of jungle that
concealed a major enemy base. Soon they found themselves surrounded by
hundreds of NVA, under attack, low on ammunition, stacking the bodies of
the dead as cover in a desperate attempt to survive the onslaught.
When Special Forces Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez heard their distress
call, he jumped aboard the next helicopter bound for the combat zone.
What followed would become legend in the Special Operations community.
Flown into the foray of battle by the 240th Assault Helicopter Company,
Benavidez jumped from the hovering aircraft, ran nearly 100 yards
through withering enemy fire, and--despite being immediately and
severely wounded--organized an extraordinary defense and rescue of the
Special Forces team.
Written with extensive access to family members, surviving members of
the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, on-the-ground eye-witness accounts
never before published, as well as recently discovered archival, and
declassified military records, Blehm has created a riveting narrative
both of Roy Benavidez's life and career, and of the inspiring, almost
unbelievable events that defined the brotherhood of the air and ground
warriors in an unpopular war halfway around the world. Legend recounts
the courage and commitment of those who fought in Vietnam in service of
their country, and the story of one of the many unsung heroes of the
war.
