The previously unpublished second volume of Nick Brokhausen's vivid
and riveting memoir of his experiences in MACV-SOG in Vietnam.
**"This battle-scarred memoir is an excellent tribute to the generation
that fought, laughed, and died in Southeast Asia." -New York Journal of
Books
Whispers in the Tall Grass* is the second volume of Nick Brokhausen's
riveting memoir of his time serving in Recon Teams Habu and Crusader,
CNN, part of MACV-SOG. These small recon teams, comprising Americans and
indigenous Montagnards, conducted some of the most dangerous missions of
the war, infiltrating areas controlled by the North Vietnamese in Laos,
Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Picking up where We Few left off, Whispers in the Tall Grass opens
as the war moves into a new phase. The enemy are using special
formations to hunt recon teams and missions are now rarely accomplished
without heavy contact. Despite the teams' careful prep, losses are
mounting. More and more missions are extracted by Bright Lights until
eventually classic recon missions are almost impossible, and the teams
briefly trial HALO insertion. Finally, as the US prepares to withdraw,
the teams undertake back-to-back missions directing air strikes and
disrupting supply lines to ease the pressure on the ARVN. Broken by the
pace, but desperate not to leave the Yards, Brokhausen is ordered to
out-process, his request for extension denied, and is forced to leave
his friends--his brothers--behind.
Written in the same vivid, immediate style that made We Few a cult
classic, Whispers in the Tall Grass follows Habu, Crusader and other
teams as they undertake missions in this new, deadlier phase of the war.
The narrative veers from hair-raising to tragic and back as the teams
insert into hot targets, act as Bright Light for stricken teams, and
play hard in between missions to diffuse the ever-rising tension.
Brokhausen's account brings home the reality and the detail of operating
for days within mere meters of the enemy, and movingly convey the bonds
that war creates between soldiers.
