Mark Bowden, 'Hue 1968' (with Bob Woodward)

Hue, the ancient capital of Vietnam, was the country’s third-largest city in 1968 when it became the center of the Tet Offensive. The North Vietnamese stormed Hue from hidden outposts, surprising and then overwhelming American and South Vietnamese forces. The fight lasted twenty-four days and the 10,000 killed there made it the bloodiest battle of the war. It also definitively turned the tide against the U.S. Bowden’s comprehensive account vividly captures each stage of the action from multiple viewpoints, and he combines meticulous reporting, including a look at the role of the media in revealing what was happening, with profiles, stories, and cinematic set pieces. The author of books including Black Hawk Down, Killing Pablo, and, most recently, The Three Battles of Wanat, Bowden is a feature writer for the Atlantic and Vanity Fair.

Bowden is in conversation with Bob Woodward, Washington Post associate editor.

Produced by Tom Warren

[BlackMarketLeadership]

Someone tell Bob Woodward that Mark Bowden is not interviewing him. I lost count on how many times he interrupts Bowden.

[simontan]

I wish more questions could have been directed towards Captain Christmas who served under Lt Colonel Ernie Cheatham about his commanding officer who is without a doubt one of the most significant characters in the book in realising that the Marines hadn't engaged in urban fighting since the Korean War. His decision to stop in Phu Bai and consult the Marine manuals lead to his multiple deployment of the 106 Recoilless Rifle, heavier World War II Bazookas (and not the standard issue LAW rocket) and the use of the M50 Ontos light tank with 6 mounted 106 recoilless rifles proved to be inspired as these old tried and trusted weapons were plentiful and would provide the firepower that the lightweight jungle issue was not providing against heavily fortified colonial architecture. Sadly Ernie Cheatham died before he could be interviewed by Mark Bowden for the book. It seems that Cheatham lead from the front in directing fire in the Triangle and all three of the Captains under his command Downs, Christmas and Meadows survived Hue and had long and distinguished careers in the military. I would have been interested to hear Christmas's views on Cheatham as a man and a soldier and also on changing combat tactics and using new weaponry on the fly which they had never been trained to use. Apart from in the introduction, Cheatham's command and tactics were never mentioned again in the discussion and their importance really stood out in light of the very heavy casualties suffered by the Marines attacking the Citadel following standard procedure that Chetham had discarded.

[blewis]

Bought the book about 2yrs ago and read it twice, Hue was largely a battle of misinformation and hubris on the American side, enthusiasm and despair for the North Vietnamese. The American command for more than a week into the battle refused to believe the reports from the ground about size and scale of the attack, the number of North Vietnamese troops and the determination of the NVA command and constantly sent inadequate forces to take back the city much to the consternation of the officers and men who were rather facing unbelievable odds, however the marines prevailed after (arguably)one of the bloodiest battles in the war…

[carriemitch]

I completely respect Bob Woodward, but I so wanted him to stop with the inane questions. Who cares how many days a week Bowden writes, or how many hours each day? I am twenty minutes into this and the subject of the book has hardly been discussed.

[nickhomyak]

Sgt Martin Kwesko was there USMC Ist Company in.. Former Force Recon First Marines

[garypiont]

If the cia, special forces did their job tet would not have started. Sad