Gone Native: An NCO's Story
By (Author) Alan Cornett
Random House USA Inc
Ballantine Books Inc.
15th July 2000
United States
General
Non Fiction
959.7043092
304
Width 108mm, Height 170mm, Spine 20mm
176g
On his first combat assignment, Cornett accompanied the Vietnamese Rangers on a search-and-destroy mission near Khe Sang. There he gained entree into a culture that he would ultimately respect greatly and admire deeply. Cornett's most challenging military duty began when he joined the Phoenix Program. As part of AK squad, he dressed in enemy uniform and roamed the deadly Central Highlands, capturing high-ranking VC officers in hot firefights and ambushes. It was there, deep in enemy territory, where the smallest mistake meant sudden death, that the Vietnamese fighting men earned his utmost respect. While offering rare glimpses of an aspect of the war most of the military and media never saw, Cornett tells the full, gut-wrenching story of his Vietnam. He also gives an unsparing view of himself - telling a no-holds-barred story of an American soldier who made sacrifices far beyond the call of duty . . . a soldier who, in defiance of the U.S. government, refused to turn his back on the Vietnamese.
Alan G. Cornett is the son of a career army officer. A retired U.S. Army first sergeant, he spent six years in Vietnam, most of them in combat. He has been an alternate for the U.S. Olympic wrestling team, a championship parachutist, and had a bit part in the movie Tank.