Published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, this new paperback edition brings back into print a book that became an essential source for a 2006 study of the battle by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History. It takes a critical look at what went wrong in early 1968 during one of the first engagements of Tet, when a U.S. infantry battalion was ordered to attack a large North Vietnamese force near Hue City without air or artillery support. The tragic military foul-up resulted in over 60 percent casualties for the 2d Battalion, 12th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, when the soldiers were surrounded by the enemy and began running out of ammunition. The bold decision by battalion commander Lt. Col. Richard Sweet to break out with his remaining soldiers under cover of darkness saved this encirclement from being a total disaster. Author Charles Krohn, the unit's intelligence officer at the time, provides a much-needed analysis of what took place and fills his account with details that have been confirmed as factual by other survivors. Krohn examines the battalion s involvement in two other major attacks for lessons learned when vital systems break down lessons, he says, that are timeless and applicable anywhere. This book is published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army.

Rev. ed. of: The lost battalion. Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 1993. Includes maps of: Corps Tactical Zones, Republic of Vietnam; I Corps Tactical Zone; Relief of C Company, 8 January 1968; TFP Battle Area; Detail of Attack and Perimeter at TFP, 3 February 1968; Captured NVA Map Showing Their Attack Plans for the City of Hue; Night Move, 4 February 1968.

Preface: The Battle of Hue: A Retrospective View and a Few Surprises --Chapter 1. America's Best -- Chapter 2. Cast of the Past -- Chapter 3. Curtain Raiser -- Chapter 4. Reasonable Worries -- Chapter 5. Operation Rawhide -- Chapter 6. Rehearsing the Gladiators -- Chapter 7. The Death Battalion -- Chapter 8. Sweet Takes Charge -- Chapter 9. Historical Moment -- Chapter 10. Hue's Burning -- Chapter 11. Getting the Word at Camp Evans -- Chapter 12. From Camp Evans to PK-17 -- Chapter 13. Dead in Our Tracks -- Chapter 14. Attack Now -- Chapter 15. Scudder, A Miracle Man -- Chapter 16. Cordite Stinks -- Chapter 17. Artillery Fiasco -- Chapter 18. Take a Break, Death Will Wait.