"In 1968 in South Vietnam, a U.S. infantry battalion was ordered to charge a fortified North Vietnamese Army force 200 yards away over an open field with no artillery or air support? By the time they reached the tree line at the other side of the open field, nearly one half of the 400-man battalion was a casualty. Nine ... hours afterwards, U.S. artillery units began support fire, although the units remained desperately short of ammunition. The entrapped men saw their fate: death or captivity. Help from headquarters was neither offered nor available. The following night the battalion commander decided to make a run for it. It was a gamble with high stakes. But the battalion did make it though enemy lines to a mountaintop where the NVA could not follow. When the Lost Battalion finally escaped encirclement, after nine hours with no artillery or air support, and 30 hours of fighting against an enemy that outnumbered them three to one, the tragic episode disappeared from official memory and relevant Army records -- as if nothing had happened. Krohn tells the whole story -- and tells it with the words of those present. That some of the testimony comes from those responsible is remarkable"--Jacket.

Includes maps of: Corps Tactical Zones, Republic of Vietnam; I Corps Tactical Zone; Relief of B 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.

America's best -- Cast of the past -- Curtain raiser -- Reasonable worries -- Operation Rawhide -- Rehearsing the gladiators -- The death battalion -- Sweet takes charge -- Historical moment -- Hue's burning -- Getting the word at Camp Evans -- From Camp Evans to PK-17 -- Dead in our tracks -- Attack now -- Scudder, a miracle man -- Cordite stinks -- Artillery fiasco -- Take a break, death will wait -- Day two : Hell's last circle -- Saving the living, leaving the dead -- Leaving TFP : our only hope -- Hugging Jeff -- Helvey's Raiders -- TFP -- Heroes not forgotten -- After the final battle is over -- Forgotten favor repaid -- View from the other side -- Who won? Who lost? -- We'll never know -- Ambiguous facts -- Tet, meet desert storm -- Pascagoula flashback.