THE END OF THE ROPE: The Ripcord Campaign and American Disengagement in Vietnam

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Based on over 100 interviews with veterans, this is the first complete critical account and analysis of the last American offensive effort in Vietnam, the failed Firebase Ripcord campaign in 1970. Elements of the 101st Airborne Division tried to go back to the area where the Hamburger Hill battles had been fought the year before, but they never made it due to a combination of enemy resistance, lack of resources owing to a reduction in force under Vietnamization, and serious command problems. Details how the Vietnamese built up their forces to isolate the American base, and combined with the system of rotating officers in and out command, the Americans were forced to withdraw. Contains 4 maps and 25 photos.