They Marched Into Sunlight

They Marched Into Sunlight : War and Peace Vietnam and America October 1967 by David Maraniss

Connections are what captivate me , the connection between history and our individual lives , the accidents , intentions and incidents that rip people apart and then bring them back together ' writes David Maraniss

Maraniss beautifully linked the seemingly two unrelated events of October 16 and 17 , 1967 . The events took place far apart on opposite sides of the globe : an ambush of a US battalion near North Saigon and an anti war protest in the Madison . It divided the

nation right across and ripped apart the people both physically and emotionally

Despite the deployment of 500 ,000 US troops , the war efforts were dragging into a stalemate . For once the victor of World War II was in danger of loosing its face among the world community . The causalities were increasing in the battlefield and so were the anti-war protest back home which was getting boisterous by the day

Maraniss connected both the incidents and shows us how human beings frightened , disoriented and fatigued can sometimes take right decision and sometimes wrong . Even when they take a right decision , the results can be fatal . The title `They Marched Into Sunlight ' tries to encapsulate the feeling on all the sides of the incidents and how over confidence and utter necessity blinds their vision of things . The American army boosted by its heroic role in World War II believed that it Viet cong will not able to stand up to its superior military prowess The Vietnamese on the other side were fighting the battle of their survival and loosing the battle was not an option . The students at the Madison square believed in the American right to protest and were taken by surprise when the assault began

Black Lions Battalion Ambush

Desperate to get results on field the Black Lions , a battalion of the Army 's 1st Army Division was ed to do an improbable task of moving ahead with half its strength . Half of the battalion was suffering from various disease and injuries but instead to reinforce they were asked to move ahead and cut the supply chain of the Viet-Cong . At this moment they encountered a heavily armed and experienced North Vietnamese battalion

The Viet-Cong soldiers took the Black Lions by surprise and no amount of firing and maneuvering could overcome the edge gained through surprise experience and numbers . The battle left 58 of the American soldiers were killed and another 61 were seriously injured . Summing up the feeling of the moment Doc Hinger , a Medic said that So many of his fellow soldiers are dead that he felt like killing himself . It left many in the battalion with a hollowness that was never to be filled in the life Lt Col who was son of illustrious World War II General and leading the battalion lost his life

As Maraniss pointed out that later the American military propaganda manipulated the facts to make the horrible catastrophe appear...