Danger Close!: A Vietnam Memoir

by Phil Gioia

Overview

Phil Gioia grew up an army brat during the decades after World War II. Drawn to the military, he attended the Virginia Military Institute, then was commissioned in the U.S. Army, where he completed Jump School and Ranger School. Not even a year after college graduation, he landed in Vietnam in early 1968—in the first weeks of the Tet offensive, which marked a major escalation of the war. Leading a platoon in the 82nd Airborne Division, Gioia took his paratroopers into the lifting of the siege of Hué—where death was always just around the corner—and the grisly discovery of mass graves of those executed by the Vietcong, during their occupation of the city. Wounded, he was sent home in April. Released from hospital, he commanded a paratroop company in the 82nd Airborne in 1968, returning to Vietnam with the hard-hitting First Air Cavalry Division a year later, this time leading a rucksack company of light infantry. Inserted into far-flung landing zones, Gioia and his men patrolled the jungles and rubber plantations along the Cambodian border, looking for a furtive enemy who preferred ambushes to set-piece battles and nighttime raids to daylight attacks.

Danger Close! recounts the Vietnam War from the unique boots-on-the-ground perspective of a young officer who served two tours in two different divisions. He tells his story thoughtfully, straightforwardly, and always vividly, from the raw emotions of unearthing massacred human beings to the terrors of fighting in the dark, with red and green tracers slicing the air. Hard to put down and hard to forget, Danger Close! will remind readers of the best Vietnam memoirs, like Guns Up! and Baptism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811771207
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/15/2022
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	1,051,947
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Phil Gioia served two combat tours in Vietnam between 1968 and 1970 and was awarded two Silver Stars, a Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, he went on to earn a master’s in foreign service from Georgetown and an MBA from Stanford. He has lectured at West Point and Annapolis, published articles in the Journal of Military History, World War II, and Armchair General, and appeared in History Channel programs and in Ken Burns’ Vietnam War documentary. He lives in Corte Madera, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction Flight to Phu Bai 1

1 Yokohama 8

2 Williamsburg 24

3 West Point 39

4 Italy 63

5 Alabama 79

6 New York, Fort Eustis 86

7 The Institute 90

8 First Day in the Army 111

9 Jump School 120

10 Tower Week 128

11 Jump Week 131

12 Ranger 137

13 Mountains 161

14 Swamps 172

15 "Prop Blasted" 188

16 Hunting Generals 193

17 "Light at the End of the Tunnel" 200

18 "Hold Your Unit in Readiness" 202

19 "This is No Exercise" 207

20 The Tet Offensive 215

21 82nd Airborne 233

22 1st Air Cavalry Division 250

Afterword 321

Coda 325

About the Author 335

Editorial Reviews

Phil Gioia offers a fascinating personal remembrance of the U.S. military over three decades of its radical transformation—as a son of a career soldier, a young civilian, a US Army ranger and paratrooper, and a decorated combat veteran officer in Vietnam. His memoir offers an invaluable corrective to popular caricatures of the Cold-War and the Vietnam-era army, which, he reminds us, was professional, humanitarian, and—lethal. 'stensibly a memoir of Vietnam, Goia’s autobiography also serves as a reminder of what made—and makes—America such an exceptional nation.

Victor Davis Hanson

Nearly three million Americans served in the Vietnam War. Each had his or her own take on what happened and why and many have tried to commit their war to paper. Phil Gioia has helped our understanding by detailing his days in-country and his informed perspectives in the midst of a fascinating, candid and brave memoir of a life of service. Bravo.

Ken Burns

Gioia is a natural-born writer and storyteller. Danger Close is the memoir of a true American hero, full of action, pathos, the profound sadness of war, and the ultimate will of the American soldier. His story is moving, complex, humorous, and, above all, compelling.

Brian Sobel

Phil Gioia has written a splendid account of his life and times, from growing up as an army brat to military school to the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Excellent storytelling, that kept me riveted to the pages from start to finish.

Joseph L. Galloway

At a time when Americans are better connected to one another than ever electronically, but more distant from one another emotionally and psychologically, Phil Gioia gives us a story about a living community committed to service and to one another. Danger Close! is a compelling and elegantly written memoir.

H. R. McMaster

This book is a fascinating account, and most readers will find it hard to put down.”

Army Magazine

Phil Gioia is that singular individual: a distinguished and highly decorated soldier who is also a celebrated military historian. He has not only lived some of the most notable events of the last fifty years—from JFK’s funeral to the war in Vietnam to Silicon Valley and the Digital Age—but he writes about them with enormous skill. With this book you are in the hands of a master, and the result will open your eyes about America’s recent history, in peace and in war.

Mike Malone

This book is a fascinating account, and most readers will find it hard to put down.”-Army Magazine

From the Publisher

05/06/2022

Gioia begins his memoir of the Vietnam War with memories of growing up an army brat in the years after World War II. After a childhood spent on military bases around the world, he attended the Virginia Military Institute. After graduation he was commissioned in the U.S. Army and completed Jump School and Ranger School. He landed in Vietnam in early 1968 and led a platoon in the 82nd Airborne Division into the siege of Hué and then led light infantry from the First Air Cavalry Division through the rubber plantations near the Cambodian border. Like Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War and Johnnie Clark's Guns Up!, Gioia's memoir provides a raw account of the war from training exercises to the pitch black nights of patrols in the middle of a war zone. Gioia provides a first-hand account of his time as a soldier, but he also explains the decision-making process of military leaders to give context to his experience. An epilogue recounts the effects of this war on the U.S. military. VERDICT This Vietnam War memoir balances a first-hand account of the horrors of war with a historical perspective on the military leadership of the time.—John Rodzvilla

Library Journal