The Military Shelf

Sign Here for Sacrifice
Ian Gardner
Osprey Publishing
4301 21st St, Suite 220B, Long Island City, NY 11101
www.ospreypublishing.com
9781472849427, $30.00, HC, 304pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sign-Here-Sacrifice-Battalion-Airborne/dp/1472849426

Synopsis: "Sign Here for Sacrifice: The Untold Story of the Third Battalion=
, 506th Airborne, Vietnam 1968" draws on interviews with veterans, many of = whom have never gone on the record before. Author Ian Gardner follows up hi=
s epic trilogy about the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II = with the story of the unit's reactivation at the height of the Vietnam War.=
This is the dramatic history of a band of brothers who served together in = Vietnam and who against the odds lived up to the reputation of their World = War II forefathers.

Brigadier General Salve Matheson's idea was to create an 800-strong battali=
on of airborne volunteers in the same legendary "Currahee" spirit that had = defined the volunteers of 1942. The man he chose to lead them was John Gera= ci, who would mold this young brotherhood into a highly cohesive and motiva= ted force.

In December 1967, the battalion was sent into the Central Highlands of Lam = Dong Province. Geraci and his men began their Search and Destroy patrols, w= hich coincided with the North Vietnamese build-up to the Tet Offensive and = was a brutal introduction to the reality of a dirty, bloody war. Gardner re= veals how it was here that the tenacious volunteers made their mark, just l= ike their predecessors had done in Normandy, and the battalion was ultimate=
ly awarded a Valorous Unit Citation. "Sign Her for Sacrifice" shows how and=
why this unit was deserving of that award, recounting their daily sanguina=
ry struggle in the face of a hostile environment and a determined enemy.

Through countless interviews and rare personal photographs, "Sign Here for = Sacrifice" is a story of battlefield action, leadership, humor and bravery =
as displayed by these airborne warriors.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a two=
page Bibliography and an eight page Index, "Sign Here for Sacrifice: The U= ntold Story of the Third Battalion, 506th Airborne, Vietnam 1968" is a welc= ome contribution to personal, professional, community, and academic library=
Vietnam War History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.=
Exceptionally informative, well written, organized and presented, "Sign He=
re for Sacrifice" is also available for students, academia, military histor=
y buffs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject=
in a digital book format (Kindle, $20.49).

Editorial Note: Ian Gardner (https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/507891.I= an_Gardner) served for five years in Support Company, 10th Battalion, The P= arachute Regiment. After a visit to Normandy in 2000 he decided to focus on=
the 3rd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which led to t=
he critically acclaimed trilogy Tonight We Die As Men, Deliver Us From Dark= ness and No Victory in Valhalla. He is also the author of Airborne: The Com= bat Biography of Ed Shames of Easy Company.

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