On March 30, 1972, the Army of North Vietnam (NVA) invaded South Vietnam. The battle that had been in the making for years had finally begun. The enemy opened three major fronts. The first was in I Corps where he sent 30,000 troops streaming across the DMZ. The second was in III Corps where the enemy attacked out of his Cambodian sanctuaries and tried to capture the city of An Loc. The third was in II Corps where two NVA divisions tried to capture the provincial capital of Kontum.
The web site focuses on the Battle of Kontum as I experienced it. I launched the web site on March 30, 2002, the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam Easter Offensive (Spring Offensive) of 1972. After all these years, it is my hope that some of the insights gained during this period will be of use to others and may provide a better understanding of this battle. The web site on the Battle of Kontum is my effort to commemorate those few Americans who stayed and fought with the South Vietnamese, especially the aviators who did extraordinary things in a battle most Americans never heard of.
Since my web site on the Battle of Kontum was launched, we have had more than 1 million hits on the site. In addition, I have received thousands of e-mails from people from many places in the world who are interested in the battle and the web site. I thought it would be interesting to share with you some of the thoughts expressed in those e-mails and to include my reflections. The proceeds from this book will be used to support the continuation of "The Battle of Kontum" web site.
For these "Reflections From The Web," I have edited the e-mails so that the names of the authors have been deleted, and information that may have been too sensitive to include was also deleted. Many of the e-mails are long and often part of a series of communications with an individual. I edited these e-mails to shorten their length but tried to retain pertinent information and content. Some of these e-mails, especially those from foreignr-born people, have been edited for clarity and readability. I have not changed intent or substantive content.
My hope is that these "Reflections" may provide interesting insights to you about those who have been visiting the web site and will provide some insights from me as I have reflected on them. I have limited the number of e-mails to 38 and organized them so that each e-mail and reflection is in a separate section of the book.
Thank you for your support and continued interest in The Battle of Kontum -
Jack Heslin - The Scribe