A hundred miles of bad road - An Armored Cavalryman in Vietnam 1967-68

Jul 30, 2026

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A hundred miles of bad road - An Armored Cavalryman in Vietnam 1967-68 traces Dwight W. Birdwell’s coming-of-age amid the Vietnam War from inside an M48 Patton tank. Serving on the highway between Saigon and Tay Ninh, Birdwell and his unit secure the main supply route, facing guerrilla harassment and the constant threat of sudden attack. After the Tet Offensive, Birdwell’s actions during January 31, 1968 earn him the Silver Star and Purple Heart, reshaping both his unit’s mission and the story’s arc across the war’s turning points.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages264

Reading Time6 h 47 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Part One: Chasing Shadows

Part Two: Interlude

Part Three: Tet

Part Four: Hoc Mon

Part Five: Around and Around

Part Six: The End of the Road

Part Seven: Rotting in the Rear

Epilogue

Appendix

Glossary

D AN ARMOREDCAVALRYNANIN VIETNAM 1967-68 DwightWBirdwell eith Wiiam Nolan # AN A RMORED CAVALRYMAN IN VIETNAM,1967-68 Dwight W.Birdwell andKeith William Nolan “...Tanks were big-ass targets,and going up and downthe highway was like being in a shooting gallery....Serv-ing on a tank was like being on death row,certain thatyour time was coming,but not knowing when.Every dayI thought,is this going to be the day....” Dwight Birdwell's coming of age took place,as it did for manyyoung men of the sixties,in Vietnam.There he fought the warfrom the command cupola of an M48 Patton tank,an experi-ence far removed from the stereotypical grunt in the rice pad-dies.The M48 was fifty-two tons of hell on wheels,equippedwith a.50-caliber machine gun and a 90mm main gun,andBirdwell's hard-charging unit was responsible for securing themain supply route between Saigon and Tay Ninh. After extensive interviews with Birdwell,acclaimed VietnamWar historian Keith William Nolan transports the reader to theconfident days of 1967 when Dwight Birdwell,then nineteenyears old and raring for a fight,was first assigned to Troop C3d Squadron,4th Cavalry(25th Division)—a time when therereally seemed to be a light shining at the end of the tunnel. Morale was high,Charlie Troop owned the day,and wassteadily taking the night away from the Viet Cong,who wereonly able to launch small and infrequent guerrilla attacks. Then came the Tet Offensive and everything changed.Bird-well won the Silver Star and Purple Heart on January31,1968,when the tanks and armored personnel carriers of C/3/4th Cavsmashed headlong into the communist regiment that had bro-ken through the wire at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Tet was an allied victory.The decimated Viet Cong.rein-forced by North Vietnamese Army regulars,refused to admit continued on back flap # / WITHDRAWNFROMBURLINGAMŁ rUDLC LBRARY # A HIUNDRED MILES OF BAD ROAD Other Books by Keith William Nolan The Battle for SaigonSappers in the WireThe Magnificent BastardsOperation BuffaloInto CambodiaDeath ValleyInto LaosBattle for Hue # A HiUNDRED MILESOF BAD ROAD An Armored Cavalryman inVietnam,1967-68 Dwight W.BirdwellKeith William Nolan PRESIDIO 2k To all who served and their families Copyright ◎1997 by Dwight W.Birdwell and Keith William Nolan Published by Presidio Press505 B San Marin Drive,Suite 300Novato,CA 94945-1340 All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced or utilizedin any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical,including pho-tocopying,recording,or by any information storage and retrieval sys-tems,without permission in writing from the publisher.Inquiriesshould be addressed to Presidio Press,505 B San Marin Drive,Suite300,Novato,CA 94945-1340. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Birdwell,Dwight W. A hundred miles of bad road:an armored cavalryman inVietnam,1967-68/Dwight W.Birdwell and Keith WilliamNolan. p. cm.ISBN 0-89141-628-5(hardcover) 1.Vietnamese Conflict,1961-1975—Personal narratives, American.2.Vietnamese Conflict,1961-1975—Tank warfare. 3.Birdwell,Dwight W.I.Nolan,Keith William,1964- .II.Title.DS559.5.B5 1997959.704'342'092—dc2197-11000 CIP C1 CONTENTS AcknowledgmentsIntroduction ,这 1 Part One:Chasing Shadows (September 1967-January 1968)Part Two:Interlude(January 1968)Part Three:Tet(January 31,1968)Part Four:Hoc Mon71(February 1968) 35 Part Five:Around and Around93(February-July 1968) Part Six:The End of the Road153 (July-August 1968) Part Seven:Rotting in the Rear169(August-December 1968) Epilogue 192 211 Appendix Glossary 215 Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2017 with funding fromChina-America Digital Academic Library (CADAL) https://archive.org/details/hundredmilesofba00bird

FAQs

What vehicle and role define Dwight W. Birdwell’s experience?

Birdwell serves from the command cupola of an M48 Patton tank and his unit works to secure the main supply route between Saigon and Tay Ninh.

How did the Tet Offensive change Birdwell’s situation?

The Tet Offensive brought a major shift, culminating in January 31, 1968 actions where tanks and armored vehicles smashed into a communist regiment at Tan Son Nhut Air Base.

What recognition did Birdwell receive for his actions in 1968?

Birdwell was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart for actions during the Tet Offensive on January 31, 1968.

Jul 30, 2026

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