Death in the A Shau Valley

L Company LRRPs in Vietnam, 1969-70

Author  Larry Chambers
Death in the A Shau Valley

Featuring a new introduction by the author about his return to Vietnam, his reflections on the war, and his humanitarian work in Cambodia.

“The enemy had a single purpose: kill me and my teammates.”

Larry Chambers was still new to Vietnam in early 1969 when the LRRPs of the 101st Airborne Division became L Company, 75th (Rangers). But his unit’s mission stayed the same: act as the eyes and ears of the 101st deep in the dreaded A Shau Valley—where the NVA ruled.

Relentless thick fog frequently made fighter bombers useless in the A Shau, and the enemy had furnished the nearby mountaintops with antiaircraft machine guns to protect the massive trail network that snaked through it. So,…