The Village by Bing West - Book Report/Review Example

In the village, the South Vietnamese farmers planted rice during the day and after dusk patrolled with the Marines..at the height of the Vietnam War a dozen U.S. Marines did live in the village and were generally accepted by 6,000 Vietnamese farmers." Even though West was a member of the squad he is not a part of the story. He only describes in detail the lives of the Marines as well as the village people. The Marines had built a fortified patrol in the village. This base also served as a local government for the village.

The Marines and the Popular Force men patrolled together in order to secure the town. Some of the details are quite tragic in nature as some characters had to give up their lives protecting the village from the Viet Cong. Seven of the Marines and a few Popular Force men are killed during the operation. This book is a classic study of how small unit anti-guerrillas worked in Vietnam. Anyone interested in learning the challenges that security poses in places like Iraq and Afghanistan will find the book interesting.

Since West was present there to study the process in 1966 he is able to give us vivid details about the activities. He writes about “what war is like when you fight guerrillas, and of how Americans behaved when they volunteered to fight among the people. It was a bloody and intensely personal war." (Bing West) This book is a useful study on how security can be established through small-units and intense local efforts and how a network of personal relationships can be useful. Many commanders have recommended this book to their men before sending them out on missions.

Bing West is a highly gifted writer adept at giving vivid descriptions. His description of a marine with a fifty-caliber machine gun: "The drunken soldier was set now, having leaned his body over the rear of the gun and swung the heavy barrel upward. It wavered around the fort and then slowly swung out toward the paddies, like a compass needle coming to rest. Then came the solid, belting jackhammer sound of the weapon firing and the thick incendiary slugs, big as cigars, burned out over the paddies", proves this.

He also knows what he is writing about as he visited the village often and led some of the patrols. The book is mainly on interviews and hence quite accurate. In conclusion, it can be said that this book tells us how the US must avoid making mistakes that were made in Vietnam like corruption in US AID agency, poor local governance, and alliances for ulterior motives. However, he does not imply that mistakes were made but simply describes what happened and leaves it to the readers to form their opinions.

He also does not politicize the Vietnam War. His aim is to remember the Marines who lived and died protecting the Vietnamese village.