The combat engineers of the First Marine Division, 9th Engineer Battalion, risked their lives daily in Vietnam as they cleared the roads of mines, repaired and paved the famous “Highway 1,” disarmed booby traps, built bridges and culverts, and destroyed enemy bunkers and tunnels. Despite their sacrifices and pain, the combat engineers in Vietnam have heretofore largely been ignored.
This is the first oral (or other) history of the 9th Engineers, the only Marine battalion formed specifically to go to Vietnam. More than 35 men of the 9th talk about why they joined the Marines and their experiences in basic training. They speak candidly and compellingly about their five years (1966 to 1970) in country. The soldiers also discuss what it was like to come home and get on with their lives.

Jean Shellenbarger, an accountant, lives in Ohio.

Jean Shellenbarger
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 239
Bibliographic Info: 59 photos, maps, bibliography, appendices, glossary, index
Copyright Date: 2007 [2000]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3110-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-1336-9
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction      1
List of Contributors      3

History of the Battalion      5
Formation of the Battalion      7
Why They Joined      9
Basic Training      13
Going Over      19

1966 May–July       27
1966 August–September       37
1966 October–December       45
1967 January–April       61
1967 May–August       75
1967 September–December       83
1968 January–April       91
1968 May–August       107
1968 September–December       119
1969 January–June       133
1969 July–December       143
1970 January–June       155

Homecomings       161
Yesterday and Today      171
Highway One to Heaven      185
Contributor Biographies      191

Appendix A: “Today I Went to Hear Dr. Graham”      215
Appendix B: Familygram      217
Appendix C: The Longest Bridge       219

Glossary      223
Bibliography      227
Index      229

“easy to read”—Military; “provides a poignant, intimate perspective into the experiences and feelings of the men who made up the battalion…a tremendous job…excerpts of interviews, letters to home, and diary entries are assembled into chapters that cover every phase of the battalion’s life, including formation of the battalion, basic training of the unit, embarkation and movement to Vietnam, and several-month blocks of time between 1966 and 1970”—Marine Corps Gazette.