Diary of an Airborne Ranger: A LRRP's Year in the Combat Zone

Frank Johnson

Apr 2001 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Don Leslie

About this audiobook

Perhaps the most accurate story of LRRPs at war
ever to appear in print!

When Frank Johnson arrived in Vietnam in 1969, he was nineteen, a young soldier untested in combat like thousands of others--but with two important differences: Johnson volunteered for the elite L Company Rangers of the 101st Airborne Division, a long range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) unit, and he kept a secret diary, a practice forbidden by the military to protect the security of LRRP operations.

Now, more than three decades later, those hastily written pages offer a rare look at the daily operations of one of the most courageous units that waged war in Vietnam. Johnson served in I Corps, in northern Vietnam, where combat was furious and the events he recounts emerge, stark and compelling: walking point in the A Shau Valley, braving enemy fire to rescue a downed comrade, surviving days and nights of relentless tension that suddenly exploded in the blinding fury of an NVA attack.

Undimmed and unmuddied by the passing of years, Johnson's account is unique in the annals of Vietnam literature. Moreover, it is a timeless testimony to the sacrifice and heroism of the LRRPs who dared to risk it all.

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About the author

Frank Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Army in July 1968. He served in Vietnam as a member of Company L (Ranger), 101st Airborne Division, where he was awarded the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device, the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service, the Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Upon his return from Vietnam in 1970, he served 10 months with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, NC. Since leaving active duty, he has served with 12th Special Forces Group (Abn.) U.S. Army Reserves; 4th Force Recon, USMC Reserves; 122nd Armor Brigade, Nevada National Guard, and is currently serving with the Nevada Air Guard. He has been a police officer with the Reno, Nevada Police Department for the past 20 years.