Reluctant Warrior

A Marine's True Story of Duty and Heroism in Vietnam

By: Michael C. Hodgins

Narrated by: John McLain

By the spring of 1970, American troops were ordered to pull out of Vietnam. The Marines of First Reconnaissance Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel "Wild Bill" Drumright, were assigned to cover the withdrawal of First Marine Division. The Marines of First RECON Bn operated in teams of six or seven men. Heavily armed, the teams fought a multitude of bitter engagements with a numerically superior and increasingly aggressive enemy.

Michael C. Hodgins served in Company C, First RECON Bn (Rein), as a platoon leader. In powerful, graphic prose, he chronicles his experience as a patrol leader in myriad combat situations-from hasty ambush to emergency extraction to prisoner snatch to combined-arms ambush....

©1996 Michael C. Hodgins (P)2018 Tantor

Very well written

I really liked how the author described everything in a way that made you feel like you were right there with him. One of the best books I’ve listened to.

One of my favorites

This story is not flashy. It's not overly heroic or gripping even. What it is, or what it feels like I should say, is very honest and real. This is definitely one of my favorite accounts of the war.

Insightful layout of myriad of diverse skillsets needed to be even the most junior of Army Infantry Officers.

This book gives the listener a truly in-depth understanding of all the pre-mission planning and contingency procedures that are required to execute even the shortest of small unit recon missions. But it’s not a dry government issue field manual either. In compelling narrative form it provides the listener the heart-pounding real-world mission sets performed on the battlefield in a time of war; the fluidity and contingency flex that must be brought to bare when the enemy combatants have a vote too!

Captivating story

I have read a lot of military stories… This is one of the best excellent narration

The Attention to Detail… throughout the Story being told

This was a very good book worth a listen. It’s included with audible streaming, so you can save your credits, and it’s an excellent account by a marine officer 1970 circa ….during the Vietnam war.