They Fought Alone

[kragluver]

I finished reading the book yesterday. Fertig and his men really got a raw deal - almost no recognition for their actions. Fertig was never promoted above Col (he commanded the equivalent of a division). He did receive a DSC from MacArthur. One website stated that it may not have been so much that MacArthur was trying to minimize Fertig's actions, but more like back-biting by MacArthur's staff officers - one Courtney Willouby (sp??) in particular. Fertig did become somewhat of an icon for the Spec Warfare guys in the 1950s and 1960s. Frankly, you have to wonder if the VietCong didn't read this book in the early 1960s!