Strap Hanger A Memoir of a Special Forces Soldier eBook Don Valentine
Download As PDF : Strap Hanger A Memoir of a Special Forces Soldier eBook Don Valentine 
This eBook, Strap Hanger A Memoir of a Special Forces Soldier, is the memoir of Don Valentine. It covers the twenty-one years Don spent in the US Army, including six years in Airborne infantry rifle companies, ten years in special forces and five years in military intelligence. His story covers four combat tours, three in Vietnam and one in Laos and stretches from the old “brown boot” army to the new all volunteer army. The story is told in the manner you would hear it if you were sitting with the author having a cup of coffee or a cold beer and chatting about the “good” old days.
This memoir covers the following assignments
Basic Combat Training | E Co. 325th AIR, 82d Airborne Division | K Co. 511th AIR, 11th Airborne Division | B Co. 505th AIR, 82d Airborne Division | E Company, 325th, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., October 1960 | Training Co., 7th Special Forces Group Ft. Bragg, NC | A Company, 5th Special Forces Group [Sept - Dec 1961] | 1st Special Forces Group, Okinawa | B Co. 5th Special Forces Group, Ft. Bragg, NC | A Co. 3rd Special Forces Group, Ft. Bragg, NC | D Co., 1st Special Forces Group, Ft. Bragg, NC | 46th Special Forces Company [Augmented] 1967 Thailand | 1st Special Forces Group, Okinawa | Super Spook Training, Ft. Holabird, MD | The Bird Cage, Ft. Belvoir, VA | 525th Military Intelligence Group, Vietnam | Counterintelligence Special Agent Course Ft. Huachuca, AZ | Defense Against Methods of Entry Course Ft. Huachuca, AZ | 801st MI Det., 5th SFG [Abn], Ft Bragg, NC June 1971-Dec 1973 | Defense Language Institute Monterey, CA | 500th Military Intelligence Group Camp Zama, Japan | Retirement 1 March 1976 Ft. Bragg, NC
Some Readers Comments
“I just got through reading all of your army experiences and enjoyed it very much., Clarence J.”
“Don I enjoyed reading about your adventures and about those early Army days! I was reading the parts about “Super Spook!” lol And I was thinking to myself, Hum? “ I think I've met some people like them!” I like your particular writing style. “ Dave H.
“I was researching Ft Holabird when I came across part of your memoirs. Great reading...my ass is supposed to be house-husbanding & taking care of the dogs & cats while my wife is attending nursing classes...well I guess spending the afternoon reading your memoirs are worth an ass-chewing.”, Daniel M.
“Ran across a couple of your chapters years ago, but for some reason never found your website until this week. Love it, you really capture the esprit de corps serving in SF was all about.”, H.C.S.
“My wife’s in Reno visiting her mother. I’m supposed to be working on an exam for the State. Instead, I’m too caught up in your story. Thanks for all that you did.” Jim. F.
“Top; I just finished reading your story and I had to tell you that I think that you are a very good writer. Your style of writing kept me attentive from the first paragraph.”, Bob W.
“Kudos to you for Strap Hanger, and for saying it in common language of the common soldier. I called my style a barrack philosopher style, but never equaled your style of common language in a clear and concise manner. Enjoyed your writing. Congratulations on a job well done.”, Ron A.
Strap Hanger A Memoir of a Special Forces Soldier eBook Don Valentine
This book felt very much like you're sitting around a kitchen table after a great home cooked meal, and your Dad's friend is relating some stories about his life in the Military. Has a home spun feel to it, easy to read, very insightful. no Rambo guts and glory stuff. Has a few opinions on the way some things in the military are run, and some opinions on govt, women that some might get offended by. Maybe. Honestly, no worse than a friend having a different opinion than you on a subject. His opinion, he lived it and has a right too say it.If you are interested in a story on someone's life of 20 or so years in the military, pre Vietnam to almost the end of Vietnam, you would be hard pressed to read anything better.
Don is certainly someone I would like to meet and talk with over a few adult beverages. The time would fly.
Just like the pages in this book.
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Strap Hanger A Memoir of a Special Forces Soldier eBook Don Valentine Reviews
I just finished Strap Hanger the other night and I must say that it was an excellent book. Now I really enjoy these types of military books reading it was like listening to my dad talk about his days in the service. Although he was never in Vietnam he was in the service at that time and had plenty of stories about him and his friends doing things on and off base. The book covers many stories from his childhood through his career in the service and his opinions on certain perspectives during his career. Very interesting on how much he accomplished at the time taking many classes to help make himself a better soldier. Very good book a little of everything.
Without books like these, the uninitiated might get the idea that the military is this well-oiled machine, marching lockstep across the earth with officers making great decisions, nco's kicking ass and taking names, and troops minding their manners. Mr Valentine has done a great job of adding to the real history of the US Armed Forces during the recovery from Korea through the Vietnam War era. His time with the 11th Airborne Division in Germany confirmed the old-timer's barracks stories I heard while I was in Germany in 1965. His experience in the 'intelligence world was also good history. I first read segments of this memoir on-line a few years ago and I think a few things were changed about some famous 'SF' personalities but that didn't detract from the worth of this book.
Gregory H. Murry
MSG USA (Ret)
Author of
Content With My Wages, A Sergeant's Story Book I-Vietnam
Detailed but modest remembrances by the author of an incredible and challenging period in American History. Too bad that most people don't read anymore. This should be required study for anyone who has even the most basic political aspirations. Until we start sending our politicians to war FIRST, American Warriors will always struggle, fight, and sometimes die while handicapped with "terms of engagement..." As evidenced by our most recent conflicts, our "elected" politicians and their appointees will find new ways of snatching defeat from victory. However Mr. Valentine demonstrates that even through "the Fog of War," America's elite warrior has no equal in combat. Mr. Valentine's straight forward but simple writing style creates a matter-of-fact ambiance throughout his personal account. He actually enhances the reader's experience with his tone, in no way diminishing the importance of the events, but rather allows his narrative style to draw the reader even closer to the action and drama, all of which is exemplified by the veracity and accuracy of his personal memoir. I would love to read more from Mr. Valentine, and I thank him for his service.
There are parts of this book that I thoroughly enjoyed. For example, the author's experience in 1968 with the Fifth Special Forces at FOB Khesanh. His reference to the 1954 siege of rhe French at Dien Bien adds historical context and ironic parallel to the memoir. There is a great annecdote About field grade officer who visited Khesanh briefly when the troops there were surviving the longest siege against US troops on a ration of one canteen of watter per day per man. (Spoiler alert) I loved the senior NCO's comment to the officer' concern that the soldiers there were filthy, unshaven and unkempt in their appearance.
Let me say that I get and respect that quiet professionals are tight lipped about classified operations even decades after the operations are declassified, and it is a rare gem when they share with outsiders their true opinions about politicians and field grade military officers. However, there is precious little of that in this book, and it is buried in what seemed like 400 pages (out of more than 600) devoted to the details of food menus, the minutia of endless classroom training, and the mundane of other rear echelon service. After reading so much about the food, I was suprised to see from his photos that the author was fit and not carrying all that good chow around his waste. In fact, he was physically ripped and the looked the part of the special warrior.
Buried in all those pages, if you can wade through them, is the story of a great American, a Green Beret, who survived four tours in Vietnam doing then classified work for his country in the context the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s. There is a great story in all of that somewhere.
In the 1970s, by the way, as the author points out, soldiers, including the author, traveled to the Vietnam war as an individual passenger among civilians on a commercial airliner. Over 50,000 Americans did not return. Those that did return home did so on same kind of airliner. They stepped out of war only to be scorned and spat on by anti-war protesters upon arrival in Oakland. To say that they gave what they had and were not appreciated by their country is a gross understatement. The war was amanaged by a freak show in a train wreck.
To the point. Surely the author has a great story. Heck there is plenty of love and heart break amid the life and death in the memories of a single tour in Vietnam, not to mention the inherent tragedy, irony and sardonic comedy. This is especially so for a soldier like the author, whose experiences include classified assignments at an FOB during the longest siege against U S troops and a signal post in Laos. However, about two thirds of the book needs to be cut away to get at that story. Then it will need a good re- write in the active voice wiith much needed non- training experiences "in country" or at least not boring, a spellcheck, and then an edit.
This book felt very much like you're sitting around a kitchen table after a great home cooked meal, and your Dad's friend is relating some stories about his life in the Military. Has a home spun feel to it, easy to read, very insightful. no Rambo guts and glory stuff. Has a few opinions on the way some things in the military are run, and some opinions on govt, women that some might get offended by. Maybe. Honestly, no worse than a friend having a different opinion than you on a subject. His opinion, he lived it and has a right too say it.
If you are interested in a story on someone's life of 20 or so years in the military, pre Vietnam to almost the end of Vietnam, you would be hard pressed to read anything better.
Don is certainly someone I would like to meet and talk with over a few adult beverages. The time would fly.
Just like the pages in this book.
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