BAC SI

A Special Forces medic delivers “a fascinating account of an unfamiliar part of the Vietnamese War, written in a compelling style” (History Of War).

During the Vietnam War, US Army Special Forces A-Teams were deployed to isolated outposts or “camps” in the remote areas of South Vietnam. Their job was to recruit, train, and house members of the indigenous population while molding them into combat-ready fighting units. A-Teams consisted of up to twelve Green Beret soldiers who were experts in both combat and their individual military specialties.

Bac Si, the Vietnamese term for “medic,” is the story of Sgt. Jerry Krizan, who was assigned to Special Forces Camp A-331 in the III Corps tactical zone, only ten miles from the Cambodian border. Because of its proximity to a major north-south North Vietnamese Army infiltration route, there were constant enemy troop movements through the camp’s area of operations and A-331 itself came under attack on more than one occasion.

The author accompanied patrols and probes into enemy territory, not only prepared to provide aid but fight as a soldier if the squad was ambushed or chose to attack. In this small-unit warfare against an expert enemy, US soldiers had to survive as best they could, with their only succor a Huey—meantime, on the ground, by themselves against unknown opposition.

Our Green Beret base camps were our very first line of defense along the borders of South Vietnam, and in this book, through the eyes of a medic, we learn how dire, and confusing, a role we asked our Special Forces to play during that era.