A Ranger Born: A Memoir of Combat and Valor from Korea to Vietnam

by Robert W. Black

Book Overview

Even as a boy growing up amid the green hills of rural Pennsylvania, Robert W. Black knew he was destined to become a Ranger. With their three-hundred-year history of peerless courage and independence of spirit, Rangers are a uniquely American brand of soldier, one foot in the military, one in the wilderness--and that is what fired Black's imagination. In this searing, inspiring memoir, Black recounts how he devoted himself, body and soul, to his...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345453263
• ISBN13: 9780345453266
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Great Reading

Unlike the technical, detailed Ranger books written by Col. Black, this one is from a personal standpoint and draws you into the story from page one until the last word is read. The book starts with Col. Black as a child and the desire to be a Ranger is obvious; to what it takes to qualify for Ranger training; what it takes to endure the training and what drives a Ranger to stay a Ranger. A story about being an American in the war ravaged country of Korea and Viet Nam. You read about betrayal, unrequited love, the guts and glory of war; the survival of war, and at times with a sense of humor. You laugh, you cry. It grips your heart; it grips your soul, but most of all it makes you proud to be an American; proud to have men of his calibar fighting for your freedom and that of our Country.

A Ranger Born

This is the best book yet in Robert Black's series about the U. S. Rangers. It is the remarkable story of a young boy who knew exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up and who worked toward that goal from then on. Black has revealed in his series that he is a true soldier/scholar. This book traces his story through triumph and sadness. His love for his fellow Rangers shines from the story as does his love for his country. He writes with compassion and wit. The man who is the soldier and the soldier who is the man will live with you for a long time.

Better than 'Band of Brothers'; a good read for anyone

With all the `Band of Brothers' hoopla last year, this is a better book.It's a simple story of a man trying to be the best there is -in this case an Army Ranger during two wars (Korea & Vietnam) - but he tells it in a way anyone can understand. No military credentials are needed. The sign of a good storyteller is getting the reader to have the same feelings the author does...I found myself full of pride, anger, frustration alongside Black; sometimes I wanted to cry and sometimes I wanted to pat this guy on the back. Sometimes I just went "Phew!" This isn't a gung-ho book on "How I won the war". Its full of frailties, shortcomings, and reality. If you are looking for Gen. Patton's story, its not here. If you are looking for a coming of age story that includes finding identity, a successful path in life, and learning of the larger world around us, that is here. Black simply has the "good" misfortune of growing up in time that led him down a path to two wars, and his base of battle knowledge -- thick as a rocket launch pad - is the heart of the book. The book includes also includes a fair amount of background of his early years as a farm kid, which is a good laugh. It's when the book takes off into his early training in Army is when this book really runs.Anyone who ever protested the Vietnam War should read this - not to attack an agenda but to understand more about how the war affected us all. (This is coming from someone who remembers Walter Kronkite's reports from Saigon and whose Mom would have taken me to Canada had I been of draft age).I usually don't read these types of military genre books, but I really loved it. This would be a great read on vacation, for anyone of any age. With all the stuff happening in world right now, we need more Blacks in this world to remind us what living is like when someone always wants you gone. Makes me appreciate the simple things in life. Makes me realize that we have heroes amongst us. But like Black, they don't think of themselves as one. It was a simple matter of just trying to be the best, and to come home.

A MUST for all miliary buffs

While admitting I am a personal friend of Ranger Bob Black, and very fortunate to be so. I had the opportunity to see this work before it went to print. Let there be no mistake, Ranger Robert Black is RANGER through and through. He also happens to be the foremost and most learned Ranger historian alive today. His previous works are invaluable to all Ranger historians who search for Ranger history from WWII and Korea. He is a stickler for detail and very thorough. He is a member of the Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia. This review is about his latest work however and I want to return to that subject. I just want to let you know a bit about the author. He is a man's man and well respected among Rangers of all eras. Because of the short duration of the Korean War and the short life of these elite soldiers of the Airborne Ranger Companies of Korea, much has been forgotten about their service and sacrifices. Ranger Black's book, "A Ranger Born", revives these memories and educates many who never really knew of the many obstacles and terrible conditions these men fought in. He takes us on a journey through his young life to the man he is today. Through two wars, including his service in the Vietnam War. Once I started reading it, it was hard to put down and that is a true measure of a book, isn't it ?? I read a lot of military history books, fiction and non-fiction, and I would put this book up there with the good ones as easily readable and entertaining. It is quite informative too, for those interested in the inner workings of a military advisor to the ARVN Army. I'd like to thank you Bob for sharing your story and your memories. Rangers Lead the Way !! Terry B. Roderick Co. P (RANGER) 75th Inf. RVN , Past President, 75th Ranger Regiment Association (1998-2000)

Well Worth Reading

Dear Readers, To properly praise a book means putting it in context with one's own background and experiences. US Army Ranger Bob Black's new book, A RANGER BORN, talks so well about his experiences in both the Korean and the Vietnam Wars, and has served in so many ways as a vivid reminder of my own Asian experiences, first as a USAF airman assigned to Osan Air Base south of Seoul in 1966, and then to Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. That first tour in Korea was 13 years after the signing of the Armistice Agreement, and conditions were still very rough, with the war remaining very much in evidence. Then, still as a military journalist, I went to Vietnam for a couple of back to back tours in the period before and after Tet 1968, ranging from the Mekong Delta fan to the bunkers of Dong Ha, at the eastern fringe of Leatherneck Square. I spent time at many of the air bases as well as on the ground or in the air above such places as Hue, Khe Sanh, Pleiku, Trang Sup, and Tay Ninh. They were years of so much memory -- of people, events, places, sights, sounds, smells; some things sad, others horrible, some joyful, even proud, others so painful that wiped away would be a blessing. You need to know this background so you will understand how crisp and sure, how factual and descriptive I found Colonel Black's narrative. He is a writer who has been there, done that, and come away mostly intact; first as a Corporal in Korea, up front as a Ranger, carrying a .30 caliber Browning Automatic Rifle in combat; then as a middle aged field grade officer trying so hard as an advisor to beat the politics while simultaneously trying so hard to instill a seed of military survival in Vietnamese units lacking so much while serving in the most terrible of circumstances. Bob Black has a steel trap memory combined with the heart of a warrior. Searching for the words to tell it like it was, he used both heart and mind well, drawing from the well of experience in ample measure. Reading his passages, you can smell the garlic and kimchi, taste the fish sauce, feel the grit on your neck and the dust in your eyes, see the tracers bounce in nights lit only by flare light, hear the crunches, thumps and stutters of weaponry, and catch more than a whiff of cordite on some very hot, very humid, long and headache filled days. It is my assessment that the Colonel, a very skilled writer as his other works so amply attest, has achieved great success in this, his latest endeavor, and this new book has the texture and feel of a classic, in the vein of Platoon Leader, Company Commander or even -- and yes, I believe this -- that great novel that continues to teach so many truths and realities about the military profession, Once An Eagle. I am not a Ranger, though I am blessed to have Ranger friends, but I shared close contact with the Ranger community at Dugway, Utah a few years back, and take it as the strongest article of military faith that Rangers do indeed lead the way for all the rest of