Gone Native: An NCO's Story

by Alan Cornett

Book Overview

On his first combat assignment, Cornett accompanied the Vietnamese Rangers on a search-and-destroy mission near Khe Sang. There he gained entree into a culture that he would ultimately respect greatly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804116377
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Gone Native - I have known men like him

Once I started reading the book, I could not put it down. I kept coming across places and people I knew and it brought back a lot of memories. I eventually supported several of his units with intelligence and map overlays for "sensitive" operations, and was in-country myself for six years. I had several run-ins with jerk officers but thankfully they were rare. But I did pull my .45 on three Pentagon O-6s at a SOG briefing when they refused to assist us. Luckily, an SF 1SG Deluca grabbed me and said they were not worth killing as they ran from the room. A couple of weeks later I was jerked out of VN and sent to Germany. I recommend this book to everyone who wants to know how close many of us got to the Vietnamese and the war, and I would very much like to be in contact with the author.

Great Book!!!

I have read hundreds of Vietnam nonfiction books and this is in the top 15 for sure. Great book and flows great, did not want it to end...

Gone Native: An NCO's Story

My dad who is a Vietnam Vet, gave me the the book. He said it was an excellent read. I agreed wholeheartedly. On the last page of the book, the author, Alan Cornett promo's a book about perhaps the most interesting character in the book, Captain Phong. That book is supposed to be called, 'The Gray Tiger', would love to read that as well. Gone Native was an excellent read. With seven years in Vietnam, Alan Cornett is qualified to write. The book was a great read.

An amazing story!

Alan G. Cornett's autobiographical account of his multiple tours of duty in Vietnam is one of the most amazing accounts I've ever read of anyone who served in the war. Cornett served with so many Special Operations units (Special Forces, LRRPs, Operation Phoenix and the like) that his credibility (not to mention his candor) puts the rest of us to shame. This is an honest book, sans varnish or gloss, and what you get is a fast-paced glimpse of behind the lines operations from someone who literally has 'been there and done that' and been there a few more times and done it again and again. This could have easily been a series of books simply because there was so much to cover; from his rise to Operation Phoenix and a fall he covers in detail. Ironically, it's the rise again from his own ashes that rekindles his career. Cornett's story will amaze you.

Compelling

Cornett gives details of his personal life throughout the book, most of which is in Vietnam. He was in and out of trouble with his superiors, but was respected by his fellow soldiers. He worked extensively with the indigenous people and learned their languages, with his most memorable service being in the Phoenix program run by the CIA, where it appears they had a very high ratio of successful missions eliminating VC operatives.