Otto J. Lehrack - Road of 10,000 Pains

Praise for Road of 10,000 Pains

Road of 10,000 Pains has the first and only accurate description of Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines combat operation on 21 April 1967 that evolved into Operation Union. Otto Lehrack vividly captures the intensity and close combat during the initial fight as well as the determination of individual Marines to continue to fight against vastly superior NVA forces.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Gene Deegan, CO, F/2/1

Just when you thought no more could be said about the Marines Vietnam War, author and oral historian Otto Lehrack, once again, breaks new ground about the high-intensity ground combat in I Corps.

Charles D. Melson, Chief Historian, U.S. Marine Corps

A first-class contribution to Vietnam literature by someone who appreciates combat from the ground level. Based upon extensive research and personal knowledge, Road of 10,000 Pains is combat history at its best, a testimony to the raw courage of U.S. Marines. This is a must-read for everyone interested in small-unit actions in Vietnam.

Dr. Alexander S. Cochran, Vietnam veteran and historian, former Horner Chair of Military Theory, Marine Corps University

Que Son Valley was a strategic campaign and watershed event of the Vietnam War. Today, however, its relatively unknown and forgotten. But those Marines who fought its brutal battles remember Que Son. They remember the sacrifices and the scars of war, but so do they remember the camaraderie and friendships. Author Otto Lehracks account of the Que Son Valley campaign is a testament to those Marines who courageously committed themselves to one another and to The Valley.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) John H. Admire, former Commanding General, 1st Marine Division

In Road of 10,000 Pains, Otto Lehrack does a superb job of weaving together the oral histories of the officers and enlisted men who did the fighting. I was especially moved, and at times angered, by the hardships they had to overcome. The historic heavy fighting that followed in 1968 would likely have been even more intense and less victorious for the American troops had it not been for those Marines who fought so hard to defeat their enemy in 1967.

Christy Sauro, Vietnam veteran, former sergeant, United States Marine Corps, author, The Twins Platoon

For Vietnam combat veterans, Otto Lehracks Road of 10,000 Pains will evoke memories of the sights, sounds, and smells of the battlefield. By skillfully interweaving personal accounts of heavy combat between Marines of the 1st Marine Division and the 2nd North Vietnamese Division, Lehrack makes this book come alive as few others have. For those readers who have never experienced war, 10,000 Pains will transport them into the hell of close combat. Lehracks book is not for the faint of heart it is a gut-level infantry portrayal of brutal fighting in the style of Eugene Sledges With the Old Breed. It is a must-read for those seeking to learn more about the brutal fighting of Vietnams Northern I Corps in 1967.

Col. (ret.) Dick Camp, United States Marine Corps, author, Operation Phantom Fury and Last Man Standing

Books by Otto J. Lehrack:

No Shining Armor:
The Marines at War in Vietnam

The First Battle:
Operation Starlite and the Beginning
of the Blood Debt in Vietnam

Americas Battalion:
Marines in the First Gulf War

The Destruction of
the 2nd NVA Division by
the U.S. Marines, 1967

Otto J. Lehrack

Foreword by
General Alfred M. Gray, Jr.,
29th Commandant of
the Marine Corps

For

who led me back into the sunlight,
and for my daughter Angie

Sing, goddess, of Achilles ruinous anger
Which brought ten thousand pains to the Achaeans,
And cast the souls of many stalwart heroes
To Hades, and their bodies to the dogs
And birds of prey.

The Iliad, Homer

I T IS MY DISTINCT PLEASURE to prepare the foreword for this exceptional story of Marines in battle. It is also an opportunity to again salute the courageous warriors of the 1st Marine Division and their allies as they fought to keep South Vietnam free. Our author, Marine Lt. Col. Otto Lehrack, is an experienced infantry combat veteran who also has a sound intelligence background. He has given us a superb account of a series of battles that took place in the rugged, often-fought-over Que Son Valley complex from the spring through late fall of 1967.

In April 1964, while in Vietnam on another matter, I accompanied a senior army advisor on a visit and a reconnaissance of Quang Tin Province, to include Que Son Valley, its sister Phuoc Ha Valley, plus the Army of Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) outposts at Hiep Duc and Que Son. The Viet Cong (VC) were already established in the area and used the valley, the surrounding high ground, and the population to their advantage in establishing base camps, weapons caches, and supplies. The very limited ARVN forces in the area did not have the capability to control the region but seemed to be making progress with the people locally. However, they were viewed with suspicion in the countryside, which was, in part, a carryover from the earlier French Indochina war. The geographical relationship between the Que Son Valleys approach to the sea from Route 1 in the east to the North Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh Trail infiltration network to the west made this a vital strategic region. Experienced infantry could cover the wide corridor from a tributary of this network to the sea in a hard overnight march, which, in turn, could threaten the isolation of the five northern provinces of South Vietnam. The Que Son Valley area also produced a twice-yearly rice crop that far exceeded the needs of the population, and it was a conduit for obtaining salt, which was critical. Finally, the valley was home to a large number of military-age males, many of whom had family ties with the north. The Que Son Valley complex was therefore a rich and vital prize.

In December 1965, Marine and ARVN forces conducted a major operation called Harvest Moon to prevent a Viet Cong attack on the Que Son District headquarters and to trap enemy forces in the area. In August 1966, Marines and ARVN forces conducted Operation Colorado to drive the 2nd North Vietnamese Army (NVA) Division from the Que Son Valley area. As a matter of interest, the last major U.S. offensive operation in Vietnam (Operation Imperial Lake) commenced on August 22, 1970, in the Que Son mountainous complex and continued through the remainder of the year.

On April 21, 1967, Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines clashed with a battalion of the 2nd NVA Division in the Que Son Valley; a fight that ignited a seven-month campaign over control of that vital area. This first phase, dubbed Operation Union, would last well into May. Concurrently, a Marine special landing force (Operation Beaver Cage) also ran major sweeps through the area. Then came Operation Union II and Operation Swift, combined with extensive combat reconnaissance, artillery, and air strikes.