Vietnam LRRP / LRP
Long Range Patrol memoirs and unit histories from the Vietnam War
30 booksLong Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) teams were the eyes and ears of American forces in Vietnam — six-man teams inserted deep into enemy territory to observe, report, and when necessary, fight their way out. This collection covers the memoirs and unit histories of the men who ran these missions across every corps area of Vietnam.
Phantom Warriors: Book 1
Gary A. Linderer
2000
First-hand accounts of Long Range Patrol missions in the Central Highlands. Linderer served with F Company 58th Infantry (LRP) and captures the terror and professionalism of small-team reconnaissance.
Phantom Warriors: Book 2
Gary A. Linderer
2001
Continuation of Linderer's interviews with Vietnam LRP veterans — more harrowing six-man patrols, ambushes, and extractions under fire.
Eyes of the Eagle
Gary A. Linderer
1991
Linderer's personal memoir of his time with F/58th LRP — one of the most honest accounts of what it was like to be a LRRP in Vietnam.
Six Silent Men: Book 1
Reynel Martinez
1997
The story of 101st Airborne Division's LRP/Ranger company — the first of three volumes covering their campaigns across I Corps.
Six Silent Men: Book 2
Gary A. Linderer
1997
Linderer takes over for volume two, covering F Company 58th Infantry deep in enemy territory around the A Shau Valley.
Six Silent Men: Book 3
Gary A. Linderer
1997
Final volume of the 101st's LRP legacy — intense small-unit actions, near-miss extractions, and the bonds forged under fire.
Lest We Forget
W. T. Grant
1995
Memoirs from a LRRP operator in II Corps — honest and understated account of long-range patrol life.
Acceptable Loss
Kregg P.J. Jorgenson
1991
Jorgenson's gritty memoir of serving with the 1st Cavalry Division LRRPs in War Zone C — no sugarcoating, just war.
LRRP Company Command
Kregg P.J. Jorgenson
1999
Follow-on to Acceptable Loss — Jorgenson moves from grunt to commander in the 1st Cav's long-range patrol unit.
Very Crazy, G.I.
Kregg P.J. Jorgenson
1996
More Vietnam LRRP stories from Jorgenson — dark humor and hard-won wisdom from the jungle.
War Paint
Bill Goshen
2003
LRRP operations in I Corps — memoir focused on the men and missions of a forgotten unit.
Blood on the Risers
John Leppelman
1991
Leppelman's account of infantry and LRRP service — one of the most readable Vietnam memoirs.
Recondo: The Young Man's Guide to the LRRP School and Combat Patrols
Larry Chambers
1992
Chambers covers the LRRP school curriculum and tactical operations — essential guide to how small-team reconnaissance was trained and executed.
Inside the LRRPs: The Covert War in Vietnam
Michael Lee Lanning
1988
Comprehensive unit history of LRRP operations across Vietnam — organized by corps area and chronology, heavily documented.
LRRP: The Professional
Frank Camper
1988
Camper's account of LRRP operations and the professional craft of long-range reconnaissance — one of the most operationally detailed accounts of LRRP tradecraft in print.
Rangers at War: LRRPs in Vietnam
Shelby L. Stanton
1992
Stanton's authoritative unit history of LRRP operations across Vietnam — organizational development, combat operations, and the evolution from LRP to Ranger from 1966 onward.
Cyclops in the Jungle
David Kenney
1994
A one-eyed LRRP operator who should never have passed the physical — Kenney's memoir is raw, funny, and relentlessly honest about small-team reconnaissance life.
LRRP Team Leader
Robert Moran
1999
Memoir of a LRRP team leader in the 4th Infantry Division — command decisions, team cohesion, and the constant calculus of six men alone in enemy territory.
Eyes Behind the Lines: L Company Rangers in Vietnam
Gary A. Linderer
1991
L Company 75th Rangers — Linderer's account of his specific unit's operations, bridging the gap between LRRP and Ranger conversion during the war's most intense phase.
Elite Bastards
Kregg P.J. Jorgenson
1994
More from Jorgenson's 1st Cavalry LRRP days — the nickname says it all. Brutal, honest, and deeply admiring of the men who volunteered for the hardest missions.
A Field of Innocence
Bruce Henriksen
1997
A young soldier's account of growing up fast in Vietnam — infantry service and LRRP attachment told with uncommon literary quality.
A Ranger Born: A Memoir of Combat and Valor from Korea to Vietnam
Col. Robert W. Black
2004
Col. Robert W. Black served with Ranger units from Korea through Vietnam — a career warrior's account of what it meant to be a Ranger across two wars and two generations.
Alone in the Valley: A Soldier's Journey in the Vietnam War
Lt. Col. George R. Lanigan
2013
Lanigan's memoir of infantry service in Vietnam — the isolation of small-unit combat, the long patrols, and the grinding psychological weight of a war with no clear front line.
The Special Men: A LRP's Recollections
Dennis Foley
1994
Foley's memoir of service with the Long Range Patrol detachment of the 1st Cavalry — portrait of the men who chose the hardest missions available.
Death in the A Shau Valley: L Company LRRPs in Vietnam, 1969–70
Larry Chambers
1998
Chambers — author of Recondo — returns with L Company 101st Airborne Rangers running missions through the A Shau Valley at the peak of the war. One of the most operationally specific LRRP accounts in print.
The Ghosts of the Highlands: 1st Cav LRRPs in Vietnam, 1966–67
Kregg P.J. Jorgenson
1998
The earliest days of 1st Cavalry Division's long-range patrol program — Jorgenson covers the 1966–67 period when the LRRP concept was still being worked out under fire in the Central Highlands.
Black Berets and Painted Faces: The Story of a LRP in Vietnam
Gary A. Linderer
1994
Linderer's personal account of LRP life in Vietnam — the missions, the men, and the grinding reality of serving as a long-range patrol in the A Shau Valley.
Blood on the Risers: An Airborne Soldier's Thirty-five Months in Vietnam
John Leppelman
1991
Three straight years as a paratrooper, army seaman, and LRRP — Leppelman's first memoir covers the full arc of his Vietnam service before On the Ground picks up the story.
Uncommon Valor: The Recon Company That Earned Five Medals of Honor
Stephen L. Moore
2018
The story of F/58th Infantry LRP — the unit that produced five Medal of Honor recipients and included America's most decorated Green Beret. Moore's research is exhaustive and the operational accounts are stunning.
Brennan's War: Vietnam 1965–69
Matthew Brennan
1985
Brennan's account of four years of Vietnam combat — infantry, airborne, and long-range patrol. One of the earliest and most direct LRRP-era Vietnam memoirs, written by a combat infantry officer who saw the war from multiple angles.