CLARKSVILLE, TN – During this year’s Week of the Eagles, author and Screaming Eagles Vietnam War combat veteran Ed Sherwood will be at Fort Campbell’s Donald F. Pratt Memorial Museum for several days signing copies of his book, Courage Under Fire: The 101st Airborne’s Hidden Battle at Tam Ky. Proceeds of book sales at the museum’s Legacies Gift Shop supports the Fort Campbell Historical Foundation and continuing construction of the new “The Tennessee Wings of Liberty Museum.”

Courage Under Fire is the first book to tell the story of Operation Lamar Plain, known by combat veterans as The Battle at Tam Ky. The 1969 operation was the 101st Airborne’s last major, US ground offensive in the Vietnam War. Fought by the 1st Brigade, with three infantry battalions (two from the 2nd Brigade, one from the Americal Division) and a full contingent of 101st combat support and services, the task force numbered nearly 4,000 soldiers. The battle was never disclosed to the American public; until Sherwood’s book, it was almost forgotten.

The Army Historical Foundation’s selected Courage Under Fire as a finalist for its “2021 Book of the Year” in its Battles and Operations category. It was also featured in the November 2021 Army Magazine issue and has been recognized widely as a definitive account of infantry combat in Vietnam.

Here are just a few of its many notable reviews:

  • “Courage Under Fire chronicles the 101st fight at Tam Ky … highlighting the incredible grit, courage, and tenacity of the Screaming Eagle Soldier – – troopers serving in the Division today, draw strength from the sterling example and valor of those who fought there.” – MG (R) Brian Winski, former “Eagle 6,” CG 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Executive Director, Fort Campbell Historical Foundation.
  • “Sherwood has written one of the best, most comprehensive accounts of Vietnam War combat published to date.” – The Quarterly Journal of Military History
  • “… well-researched and vividly written, [Sherwood’s book] makes a valuable contribution to Vietnam war history … a tribute to the individual soldier, immortalizing men whose bravery was tested in the fierce crucible of combat and preserving the memory of those who sacrificed their lives in battle … it contributes to military science, as Sherwood accompanies the highly detailed and engaging narrative with insightful analysis that will prove helpful to generations of future infantrymen.” – Senior Editor, Vietnam Magazine
  • “Sherwood writes as one who knows the ethos of “the brotherhood of the close fight.” He clearly captures the bravery and tenacity of the men who defeated a determined enemy. It is well time their story was told.” – US Army Center of Military History Historian, Dr. John O’Brien

As the National Infantry Association’s president COL (R) Robert Choppa says, “Courage Under Fire is a book about Infantrymen, for Infantrymen, by an Infantryman.” Sherwood adds, the book also details the vital support provided by artillery, aviation, intelligence, and signal units. There is a special mention of the role and sacrifice of combat medics and accounts of their bravery. In three weeks of the heaviest fighting, twelve medics in Sherwood’s Infantry battalion were killed in action. Many more were wounded.

A medic in the 2-17th Air Cavalry and a rifleman in C/1-501 Inf were both awarded Medals of Honor. The medic, Specialist Guy Lapointe, was awarded posthumously, and the Infantryman, Specialist Santiago Erevia, fourteen years after the battle. A new Fort Campbell housing area, Erevia Park, now proudly bears his name. What makes Sherwood’s book so compelling? It tells the stories of the young, junior enlisted soldiers who despite high casualties and loss of senior NCOs and junior officers, persevered living up to their “Never Quit” motto under harsh battle conditions to win a decisive victory.

Why the Battle of Tam Ky was undisclosed to media or the American public by the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV), the senior headquarters in Vietnam, is covered thoroughly in an appendix. Though it is not the main story, it shows how the valor, sacrifices, and commitment of young Soldiers were often not revealed due to political or strategic considerations. In this case, President Nixon had been elected on his promise to end the war in Vietnam. In his first months as president in 1969, the 3rd Brigade of the 101st fought “the Battle of Hamburger Hill” in the A Shau Valley ending on May 20. Despite a tremendous victory, the intensity of the battle and its high casualties created a political firestorm for Nixon. Political opponents claimed he was expanding the war not ending it.

Worse, 100 miles to the south, on May 15 the 1st Brigade had already begun “the Battle at Tam Ky.” A “tactical emergency” had been declared by the Americal Division as North Vietnamese Army forces threatened to overrun elements of the division. In 24 hours, the 1st Brigade was deployed to destroy the enemy forces. The saying then (and now) is “If you want it done, call the 101.” In tough, heavy, close-in fighting, a decisive victory was achieved in just under 30 days though skirmishes continued for the next six weeks.

Between the two battles, there were over 1,000 US casualties. The fighting at Tam Ky almost doubled the killed and wounded casualties reported for Hamburger Hill. MACV decided to keep the media unaware of the fighting and casualties at Tam Ky. The battle kept a secret classification throughout the Vietnam War and was never disclosed to the American people. Twenty years after the war ended, the actual battle records were declassified then routinely and quietly put in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland.

That’s where Sherwood found them in 2015. He devoted the next five years to researching the records and interviewing over forty battle participants. Focusing on the combat of his battalion, the famed 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry (Geronimo) who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge 24 years earlier, Sherwood’s book was released in March 2021 by Casemate Publishers, a world leader in military publishing.