Allies and Mates:

An American Soldier with the Australians and New Zealanders in Vietnam, 1966-67

By Gordon L. Steinbrook. Lincoln:University of Nebraska Press, 1995. 182 Pages. Price unknown.

During the last decade, numerous first-hand accounts of service in Vietnam have been published.  These veteran-authors range from, among others, infantrymen, snipers, door gunners, and helicopter pilots to battalion commanders.  Each veteran had various experiences and thus a different story to tell.

Steinbrook’s Vietnam reminiscences, Allies and Mates, are very different from most of those previously published, as highlighted by the book’s subtitle: An American Soldier with the Australians and New Zealanders in Vietnam, 1966-67.  Commissioned in 1965 as a field artillery second lieutenant and married shortly thereafter, Steinbrook served in Vietnam from June 1966 to May 1967, having deployed as a member of 2nd Battalion, 35th Field Artillery, a 155-mm self-propelled (M109) howitzer battalion.  He served as an artillery aerial observer, forward observer (FO), and battery fire direction officer, with his battery usually supporting Australian and New Zealand allies.  He flew with an Australian Army aviation unit and did his forward observing for the New Zealand and US Army artillery, in support of the Australian infantry and armoured cavalry.

For almost five months, Steinbrook and his FO section were attached to the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.  His observations of “Aussie” equipment (especially their dislike of helmets), exemplary Australian military leadership, and officer use of soldiers as “batmen” (orderlies), in addition to many other items, are worthwhile and informative.  Steinbrook’s comments on the aftermath of the veritably unknown — from an American perspective — Battle of Long Tan, and participation in numerous firefights and other skirmishes, are enlightening and thought-provoking.

This interesting book relates the author’s story of “boredom, discomfort, homesickness, death, rumour, feelings, fear, and many other things” (p. xiv) during his 1966-1967 tour of duty in Vietnam, and is woven around the many letters he sent to his wife and parents.  Especially noteworthy is the insight provided on the often-overlooked Australian and New Zealand contributions to the war in Vietnam. Allies and Mates deserves a wide readership.