About the Book
(Paperback - Perfect Bound Color Edition)
This is the little-known history of the men of 1/27, a 5th Marine Division battalion of Iwo Jima World War II fame--their seven-month story of sacrifice, camaraderie, and bravery.
Compiled and authored by one of them, To The Sound Of The Guns is the journey of 1st Battalion, 27th Marines--an undermanned maneuver Battalion--in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968, their participation in the Hue City area and in Operation Allen Brook. One hundred and twelve of these men gave up all their tomorrows, their memories forever etched in Marine Corps history.
As a result of countless combat engagements, the Marines of 1/27 were awarded almost 700 Purple Hearts, rallying to their battle cry, "To the Sound of the Guns."
Grady T. Birdsong enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1966, serving two combat tours in Vietnam in 1968-1969. He is the author of A Fortunate Passage: Two Families' Journey into the Heartland, and co-author of The Miracle Workers of South Boulder Road: Healing the Signature Wounds of War with Colonel Bob Fischer, USMC (Ret).
About the Author :
Grady ane Birdsong was raised in Kansas and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1966. After serving two combat tours in the Northern I Corps region of Vietnam during the Tet Offensive in 1968 and along the DMZ in 1969, he enjoyed a successful career traveling the world as an executive in engineering, marketing, and business development in the telecommunications/data, information technology, and the optical/fiber systems industries. Grady is the author of A Fortunate Passage: Two Families' Journey into the Heartland, which received two EVVY awards from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association. Also, a coauthor of The Miracle Workers of South Boulder Road: Healing the Signature Wounds of War, won two 1st Place EVVY awards (CIPA) and was a finalist in the Best Book Awards, with Colonel Bob Fischer. He is a veteran advocate for returning veterans of the Middle East Wars and the Rocky Mountain Hyperbaric Association for Brain Injuries, Healing Our Heroes Program, a 501c3 organization. Also, as a volunteer at the Denver Vet Center, he helped design, commission, and build a lab with a series of computer courses for veterans to learn various levels of computer basics, computer building, Windows OS, Video/Photo presentation, and Photoshop instruction. is was done with extensive help from the American Legion Department of Colorado. Now retired, Grady lives with his wife, Pamela, in the Denver area, where he enjoys his grandchildren and spends his time writing, volunteering, and hunting big game. Grady is a graduate of Regis University in Denver, Colorado, an officer in the 1st Marine Division Association, Rocky Mountain Chapter, and Program Chair of the large Denver area monthly Marine Corps Luncheon group, "Coopers Troopers." For more information on Grady and his books, please visit www.gradytbirdsong.com.
Review :
Praise for To the Sound Of the Guns...
Grady Birdsong's book is a combination of well-researched operational history, moving and deeply personal account of the author's own combat experiences in Vietnam. It is both history and story. The places, the events, and most especially, the Marines and Sailors of whom the author writes, become vividly real, transporting the reader to that distant place and time. A highly recommended addition to the record of the U.S. Marines in the Vietnam War. - Colonel Len Blasiol, USMC (Ret) Coauthor, U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year 1968, Published by the History and Museums Division
The author, Grady Birdsong, chronicles how 1/27's "band of brothers" came together--a battalion of Marines proving every bit as courageous in battles like Hue City as were their World War II counterparts at Iwo Jima. Birdsong's research delves also into the thinking of the political and military leaders who put 1/27 in harm's way, revealing a mindset sometimes lacking cohesiveness--and unwilling to hear about it from others. Detailed, too, is 1/27's impressive operational history and combat record. "To The Sound Of The Guns" is a highly recommended read... - LtCol James G. Zumwalt USMCR Detachment Commander, 4th CAG Vietnam; Author, Bare Feet, Iron Will--Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields
Grady Birdsong is a trailblazer in the finest traditions of Marine Combat Author's that returned home from their "Trip Down South;" and with impressive success, told their story. Grady fits that template perfectly. His research is scholarly, detailed and focused. The supporting graphs, photos, and referenced first-hand battle accounts are well presented and bring the smell of battle on the battlefield right into the reading room with you. Birdsong focuses all his energy and resource's over the past several years documenting the history that clearly highlight his deeply held respect for the Marine Warriors of his beloved 1st Battalion, 27th Marines. On numerous occasions this fighting battalion conducted, literally and figuratively, a passage of lines as they continued the attack into that cordite and gun smoke shrouded, now hallowed ground known as the Go Noi Island, Liberty Bridge, and other locations in that AO that were then and remain the stuff of legends. His Vietnam battle accounts bring new meaning to the term "Gun Fighters." His riveting book absolutely belongs in the honored and treasured section of the libraries of all those Marines that carried the fight to the VC and NVA while serving in what was always a violent and deadly battle area. To The Sound Of The Guns will join Webb's, Fields of Fire. as a classic of that era, time and place. - LtCol Ken Pipes USMC (Ret) Bravo 6, 1/26. Khe Sanh, TET, 1967/68
