The Walking Dead: A Marine’s Story of Vietnam

In July 1965, Pfc. Craig Roberts crossed the Da Nang River with the 9th Marines—into the heart of a jungle alive with savage Viet Cong. Eight months later his unit would be called…The Walking Dead.

In constant danger, Pfc. Craig Roberts’s unit—known as the Walking Dead—flushed the enemy from tunnels and rat traps; defused lethal mines, punji pits, and trip wires; and scored countless hits in ambushes, sweeps, and all-out firefights. From booby-trapped villages to battles at Cam Ne, Le Son, the Phong Le Bridge, and in “Operation Starlight,” they shared incredible risks, comradeship, and pride. Now Roberts tells the gripping tale of their war.

Shot down and rescued, wounded in action, Roberts survived against fantastic odds and served as an automatic rifleman, recon leader, sniper, and as an advisor to a Combined Action Company of ARVN Rangers. Transformed from an ordinary nineteen-year-old into a deadly killer, he was the recipient of ten decorations, including two Purple Hearts, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, and a Combat Action Ribbon. His memoir is a story of extraordinary challenges met for honour, freedom, and the Corps.