Of Their Own Accord
By Gary Dolan

ISBN: 1-59411-026-3 LCCN: 2003110381

Contact Author: gdolan@optonline.net

From the Books Web Site:
http://oftheirownaccord.com/

Gary Dolan, a platoon leader with Company C (Airborne), 75th Infantry (Ranger), has opted to tell his story in a form unusual for combat veterans of the Vietnam era. Of Their Own Accord is his masterful novel of a year in the life of an Airborne Ranger platoon leader during the height of the war. Although this author has elected fictional device, let me assure you that the story you are about to read is based almost entirely on actual events. During his year in the deadly Central Highlands of South Vietnam, this young West Point graduate defied conventional doctrine and made the decision to lead by example and not by privilege of rank. He personally led numerous 6-man long range patrols deep into enemy territory, not for personal glory, but because he could not…would not…send his men into mortal combat without sharing the peril with them. His story is both revealing and hard-hitting, and runs the full gamut of emotions from abject fear to unqualified heroism, from tender love and devotion to unbridled loyalty to a very special brotherhood of warriors. Dolan reveals the truism that only a combat veteran understands—that it is not patriotism that inspires young men to such bravery, but their love and devotion to their comrades.