James Strauss

This is the second book in the Thirty Days has September trilogy; each book covering a period of ten days. I would highly recommend reading book one before beginning this story. In this installment, Lt. Strauss (Junior) leads his segregated company of soldiers on a mission through the A Shau Valley to provide security for an ARVN company that plans to build a firebase in the area. However, the mission turns in to one of survival where he and his men have to outthink and outsmart a superior force of NVA soldiers who want nothing more than to kill them.

Junior and his men find themselves facing an NVA tank without a weapon to kill it. Survival required thinking outside of the box and a heroic feat by one of their fellow soldiers. The enemy is unseen and most of the story finds the company on one side or the other of a raging river without artillery support. Soldiers are dying and left where they fell until they are able to recover them later in the week. Junior takes it upon himself to walk point and take daring chances during this game of cat and mouse. His men are also beginning to believe he is invincible and fashion talismen of him for their own protection.

Junior continues to get the blame for the deaths of those around him, blamed for his mission's failure, and threatened with possible Courts-Martial when returning to the rear area. Other officers arrive to take over the company but their bull-headed attitudes also result in their own deaths and many of their own men. Junior soon ends up being the only surviving officer of two rifle companies and goes about doing everything possible to keep them all safe. The book ends in a cliff-hanger leaving readers hungry to find out what happens next.

There were some areas in the book that seemed to drag on a bit and typos popped up occasionally. However, Mr. Strauss does an excellent job of bringing readers into his world of misery, fear, and hope. I'm looking forward to his third installment in the near future.… (meer)