Tales from Monkey Mountain (ePub)

Behind the scenes of America's first TV war.

“With the proliferation of televisions, news networks strived to have the most exciting, dramatic, and attractive stories. They competed for the finest reporters, highest-rated equipment, and largest number of viewers. ... For the first time in American history, the news from the front lines was brought straight into the living room.” - Jessie Kratz, Historian of the National Archives

As American families sat down for dinner in front of their TV sets 50 years ago, horrific stories from Vietnam flashed across the screen. It was one of the country's bloodiest conflicts and we had a front-row seat 10,000 miles away

Vietnam has been the subject of hundreds of books, movies and commentaries for decades. But we know little about how these stories were gathered and told, nor about the men and women who risked everything to tell them. Our gaze back then was on the fighting at a time when the war everyone hated and feared reached a climax.

“Tales from Monkey Mountain: Stories of the Vietnam War” is a different account of Vietnam. It is a war seen through the eyes of a young Navy press escort officer stationed in DaNang, not far from the Demilitarized Zone separating the Vietnamese north and south.

Mike Hoyt became immersed in almost every aspect of the war and in the telling of its stories. A trained journalist, Hoyt takes us into the heart of the conflict for a rare look behind the scenes at how the news media went about covering the fighting.

“Tales from Monkey Mountain” takes us on a journey through the strange, uncharted waters of news gathering in combat. We follow Hoyt down dangerous rivers, into smoky bars, through enemy attacks, onto the flight decks of aircraft carriers, on Swift Boats and river patrols, lumbering Navy supply boats dodging mines and into furious Naval gunfire support missions on the South China Sea.

We glimpse the inner world of Vietnam and its remote, ancient villages and hamlets with names such as Cua Viet, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, Hoi An, Chu Lai and Tam Toa. There are stories of killing and hardship, of love and kindness, of unbridled heroism, of loss and laughter in a war-torn place that changed America forever.

Through a series of often humorous vignettes, Hoyt pulls back the curtain on a war that was never liked or understood. You'll climb aboard patrol boats, helicopters and ships as warfighters go about the job of confronting a fierce enemy who could kill from a passing motorbike. It delivers a firsthand look at the uncertain life and times of reporters and those who accompanied them into and around the battlefield.

This is a yet untold story filled with irony, fleeting terror and looming questions about life, death and survival. It is a soul-searching, often humorous, remembrance of a brutal, unforgiving time in the life of a young man confronting his own fears and a search for truth.

“Tales from Monkey Mountain” probes the ironies of men fighting and dying, while others drink beer and revel in racy stage shows just miles away. It is about war at its best and worst. About ordinary men and women who were turned into heroes when they least expected it and who left part of themselves behind in a small country far away.

So now, see the Vietnam War from the inside out in a way that perhaps you never imagined.