basis. That coverage, which has often since come to dictate policy, as images sent forth from Somalia, incited a growing call for the war to be ended.  As former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John "Jack" Vessey states, in his forward to "Expendable Warriors," "Bruce highlights that…because the battles around Khe Sanh lasted seventy-seven days and the 'agony of Khe Sanh' played in the press for that period this series of battles was, as pointed out, the culminating point of the Vietnam War."

Why Bruce Clarke?
Colonel Bruce B.G. Clarke was a soldier before he was born. His father was killed in action, and his mother, as long as he can remember, was called "Colonel." Following that legacy, Bruce Clarke became a cadet at West Point, where he overloaded on political science courses and graduated third in his class in military history. Before going to Vietnam, as a ranger and airborne qualified officer, he commanded a 160 man battle unit. As the only American officer who fought in Khe Sanh village before the siege, commanded part of the perimeter at the combat base during the siege, and then helped plan the relief operations, Bruce Clarke brings a unique and untold perspective to this defining battle of the Vietnam War.  As General John Vessey says, "Colonel Clarke has had a unique perspective on the battles that raged on the Khe Sanh Plateau in early 1968…[a battle that] has never been adequately reported in existing histories." He goes on to say, "Colonel Clarke's analysis of the events around Khe Sanh is must reading for future combat leaders. In fact, it should be read by everyone. We all need to heed Bruce's admonition that 'We need to learn from our mistakes and ensure that we don't repeat them. We owe it to the next generation of brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines that they will not have to endure similar tests of their courage and determination.'"

During his thirty year military career, Colonel Clarke commanded  as few as a platoon of forty men to a brigade of five thousand soldiers. He has served as a Political-Military Analyst at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, where he actively negotiated with the Soviets.  He was the Training Manager at the Royal Saudi Land Forces Armor Institute, supervising the fielding of the M1A2 tank.  Early in his career he returned to West Point to teach. In addition to his degree from the Military Academy at West Point, he has earned a Masters of Arts Degree from UCLA, and is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and the National War College. All this has given him a unique understanding of military strategy and warfare. Today, Bruce B. G. Clarke is one of the most widely published Colonels to have served in the army, and currently serves as a subject matter expert for several media outlets on the war on terrorism.

The battle of Khe Sanh was won and the Vietnam War was lost at the same time. Colonel Clarke's first hand experience in that gruesome battle combined with his political and military insight have allowed him to describe that battle on multiple levels, from the individual soldier in the trenches, to the families of MIAs, to the strategy of President Johnson and General Westmoreland. In telling their stories, in the most descriptive and visceral manner, Bruce Clarke makes the agony, despair, and valor that is war come alive for the reader. In short, "Expendable Warriors: The Untold Story of Khe Sanh" is not merely an explanation of the past, but a guidebook for the future