Death in the Delta: Diary of a Navy Seal

By Alan Maki and Gary R. Smith

Mankind is a predator by nature and a hunter by instinct. I loved to hunt. It was in my blood. And I was now ready to head back to the bush, to hunt the biggest game in the world--man.

With five tours of Vietnam and 257 combat missions under his belt, Navy SEAL Gary R. Smith has witnessed hell itself. DEATH IN THE DELTA covers his third and fourth tours in Nam. From Cam Ranh Bay to Nam Canh to night insertions into Cambodia, he served as SEAL adviser to volatile Vietnamese special forces, including the fierce PRUs (Provincial Reconnaissance Units), Biet Hai, and Regional Forces. Often accompanying their missions, Smith vividly captures the nightmare of a jungle war, whether staging sudden deadly ambushes or sitting silently for hours soaking in mosquito-infested swamps.
It wasn't pretty, but Smith makes no apologies for himself or his fellow warriors in this no-holds-barred account. For him, its a privilege and honor to pass on a small part of the history of the U.S. Navy SEALs experience as he saw it in Vietnam.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345485114
• ISBN13: 9780345485113
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Viet Nam as seen by a warrior.

Gary Smith does an excellent job of documenting the life of a Navy Seal in the VN conflict. His book talks not only of his missions, and his off duty time, but includes descriptions of the Viet Namese people as well.

A very interesting book

A very interesting book. I enjoyed it. It is for all people who like Navy SEAL's

If you love the Navy SEALs, you gotta read it!

It is a very well written book that takes a good look at the SEALs in Vietnam. It is very detailed and makes you think you were really in these situations.

Great Book

Gary Smith tells about his five tours of duty as a Navy Seal in Vietnam through three different books: Death in the Jungle, Death in the Delta and Master Chief. All of these well written books are exceptional in that they not only tell the story of terror filled seconds during battle, but Smith also talks about the sheer boredom and mundane tasked that must be done. His stories about killing VC - VC ants that is, while waiting on ambushes are funny in otherwise near death incounters. Smith is able to talk about the inhumane acts that occur in war just as he is able to talk about the fun times. I was brought to tears while reading about the mother and baby killed during an ambush of a Junk and equally shed tears of laughter when he cooked "Venison" that barked! Smith does an exceptional job interspersing Vietnamese words and phrases in all three books which gives the read a sense that Smith was a professional that took the time to increase his advantage by learning their language. The one criticism I can point out is that he listed too many of the overnight ambushes. It became hard to distinguish one from another after awhile. I also get the feeling that there is much more to tell about his tour with the PRU but that it might bring up too many unpleasant memories. Finally, Smith makes a one sentence statement that Captain Gormly was one of the best COs he ever served under which speaks volumes about both warriors. A Very good set of books and I recommend these to anyone interested in getting a birds eye view of war from a Seal's perspective.