Tonsetic, Robert L.

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Tonsetic, Robert L.

(Robert Tonsetic)

PERSONAL:

Male.

CAREER:

Writer. Military service: U.S. Army, served in Vietnam as infantry commander in the 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Warriors: An Infantryman's Memoir of Vietnam, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2004.

Days of Valor: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War, Casemate (Philadelphia, PA), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Robert L. Tonsetic's experiences as an American infantry commander in the Vietnam War are the source of both of his books, Warriors: An Infantryman's Memoir of Vietnam and Days of Valor: An Inside Account of the Bloodiest Six Months of the Vietnam War. Days of Valor is a detailed, chronological accounting of the actions of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade, beginning in December, 1967, and continuing to May, 1968—the time of the infamous Tet offensive. Using reports from eyewitnesses, diaries and letters from those involved, staff reports, and photographs, the book gives a full picture of the many battles engaged in by the 199th during those months. "The treatment of this period is superb," stated Edward Fennell in a review of the book for the Empire Page Web site. "It does not attempt to politicize either the war or demonize the enemy. It is simply one man's attempt to put a magnifying glass to a war and the professional soldiers who fought it." Throughout the book, Tonsetic refers to himself in the third person, but he "relies heavily on evocative first-person testimony from his fellow infantrymen to paint a picture of almost nonstop combat," remarked a reviewer for Publishers Weekly.