Three Tastes of Nuoc Mam

During the War, Vietnam’s coast had to be protected against Viet Cong ambushes and smuggling. The U.S. forces had destroyers, cruisers and gargantuan aircraft carriers, none suited for inshore patrol. This is the story of the “Brown Water Navy,” the garage-band flotilla assembled to do the job.

Douglas Branson has been to Vietnam several times, including trips in 1966, 1995 and 2011. The first time, he was a 22-year-old, “Brown Water Navy”  lieutenant JG. Subsequent visits were as  a consultant/tourist. Here, Branson recounts three of his Vietnam adventures with humor, detail and insight into the economic, political and gastronomic forces at work.
 

Douglas Branson of Pittsburgh, PA Douglas Branson is the W. Edward Sell Chair in Law at the University of Pittsburgh. Following military service, including a year in Vietnam, he attended Northwestern University, practicing law in Chicago, before receiving an advanced degree at the University of Virginia. He is the author of 14 books including The Last Male Bastion (2010) and No Seat at the Table (2007). He and his wife, Betsy, divide their time between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Seattle, Washington.