The Beast Was Out There: The 28th Infantry Black Lions and the Battle of Ong Thanh, Vietnam, October 1967.

Chicago:: Cantigny First Division Foundation, 2002.. Hardbound . BINDING/CONDITION: black binding; a Good+ book, with a Very Good dust jacket.. 8vo (8.5 inches tall) . Appendixes, glossary, sources, indexes. Description: Includes a few black and white illustrations. The publisher's blurb reads: ''On the morning of October 17, 1967, the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Infantry Division's 28th Regiment (Black Lions) initiated contact with the 271st VC Regiment near the jungle stream of Ong Thanh, some 50 miles north of Saigon. The ensuing clash quickly escalated into a full-scale battle that saw the VC gaining fire superiority over the Americans, attacking with skill and ferocity, inflicting 134 casualties, including 57 killed, by the time the fighting had ended. This book is the product of a decades-long effort by James Shelton, the 2-28's former operations officer. Creating both a historical narrative and a personal memoir, the author reconstructs the chain of events leading up to the violent encounter with the VC regiment and describes the battles' tragic and disastrous unfolding. In doing so, he reveals aspects of fighting often neglected by historians.'' Brigadier General James E Shelton (Ret.) Served in eight army divisions and the Berlin Brigade. He commanded three rifle platoons, two rifle companies, an airborne infantry battalion and a mechanized infantry brigade.