Swift Silent Deadly

In November 1968, 20-year-old Norman W. VanCor, a Recon Marine, would step off a Continental Airlines plane onto the tarmac in Da Nang, South Viet Nam and travel to Quang Tri on the bed of a 6-by truck, through mud and torrential rain. Quang Tri, the base camp and headquarters of Third Marine Division, Third Reconnaissance Battalion, Charlie Company, Team 2, would be his new home.

This story chronicles VanCor’s missions into the jungle with his four team members in Ringlet. Countless missions in harm’s way, five Marines would have to find the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), gather intelligence, break away to a helicopter rendezvous and return to base camp to report their findings. They ventured into the DMZ and beyond, and into the jungle’s grip. Some missions were successful, others would end in fierce firefights and men would die. This story is VanCor’s. His experiences are the heart and soul of the book. His legacy to his family is real, sometimes heart-wrenching and sometimes even a little humorous. VanCor writes about the mental state of being at war. His emotions come alive throughout the book with vivid detail that chronicles the everyday life in base camp as well as the graphic details of survival in the jungle with enemy eyes watching and ready to strike.