RARE! Brigadier General James Lawton Collins Jr. FIRST PRINTING EDITION Department of the U.S. Army Vietnam War Studies - Private Collection of Fred McLaughlin (Special Forces Airborne Medic)
RARE! Brigadier General James Lawton Collins Jr. FIRST PRINTING EDITION Department of the U.S. Army Vietnam War Studies - Private Collection of Fred McLaughlin (Special Forces Airborne Medic)
Comes with a hand-signed C.O.A.
*Once-in-a-lifetime chance to own an original “FIRST PRINTING EDITION” Department of the U.S. Army Vietnam War Studies series directly from the private collection of Fred McLaughlin (Platoon Leader and Special Forces Medic with Mike Force Special Forces Airborne in the II Corps military sector of South Vietnam).
Title: The Development and Training of the South Vietnamese Army 1950-1972
2 Maps
10+ Illustrations
Page Total: 163
This rare and museum-grade artifact is an original very limited “FIRST EDITION” printing of the Vietnam War Studies series published by the Department of the Army (Washington D.C.). This Vietnam War report contains some of the most detailed maps, photographs, reports, charts, graphs, and first-hand accounts from some of the most infamous combat operations and battles of the Vietnam War.
Authored by Brigadier General James Lawton Collins Jr., Collins served with the Military Assistance Advisory Group in London from February 1951 to December 1952, and at SHAPE from 1953 to 1954. He attended the Armed Forces Staff College from 1954 to 1955. He was on the staff in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Army for Logistics, and then in the Office of the Chief of Staff from 1955 to 1958. Fluent in French, Italian, German and Spanish, he commanded the Army Language School in Monterey, California, and from 1959 to 1962 was the first director of the Defense Language Institute in Washington, D.C. He served for two years in Vietnam as special assistant to General William Westmoreland, spent three years in Washington, D.C., as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, and three years in West Germany as commander of the V Corps Artillery. For his post-war services, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters and another Legion of Merit. The citation for the medal reads:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General James Lawton Collins, Jr. (ASN: 0-21788), United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility with Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, in the Republic of Vietnam, during the period from September 1964 to May 1966.
This original Vietnam War operational report series was produced in limited first print quantities, however, what makes this particular report even rarer is that this report comes directly from the private collection of Fred McLaughlin (Platoon Leader and Special Forces Medic with Mike Force Special Forces Airborne in the II Corps military sector of South Vietnam). During this heroic service in Vietnam, Fred McLaughlin was wounded in combat actions and awarded 4 Purple Hearts. His awards include the Combat Medic Badge, Air Medal with Valor, Bronze Star, and Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm. This “FIRST PRINT” report was from the personal collection of a Vietnam War hero.