Blood on the Risers An Airborne Soldiers Thirty five Months in Vietnam

From Dak To to the Tet Offensive, John Leppelman saw it all. In three tours of duty, he made combat jumps, spent months of fruitless effort looking for the enemy, watched as his budies died because of lousy leadership and lousy weapons. He saw the war as few others did, and lives to tell about the valor and sacrifice that outlived the dead.

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Believe what you like
I checked the Jump Manifest and contacted the 173rd Assosciation about his name not appearing for the Junction City Jump and they said he most certainly was not there and he died before they could confront him about it.

To satisfy my own curiosity I pulled his record from the National Archives and no where does it say he participated in a combat jump. HOWEVER everything else in terms of unit assignments appears to check out. He was in C/2/503rd 173rd AB and with Army River Boats and he was attatched to Charlie Rangers. However his book strikes me as exagerated and contrived personally I don’t believe a damn thing about it. I believe he was attatched to the units he was in and that he won Bronze Star but other than that, I believe nothing.

3 Stars Curious about the combat jump
The book is a fairly good read. I was with the 173d during Junction City and all of the hill battles. I only have a question really, did you make the combat jump? I know you said you did but in the Official Jump Manifest for that combat jump, your name is NOT on the manifest. What’s up with that???

5 Stars “What the f*ck, over?”
Quoted in this reviews title is the mantra that emits from the lips of one overloaded by indescribable decibels, debris and doubt at the point of enemy contact, especially if he’s holding the radio. The truth carries from this book, and you ask “could I keep up?”, as you devour each page-turning chapter. Leppelman moves through three distinct battle venues with his survival intuition operating at such a high level, his longevity amid death and gore strangely makes sense. Nam is described in a pithy manner by a bright young man discovering irony and his deep inner resources at break-neck pace. The reader will discomfit as good men die while the fatuous live, and Leppelman nails professional soldiering, from airborne to guerilla.

3 Stars Slip away….
Good book, Leppelman was a very crazy guy I’ll give him that. The books is good ,it is a quick and easy read. Just like every other war book , follows him around the jungle on missions and his buddies.But the tittle of the book should not have been Blood on the Risers, it does not really have of an Airborne feel to it. nevertheless still worth reading if you are bored and pulling 24hr ops…

3 Stars Slip away….
Good book, Leppelman was a very crazy guy I’ll give him that. The books is good ,it is a quick and easy read. Just like every other war book , follows him around the jungle on missions and his buddies.But the tittle of the book should not have been Blood on the Risers, it does not really have of an Airborne feel to it. nevertheless still worth reading.

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