Shelby Stanton, the author of six highly acclaimed books on the Vietnam War, presents the definitive work on the U. S. Army Rangers of the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (the "Lerps"), the teams specially selected for extremely dangerous scouting and raiding missions. This authoritative, action-packed account is the first and only complete history of the U. S. Army Rangers in Vietnam. U. S. Army long-range patrol and ranger units in Vietnam highlighted the longest. Sustained American use of combat reconnaissance since the exploratory scout and raiding sorties of the western frontier. The renewed importance of combat reconnaissance was mandated by the impact of Southeast Asian insurgent or low-intensity warfare against an army designed for conventional, linear operations with stabilized front lines. In Vietnam, where a well-defined front rarely existed, the Army organized special patrol teams to discern the fragmented battlefield. And detect guerilla activity. These teams, later designated as rangers, operated deep in hostile territory to find the enemy, provide advance warning, and conduct small precision strikes. They led a very perilous existence.