Frederick Kroesen grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, attended Rutgers University, and joined the Army ROTC program in 1942. He then did basic training and OCS, and was commissioned in 1944, after which he joined the 63d Infantry Division and was sent to France. Kroesen, as a colonel, deployed to Vietnam in 1968 as brigade commander with the 23d Infantry Division (Americal) in Quang Tin Province. He participated in Operation POCAHONTAS FOREST, which he describes as “the greatest training exercise” he’d ever been on. In 1971, Kroesen returned to Vietnam as the operations officer (J3) at MACV headquarters, and then later was commander of the Americal. After the Americal Division left Vietnam, he was appointed deputy commander of XXIV Corps. He remembers evacuating a South Vietnamese command staff with Jolly Green Giants after the Easter Offensive, the Americal Division being deactivated piecemeal, and a tremendous typhoon in Chu Lai, 1971, which did more damage than the enemy had ever done to his division. He discusses the leadership, and notes that he was satisfied with the battalion commanders and brigade commanders, but not impressed with the training that created staff sergeants from privates in 90 days (Shak-n-Bakes). Kroesen believes we won that war militarily; we lost it diplomatically.