Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I read this book in its hardcover edition, when it first came out in 1993. At that time I was a "Rogue Warrior" buff and thats how I first heard of the legendary Jim Watson. I first learned of his book from Watson himself when briefly talking to him on the phone at the UDT/SEAL museum at Fort Pierce, FL in late 92 or early 93. I eagerly awaited this book to come out, then special ordered it from the local book store (this was before the Internet).
I found "Point Man" an interesting book, full of action but I could see how it would only be interesting if you are a SEAL fan. To someone who is not into the SEALs or SOF, it would probably be really boring. I found Watson's descriptions of the "original east coast SEALs" in the early to mid sixties interesting. What an interesting subculture of the Navy.
I knew that the east coast SEALs trained regularly in Tidewater, Virginia's Great Dismal Swamp. But until I read Watson's book I had no idea the SEALs of his era trained in the swamps of the Black River in Southeastern, NC. While the Uwharrie mountains of central NC were the training grounds for the sixties era Green Berets, the Great Dismal Swamp and Black River era of North Carolina were the riverine training grounds for the east coast Vietnam era SEALs
Full of little stories about the original east coast SEALs, it truly illustrates the laid back confidence, devil may care, "Marlboro man" mentality of the Vietnam era SEALs. Watson was in SOF long before it was popular, in fact he was in it when SOF was actually unpopular.
Watson describes many of the unique SEAL schools he attended. Among the self described hardest was the USMC's SERE or "escape and evasion" school. Watson, along with other original sixties era SEALs, were placed in a simulated Asian communist POW camp at the Marine Corp's mountain warfare school in the Sierra Nevada mountains of CA. There, he underwent some seriously evil training that probably could have been described as flat out sadistic. Back in those days, the Marines were the toughest hombres in the US military and corporal punishment was still legal in the Marines. Physical and psychological abuse in the USMC was rampant in those days and from his comments, Watson obviously didnt care for it.
The only thing that I didnt like was how Watson obviously is actually proud of his alcoholism. He has this in common with Richard Marcinko. The book is peppered with little stories and comments about booze. Alcoholism doesnt impress me. I would have left out most of the stories about booze.
I actually met Jim Watson a year after reading his book. While visiting the UDT/SEAL museum in Fort Pierce, FL in 1994 he was there as curator. I got to shake his hand and got his autograph. He tried to sell me a copy of his book, but I told him I had already read his book.
All in all a great story of the original east coast Navy SEALs, from the plankowner days of the early sixties to the end of Vietnam in the early seventies.
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Point ManChief Petty Officer James "Patches" Watson was there at the start. One of the first to come out of the famed Underwater Demolition Team 21, he was an initial member -- a "plank owner" -- of America's deadliest and most elite fighting force, the U.S. Navy SEALs.
Through three tours in the jungle hell of Vietnam, he walked the point -- staying alert to trip wires, booby traps and punji pits, guiding his squad of amphibious fighters on missions of rescue, reconnaissance and demolition -- confronting a war's unique terrors head-on, unprotected . . . and unafraid.
This is the story of a hero told from the heart and from the gut -- an authentic tour of duty with one of the most legendary commandoes of the Vietnam War.
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