It's too bad.
Fields of Fire was an awsome book.
I must respectfully disagree.
In the first place, fiction works about Vietnam never came close to actual personal (nonfictrion) accounts - not even if the fiction, as in this case, was based on Vietnam experience.
In the second place, I though it was poorly written - for a number of reasons. In fact, I was not able to even finish it.
It was very popular in colleges in the 1980's as a "Vietnam book". That in itself says something.
You never came across any of the great nonfiction works being assigned - such as Company Commander.
In fact, fiction was generally the way that academia liked, and still likes, to approach Vietnam.