Napalm's Embrace by W. Thomas Leonard

Napalm's Embrace is non-infantry centric novel of the Vietnam War. USMC 2nd Lieutenant Jack Brady, a civil affairs officer is assigned the thankless task of winning the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese rice farmers out in the countryside. In this attempt, he is thwarted by the military bureaucracy and intensifying war. The story is a close up look at the South Vietnamese people, their culture, and the horrors of the war they endured.