Military Vietnam

Jeff Danziger, one of the leading political cartoonists of his generation, captures the fear, sorrow, absurdity, and unintended but inevitable consequences of war with dark humor and penetrating moral clarity.

In 1967, at age 19, John Stillman - refusing to wait for the draft - voluntarily enlisted in the Army to aid his fellow countrymen in one of the most opposed involvements in our nation’s history: the Vietnam War. Written with John’s daughter, Lori Stillman, Jumping from Helicopters is a vivid and moving memoir that unearths 50 years of repressed memories with stunning accuracy and raw details.

In the late summer of 1968, several intelligence sources stated that numerous American POW's were being held in bamboo cages for transport by vehicle up the Ho Chi Minh Trail from the North Vietnamese Army stronghold the Plei Trap Valley. Special Forces CPT Joe Dietrich and 1LT Don Bendell volunteered to lead a helicopter assault into the Plei Trap Valley with 100 Montagnard mercenaries as the point element of a joint task force of soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division.

Grady Myers was an artistic but aimless teenager in 1968, when, desperate for troops, the U.S. Army overlooked his extreme nearsightedness and transformed him into Hoss, an M-60 machine gunner. His memoir Boocoo Dinky Dow: My Short, Crazy Vietnam War is by turns funny and sobering. Grady recounts his military initiation at Fort Lewis, where there could be a fuzzy line between training and torture.

Noam Chomsky dismisses efforts to resurrect Camelot - an attractive American myth portraying JFK as a shining knight promising peace, foiled only by assassins bent on stopping this lone hero from withdrawing from Vietnam. Chomsky argues that US institutions an political culture, not individual presidents, are the key to understanding US behavior during the Vietnam War.

21 Months, 24 Days is an engaging memoir of a blue-collar kid turned soldier. Threatened by the draft in the late 60s, he enlisted in the Army to avoid becoming a grunt, yet ended up one anyway. He endured a grueling war in Vietnam and then returned to a country too angry to care. While his journey took unexpected turns, his choices got him there, so he did his best to react positively and keep moving forward.

Crossbow was Don Bendell's first book ever, but many still say that it was his best, as it was written very much from the heart. It is the autobiographical story of a young very gung ho Green Beret first lieutenant in 1968 and 1969 and his love affair with the Jeh tribe of Montagnards, a proud, family-oriented tribespeople in Vietnam's mountainous Central Highlands region, the action and intrigue of a horrific war, and the plight of the Montagnards who were racially-discriminated against by our allies in Saigon.

Following their fallen brothers home, Andy Carter and Jim Anderson struggle to carve out a normal life post-combat. Dead-end jobs are the least of the insults they must endure. Instead of the hero’s welcome they’d expected, they’re greeted with contempt or apathy by those waiting back home. Betrayed by those they fought to protect and burdened with the guilt of surviving, the friends make the only choice that feels right—they reenlist. After all, who’s going to help protect the soldiers left behind?

Dive into the world of Neal Middleton, an intrepid Military Policeman who served during the tail end of the Vietnam War. MP: Of The Troops and For The Troops chronicles his riveting journey-from his enlistment's backstory to his gripping experiences stationed abroad. Travel with Neal as he navigates PTSD, confronts fatal traffic accidents, encounters deadly drug overdoses, and witnesses the tension of race riots.

1980, Vietnam, and the war is over. The shooting has stopped, and the so-called ‘liberated’ nation is at peace. They say. Ben Smith recalls his flight home in 1973, watching Tan Son Nhut disappear beneath the clouds. A veteran of an SF Rapid Reaction Force, he’s seen his share of fighting and come close to getting killed. Now it's over. Never again. So he thinks.

In Vietnam, river warfare was often conducted in the dark. It was always dangerous, sometimes fatal - especially in the eastern end of the Cong-plagued Mekong Delta. In 1967, US Navy Lt. Wynn Goldsmith was the "river rat" who led the first MK II PBR patrol boats in brutal combat. It was a deadly business. These sailors, famous for their courage and combat effectiveness, faced sniper bullets, machine guns, and mines while searching sampans, patrolling treacherous enemy-controlled waterways like Ambush Alley, and rescuing crews from burning boats in the middle of firefights.

In Vietnam, we weren’t out to be heroes. We just did our jobs. For a helicopter pilot, each day was like all the others. You flew the mission and never stopped to think that it might be your last. You didn’t think about the bullet holes in the helicopter, the cracks in the tail boom, or any of it until night, lying in bed when you couldn’t think of anything else.

A former brother-in-arms has done the unforgivable—Carter and the others must do whatever it takes to survive and find justice. A prisoner, transported to a plane for a court-martial in the States, will face an almost certain death penalty. This promise of justice is a small comfort for Carter and his squad. But a fortuitously timed rocket attack sees the prisoner freed, and he slips away into the Vietnamese jungle. Carter, Morrison, Anderson, and Miller are pulling security detail at a firebase in the Truong Son Mountains when they hear the news.

The stories that I write and tell are about the extraordinary men of SOG, MACVSOG, Ailitary Assistance Command, Vietnam, Special Operations group, code-named The Studies and Observation Group. SOG was the best kept secret of the vietnam war, so secret that it was labeled a “black” operation, meaning that its very existence was concealed, even denied by the United States government. This top secret unit existed for only eight years; January 1964 through May 1972.

The year is 1969. Private Andy Carter serves in Quang Ngai Province with his brothers in arms. While any one of them would die for each other, a vocal draftee in their squad constantly stirs up trouble. Ramsey, a former anti-war protestor and enemy sympathizer, believes they’re on the wrong side of the war. His stance angers his fellow soldiers and leaves them wary of him. When a routine recon mission uncovers an enemy tunnel, Carter suspects there’s more than meets the eye. This mission will leave Carter questioning the value of a soldier’s life and the madness of war.

Author John J. Culbertson, a former Fifth Marine sniper himself, presents the riveting true stories of young Americans who fought with bolt rifles and bounties on their heads during the fiercest combat of the war, from 1967 through the desperate Tet battle for Hue in early '68.

Finally, A Parade for You is a collection of mini-biographies of United States war veterans who served their country during the Vietnam War. These brave people sacrificed their peaceful lives and joined one of the many life-changing cultural upheavals of the mid-20th century. They were not famous, nor from privileged backgrounds. Today, most of them still battle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and far too many are ill with such diseases as diabetes, cancer, and other related disorders. They now find peace, and though they struggle with it, grace.

The year is 1970, and the war in Vietnam rages on. Sergeant Eddie Henderson returned home from his first tour of duty a broken man, haunted by the promises he made to his fallen brothers. Promises he failed to keep.... Now, he’s going back. Leaving his new wife behind, Eddie returns to the war-torn jungles, where he is handpicked for a special recon-and-rescue squad.

Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck are best friends for life. So when one of the teens is drafted into the Vietnam War, the others sign up, too. Although they each serve in a different branch, they are fighting the war together - and they pledge to do all they can to come home together. Haunted by dreams of violence and death, Morris makes it his personal mission to watch over his friends - and the best place to do that is in the US Navy. Stationed off the coast of Vietnam on the USS Boston, Morris and his fellow sailors provide crucial support to the troops on the ground.

Warren Robinson planned to go to law school after completing his undergraduate degree. He saw a career in law as a chance to leave his small hometown for a new life in the big city. In another time, Robinson might have achieved his goal, but the year was 1967, and the Vietnam War was reaching its bloody height. Knowing he would be drafted if he went ahead with his plans, Robinson asked for his name to be put at the top of his community's selective service list.