MWSA Review
If you're looking for a genuine book on the Vietnam war experience, Memories from Vietnam 45 Years and a Wake-Up is your book. Authors Brad Newell and Bill Strouse did a great job in compiling the experiences of members of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 11th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division while in Vietnam from December 1967 until November 1971. The authors served in Bravo Company themselves at the time, and their presence in the conflict alongside the other veterans who contributed to the book provided added credibility and focus.
I enjoyed reading this book. Reading it, I imagined a group of veterans sitting around and telling stories from their own memories in that war. Some stories would make them cry and some would make them laugh. The individual chapters felt just like that, as though you were there with that circle of veterans, and they were talking straight to you. The book isn't about one person's experiences, it's about how the war affected a tight knit group of soldiers, true brothers-in-arms.
I recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the Vietnam War or wishing to learn more about a soldiers life in combat.
Reviewed by Bob Doerr, MWSA Reviewer
Synopsis:
69 short stories from soldiers of Bravo Co., 3rd BN, 1st INF REG, 11th LIB, Americal Division, presented chronologically in 1968, providing a more personal look into the daily routines in the lives of infantry soldiers, both in combat and at rest. Stories are humorous as well as sad, and provide a different perspective on the Vietnam conflict. The stories begin with jungle training in Hawaii, then transport to VN on a troop ship, and follows the soldiers for their one year tour of duty operating in I CORPS from the South China Sea west to Laos and Cambodia.
ISBN/ASIN: 978-0-9966598-0-2
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Genre(s): Nonfiction, History, Memoir
Number of Pages: 261