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MWSA Review
Jamie Thompson’s Point, Wilderness War in Vietnam and Cambodia is a unique insight into a combat infantryman’s experience in Vietnam.
Walking point (leading a patrol, platoon, or company), could be the most dangerous job in Vietnam. Sergeant Jamie Thompson doesn’t avoid such duty, he craves it. To him, he has never felt so focused, so alive, as when leading his unit through Vietnam or Cambodia. After he is wounded, he must decide if he can overcome his fear and return to the job he loves, and to the men he feels sworn to teach and protect.
The author has an extraordinary memory, and relays his entire army experience in vivid detail. The book is very technically well written and Thompson does a very good job of mixing combat field experience with tales of fun and camaraderie in the rear areas. This is the grunt’s perception, no strategy or heavy moral points, just survival and love of one another in combat.
I especially enjoyed how the author’s upbringing was reflected in his memoir. His father always taught him to “do the right thing,” and that was clear in his writing. He had several chances to make it easy on himself, but instead took care of his men and his mission first.
Any Vietnam grunt, especially one who was wounded, will appreciate this story and relate. Also, anyone interested in the Vietnam experience because of a family member will learn more about what their loved one endured in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
Review by Rob Ballister (February 2020)
Author's Synopsis
Jamie Thompson arrived in Vietnam in April 1970, as a newly minted sergeant E-5. In his first month in-country, he became the straight-leg infantry squad leader of 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 5th of the 7th, 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile), serving in that capacity until he was wounded in Cambodia during the Incursion two months later. Following a three-month recuperation, he rejoined his squad in the field. During all but his first few weeks in the field he walked point whenever his squad had the duty. Upon discharge in 1971, he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal, and other ribbons and medals from both the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments.
Between 1967 and 1986 he had seven freelance articles published in Chicago suburban newspapers, VFW Magazine and the Chicago Tribune. In 2000, he published an article on mining law in the Great Plains Natural Resources Journal, a law review of the University of South Dakota School of Law. Also in 2000, he graduated from the USD School of Law with a JD degree and remains a member of the bar in SD. He edited and wrote the environmental assessment and management plan for the Black Rock Desert High Rock Canyon-Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area; in 2004 this plan won the BLM Director’s “Four C’s Award” and the “Federal Plan of the Year Award” from The American Planning Association.
In 2007 he retired from federal service, mostly with the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. In 2015, after a twelve-year battle, his wife Nancy died of breast cancer. Jamie now lives in the Reno, Nevada, area near his daughter and her family.
ISBN/ASIN: Kindle E-book ASIN: B07Y5Q4JJS, Paperback ISBN: 9781692848842, ASIN: 1692848844
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 506