MWSA Review

Mokane to Mole City is a sincere, unembellished account of a nineteen-year-old from smalltown Mokane, Missouri, drafted into the military in 1968. It was not his choice to go into the military and it was not his choice to go into the Army. Those decisions were made by the draft lottery and a marine sergeant’s walk down a red line, sending boys in the induction center that day into the Marines on one side and the Army on the other. After three months of training, they would be combat-ready men. Stanley J. Adams introduces his memoir by recounting two recurring dreams that have haunted his nights since returning home from Vietnam. This is also where he introduces his wife, Rita, who encouraged him to begin his road to recovery by telling his story and searching for the men with whom he served. The memoir then centers around his tour of duty as an infantryman assigned to the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (Manchu), Bravo Company from November 1968 to November 1969. “It seems like the daylight always saved us” writes the author, coming out of his nightmare with the break of day just as he and his brothers in arms did after nights of battles and patrols.

Between the covers of this book are two stories. Book One is the author’s memoir of his Vietnam experience and his homecoming. Those who lived through the Vietnam era know their version of those days. Adams’s memoir takes the knowing deeper. Without sensationalizing his experience, he invites the reader to feel in their own way what he experienced.

The pages in between are tributes to the men with whom he has reestablished contact, their reunions, those who lost their lives in Vietnam, and those who made it home and have passed in recent years. Stan and Rita maintain contact with the families of the deceased and foster ongoing relationship. The tribute section is a compilation of the author’s personal journey and information gathered from other relevant sources. Photos and newspaper clippings of young soldiers and their headstones put faces to names and honor their sacrifice. An index of terms, abbreviations, and acronyms assist the understanding of non-military readers.

Ultimately, the author’s words transfer from the battleground to life in general: “Courage is picking up your gear and going into battle when you know you could be killed; bravery is what you do when you get there.” With courage and bravery, Stanley Adams has steered his fear, loss, and pain into the light of day. He has also shone a lasting and meaningful beam on those who put themselves on the line for the rest of us. Thank you.

Review by Janette Stone (June 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Drafted in late May 1968, Adams, barely 20 years old, was quickly transformed into an infantry rifleman on the front lines of the Vietnam War, where he survived a year of combat with the famed “Manchu” Regiment, 25th Infantry “Tropic Lightning” Division. Sent in as replacements for those Bravo Co. soldiers who were killed in the Thanksgiving Day Battle of 1968, Adams and his fellow soldiers were charged with building “Mole City,” a combat patrol base camp near the Cambodian Border, to purposely bait the NVA and disrupt their supply lines through the region. He had been “in country” for less than a month when the NVA attacked Mole City during a Christmas truce, just before midnight on December 22, 1968. The Manchus fought valiantly through the night as their ammo supplies dwindled, and as a last resort, artillery was called in on Mole City. In 2003, Adams began reaching out to the families of fallen comrades and reconnecting with his fellow Manchus – many of whom suffer some form of PTSD as a result of the horrors they experienced in Vietnam. As these surviving warriors age, they are now burying their Manchu Brothers. Fifty years later, through a photographic history featuring 250+ color pictures, Adams recounts his journey from a rural Midwestern town to the jungles of Vietnam, sharing what it's like to fight – and not die – for your country.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 272

Word Count: 73,398