A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam, 1965-1972, by James D. Ebert
Presidio Press, 1993
345 pages plus 10 pages of photos, Appendix, Glossary, Notes, Bibliographyand Index
Description
Finally, a book that focuses completely on the life of the "grunt" (infantry soldier) in Vietnam. The voices of more than sixty army and marine infantrymen speak with restrained elegance of their experiences from induction to the jungles and rice paddies of "Indian country" to their return to "the World".
From I Corps in the north to IV corps in the south, and from the early days of 1965 to the American withdrawal in 1972, A Life in a Year offers a unique look at the grunt's war in Vietnam - as seen through the eyes of the soldiers trhemselves. The insights of these combat veterans are woven into the narrative, giving the reader a sense of what it was like to serve in an infantry unit fighting Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese regulars. Veternans can compare their own experiences who served in different time periods during the Vietnam era and in different parts of the country.
Civilians and veterans who did not experience life in the "boonies" will appreciate the author's candid explanation of the war in terms that will help them to better understand the individual soldier's experience.
This lively, topical account will appeal to both scholars and casual readers alike.
A Life in a Year is sure to become a classic and is a valuable addition to Vietnam War literature.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Induction
2. Basic Training
3. Advanced Individual Training
4. Going
5. Arriving and Processing
6. Being New
7. First Combat
8. Humping the Bush
9. Hazards of the Field
10. Changing and Coping
11. Offensive Operations
12. The Bitter Angles of our Nature
13. Civilians?
14. "Short!"
Epilogue Eating the Toad
Appendix List of Interview Subjects
Glossary
Notes
Selected Bibnliography
Index
Photos
Ed Hoban, I Corps, F Troop, 8th Cavalry, gfall of 1971
Robert Bonesteel, 9th Marine Regiment sniper, fall 1967
Jack Freitag, scout observer with Company F, 2nd Battallion, 1st Marines, 1st Marines Division, July 1966
Doug Kurtz, 9th Infantry Division, Dong Tam, 1969
James Stanton, 1st Marine REgiment, 1st Marine Division, Hill 55, summer of 1969
Randall Hoelzen at LZ Jamie in August 1969
William Harken and Stephen Frederick in basic training posed photo, Company D 2nd Battalion, LTAS Devils, Fort Lewis, Washington
Sgt Stephen Frederick, 101st Airborne Division, Central Highlands
Jerry Johnson and "Kim", Highway 13 north of Saigon, June 1969
Leonard Dutcher, Chu Lai, spring 1968
Dwight Reiland and 3 unidentified, Firebase Bastogne 1971
John Merrell and "Ramona" (a monkey), Central Highlands, March 1969
Jerry Severson, Operation Junction City, spring 1967
Glen Oldstad, M113 Armored Personnel CArrier near Nui Ba Den, 1968
Marine Jeff Yushta and two buddies, I Corps, 1969
Tom Schultz, Central Highlands, August 1968
Tom Schultz, 6 unidentified members of his mortar squad (including one African American), Tay Ninh Province, winter 1968.
Marine Tom Magedanz, "Happy Valley" near the DMZ, 2 July 1970
Mike Roberts, 4th infantrt division machine gunner, An Khe, July 1971
Machine gunner Layne Anderson, LZ Gator, Chu Lai, September 1968
