Vietnam: No Regrets: One Soldier's Tour of Duty

I am not a professional reviewer, nor am I a Vietnam vet. I passed by the authors booth at an expo and bought the book, in large part to clear my conscience for not joining my friends in the Vietnam experience. I returned to my booth and could not put the book down. I returned to Richard many times during the 3 days that we exhibited and he is a genuinely humble man who answered all of my questions. How did you know exactly where you were in that engagement? "I checked the after-action reports in Washington" he replied. How bad was the water available to you in the field? "Not only was it polluted, but it picked up the odor of the plastic canteen and the iodine tablets". I finished the book in about 7 hours and bought four more for gifts. If you didn't serve, you need to read this book! If you did serve, I salute you.

I have been lucky enough over the last few years to have been associated with about dozen veterans from the old Wolfhounds. I have read several books about them now and I am becoming a strong believer that this was a special group of men. Author J. Richard Watkins writes his own memoirs from his "tour of duty" in Vietnam with the 1/27th Wolfhounds, 25th Infantry Division. He was there from late 1969 through 1970 and he chronicles his year long physical and emotional journey in his book "Vietnam - No Regrets: One Soldier's Tour of Duty." This is a grunt's eye view of the real war that took place in the jungles and the rice paddies of Nam during that time. It is not about some guy's imaged adventures in Saigon or some other in-country big base. This is about the guys who went out there for weeks at a time humping their equipment across the land in the heat and the rain. It is about the 10 percent of those who served in this war who saw combat and experienced warfare weekly. The author takes us out on patrol with him as a "newbie" and his first ambush. The mission was successful but they killed two children and an old man in the process. It takes its toll on our young soldier. Even this many years removed from that accident of fate - he truly feels some spiritual and emotional pain, even though he did not personally fire a round, he knows he was part of the team. From this story, near the beginning of his book, we realize that there is more to this man's story than just details of events that he writes about. The book explores the thought processes that go on while out on patrol or on an ambush. It covers the "Dear John" letter from home and his friendship with his fellow Wolfhounds. There is a subtle emotional thread that runs throughout this book that makes Watkins very human and vulnerable. Readers will find themselves liking the men he writes about and will be able to feel their pain and joys as well. The book is well written. It is an honest portrayal of what life was like out in the field for the combat soldiers. The reader will feel at times that they are experiencing these events as first hand observers, as the author pulls us into the story with good descriptions and phrasing. This ranks as one of the best books out about the Vietnam War from an ordinary soldiers' point of view. A must read book. The author has captured the essence of that experience and that time in our history! I enjoyed the book very much and could relate to what the Watkins talks about and where he was at. I believe that non-veterans will gain a lot of knowledge about that historic time and the men who were a part of it by reading this book. This book is given the personal endorsement of the MWSA President.

Goo-oood Morning Vietnam! In an almost journalistic, diary style, J. Richard Watkins presents his own story in Vietnam: No Regrets: One Soldier's Tour of Duty. When a boy becomes a man in Vietnam, we cry with him. We feel his fear. We hear his prayers. And we rejoice when, after it is over, it is to his mother's arms he first goes. For by now, his greatest fear is whether or not the unconditional love will still be there for him. Or will his parents be able to see right away how he has changed, what he has done? And will they turn away in disgust from this man that is still their son? As I read the Epilogue of the most comprehensive coverage I have thus far read from a soldier's viewpoint, only then did my tears run. For after all that he'd been through, this soldier's greatest fear was indeed whether he would or could go back within the warmth and comfort of his family and friends without their seeing, somehow, what he had done. There...in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. For the majority of time, Watkins was a radio transmission operator whose duty was to communicate with the artillery batteries to call for artillery support when needed. That meant that he was always with the commander of the unit and he was always right at the front! Watkins's non-fiction narrative is packed with memories, fresh in his mind, though he left Vietnam in 1970. If I were reading it without knowing the date of its being published, I would have thought he was there, writing for a newspaper, or in a journal. His message is frank, open, and honest. His views are his own, but he's willing to share them. These are the facts, as he knows them, and he's willing to state them loudly and clearly! For the average person back in the States, I never knew, for instance, that the Infantry was the man on the line. The army's rule of thumb was that out of every ten soldiers in-country, nine of the ten would be giving support to the ones that were actually in a real combat situation. (p.69) What that means in actual numbers was that it was only about 40-50,000 men who actually fought on the front lines¡ it was the Infantry and then there was everyone else. Those are the men who trudged through the jungles hunting the enemy. They are the men who stood duty during the monsoon rains through which they could not see the man next to them. They were the men who risked their lives the same men moving from place to place. Now there was a turnover within the Infantry. Most had tours of three months. Watkins, for an unknown reason, was there six months before he got his first R & R. He had gone over his immediate superior's head to ensure he was able to leave. It was not the first time I had learned that many men died in this war due to actions by their superiors. One of the most incredible stories shared by Watkins was when a new officer volunteered for them to immediately leave on a rescue mission to try to save a group of Green Berets, even though they had just

Easy and enjoyable read. Vivid detail and real insight into life on the front line. Nice combination of a war book and a personal interest story.

THIS BOOK TELLS IT LIKE IT WAS.IT IS A GREAT READ AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT TO ALL VETERANS AND NON- VETERANS ALIKE. A FELLOW VIETNAM COMBAT VETERAN