To Hammer A Plowshare

In February of 2008, forty-two years after my tour of duty in Viet Nam, I was on my computer and googled the name of my battalion surgeon, Bob Yario. I was surprised to get a positive response. There was a professional address but no phone number. Information couldn't give me a number. So, I wrote him a letter. Three days later, I received a phone call from him, and after a few weeks, Bob drove from Chicago to my home in Wilmington, NC for an extended weekend visit. Reminiscing with Bob brought back incredibly vivid memories of my year in Viet Nam as an infantry platoon leader. For years, I had felt that there was a book inside of me that needed telling. The visit provided the necessary impetus that I needed to begin writing "my book." Twenty chapters and over a year later, I finished writing in September of 2010. My year begins with me aboard an airplane about to land in Saigon in January of 1966 and continues for three chapters through the end of my first mission in the field. The book then turns to my growing up and college years, my decision to join the army, my training, OCS, and my first duty assignment. After which, I tell the story of my six months on line as an infantry platoon leader, and then relates my six months on my battalion staff as the S-5, the Battalion Civil Affairs Officer. My story ends with me climbing aboard an airplane, homeward bound, having completed my year long tour of duty.