Mekong Mud Dogs: The Story of: SGT. Ed Eaton

Ed
Your book is certainly going to piss off some officers and enlisted men, some of the soldiers and certainly the sailors aboard the ships, the Brown Water Navy will be very pleased.
This book shows what the demons of a Vietnam Combat Veteran can do to him and the struggles that one goes thru to redeem himself and get sanity back into his life.
I t takes courage for an individual to write a story about his life, to show others of what he has seen with his own eyes and is ready for the fallout that may happen from sharing his own personal feelings. The people that read this book must understand that this is the author's personal account of his life. no one sees the same battle in the same way. for those who want to judge you for telling what you feel---shame on them---this is your book--these are your experiences.

At the end of the book you say that today "Life is Good"---Let's keep it that way!

Ed and I arrived in Bravo Co. the same day, although we hadn't yet met... We were just a bunch of FNG's, scared & green. Our baptism came at 3AM when the ship exploded. Got this book yesterday and read it non-stop. Love Ed's writing style..."just say it as u saw it"...no concern for where it "landed". I had forgotten so much of what Ed relates in this book (maybe that was good). This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand combat in Vietnam. Merf, Bravo Company Forever, 3/60th 9 Infantry Division.

Ed,
I finished your book after two sessions reading. I couldn’t put it down. Not only did you write a good book, but having lived part of this with you and knowing you, I have to say you told it as if you were standing before me. I heard your voice as I read each page.
I’ve never been so proud to know someone, ever!
Your ability to identify what happened to you after your homecoming pertains to me as if I was telling it. I have described to a few people who care about the likes of you and I the exact same experience I felt at my DEROS and homecoming. I have told of being spit at just outside the Oakland DEROS station. Of being asked to speak before the community of Milton-Freewater, by people who were much more interested in seeing first hand my mental condition rather then what they had asked me to speak about.
I too couldn’t hold a job. I was lost. Who did I run around with? You! Remember the attached barn roof taking flight with no air under it, during our aviation training? We had to prove that sort of thing because it was meaningless in the overall scheme of things, and therefore a distraction to us. We both had survived the thought of death in Nam twenty four seven for over a year. I don’t by any stretch pretend to have gone through anything as violent as did you, but I know the threat of dying and not being able to control my own destiny. I had that to overcome and it took as near as I can tell about ten years of my life to get back on track. I have no idea how you managed to pull through and still be normal after the experiences which you have written about.
Thank God he equipped you with the ability to deal with all this, and me too.

You have captured with your words in essence what was wrong then and what is still wrong now. Thank you for doing so, and that is our leadership then and now refuses to fight to win!!!!!! The peace nicks that spit at me were propped up by the liberal press and have prevailed in their do-gooder opinion of not wanting to hurt the bad guys therefore tying the hands of our military so we cannot fight to win. When the bad guys are allowed to win their actions become acceptable and the new standard.
Nothing has changed between when you and I were sent to Nam and the light handed prosecution of the War on Terror. The military hands are still tied by the politically controlling press. Until that changes, unacceptable behavior will always be acceptable. We have to Fight to Win, and we should! Sometimes you just can’t Kissinger……enough said……
I love you brother Edgar Walter Eaton…..Great Job!!! Great Book!!!.....You made me proud with your service and now your great book!!!...Greg Williams…. (1st 506th 101st Airborne, Nam 68-69, Crypto REMF)

Being a military man, I read a lot of war books. I found Ed's book to be one of the most raw and unadulterated accounts of one mans journey into hell.
I will admit that I am a bit bias, I am good friends with Ed's brother Gary. I got to meet Ed at Gary's house last year and just like his brother, he is the real deal. Ed is just what he seems, a guy that you can sit on the tailgate and drink a few beers with and instantly feel comfortable with. When you read this book, picture yourself sitting on the tailgate drinking a cold one while Ed tells you his story.

The experiences Sgt. Eaton went through in Vietnam is a good read for anyone interested in what it was like for the guys who fought down in the Delta, the southern most part of Vietnam known as IV Corps. Although the beginning of the book isn't to well written it does get better as it goes along. Although I believe his story is a true experience it seems to my thinking anyway that some of the incidents and attitude toward killing the VC he had described were maybe just a tad exaggerated. Is the reason I gave it a four star rather than five. But I do recommend this book to anyone wanting to read more about combat in Vietnam. .

if you ever wanted to know what it was like to be a young man in a combat unit in Vietnam, this is THE book you want to read. ed draws on his experiences and tells them in a way that makes you feel as if you are there. you can feel the heat, you feel the thirst, you feel the sucking mud, and you feel the fear that overcomes you when you are under enemy fire. want to feel a combat experience, read Mekong mud dogs.

This is an intense first hand story of the Viet Nam war. It is real, I felt like I was right there with him. A great read!!

Ed’s Vietnam experience is the real deal. The action in this book clearly explains the challenges of staying alive in combat.

5 stars for the beginning of the book which was organized. Unfortunately the rest of the book became a rambling stream of consciousness. The book needs editing as well. I commend Eaton for his service and recognized his difficulty with PTSD. however, not all combat veterans were treated poorly. Clearly, we were part of a ‘lost generation ‘ but most of us became productive citizens regardless of how we were treated.

Since I also served as a Platoon Sergeant with the 9th (6/31st) in the Delta, I enjoyed the book; however, the ending where he just pretty much did what he wanted was rather strange to say the least. I did, however, question one of his comments concerning the M-79. He mentioned that the M-79 WP round had a parachute attached and was used for illumination. Unless my memory fails me, the WP and the illumination rounds were two completely different rounds. I doubt that one would want a White Phosphorus (WP - Willie Peter) round dropping down, via a parachute, around their position....the first thing to go would probably be the parachute. LOL