Mighty Men of Valor: With Charlie Company on Hill 714-Vietnam, 1970
Paperback – Large Print, January 12, 2013
Description
Mighty Men of Valor: With Charley Company on Hill 714 - Vietnam, 1970 is my personal story as well as an anecdotal history of the 2nd Battalion 502nd Infantry Regiment . As part of the 1st Brigade of the famous 101st Airborne Division , the O-Deuce "Widow Makers" battalion were often in the thick of the heaviest fighting in the I Corps Tactical Zone. I try and describe my transformation from a spoiled college drop-out into a seasoned, combat infantry grunt, often called boonie rats. Like the infantry in any war, we had a pretty rough time; some of us survived and some did not. Many of us carried the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with us when we went home. The effects of PTSD are often masked, sometimes manifesting themselves only years later after another traumatic event brings them to the forefront. This is what happened to me after I was involved in the on-duty shooting death of a fellow law enforcement officer 6 years after I returned from Vietnam. This book is not a clinical, detailed military history of the 502nd Infantry Regiment but it is the personal history of a survivor of combat and the effects of PTSD. What happened to me is still happening to the combat veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq; there's really nothing new or different about the trauma of infantry combat except it's happening to a different generation in a different time and place. From the Inside Flap In other parts of Vietnam in the spring of 1970, the combat action had begun to slow down; but not so in the northern-most provinces of the Republic of (South) Vietnam. These five provinces (Quang Tri, Thua Thien, Quang Nam, Quang Tin and Quang Ngai) made up the I Corps Tactical Zone. The 3rd Marine Division left Vietnam in early 1970, leaving the responsibility for the vast area of the I Corps entirely to the 101st Airborne Division and its South Vietnamese allies. In April, the division began an operation code-named Texas Star . During the next six months, the 101st would fight several big engagements against an increasingly aggressive North Vietnamese Army (the NVA). This memoir is the story of the 2nd Battalion 502nd Infantry Regiment , the 'O-Deuce Widow Makers' of the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade . Told from the point of view of a young 'shake n bake' infantry sergeant named John Roberts, it is blunt and to the point. Written in the often crude language of the infantry 'grunt' of Vietnam, Roberts tells what it was like to experience combat in the triple-canopied jungle of western I Corps. A "baby boomer", John G. Roberts grew up in the small town of Covina in Southern California. After dropping out of college in 1968, Roberts was drafted. Trained as a combat infantryman, Roberts spent his time in Vietnam with the famous 101st Airborne Division. After completing his military obligation, he became a deputy sheriff and detective for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, the largest county in the 48 states. Injured on duty, Roberts became a licensed private investigator until he retired. He collected military documents and "war stories" from surviving veterans he had served with to assist him in writing his memoir "Mighty Men of Valor: With Charley Company on Hill 714-Vietnam, 1970." Roberts now lives with his family, including eight grandchildren, in Southern California. Read more
Features & Highlights
- THE SCREAMING EAGLES OF VIETNAM IN 1970
- The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne have been in combat against the elusive Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army for nearly five years. In his memoir, author John G. Roberts tells the story of the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, the "Widow Makers" of the 101st Divisions' 1st Brigade. Written in the often crude language of the combat infantryman, Roberts describes what it was like to confront the enemy during close combat in the triple-canopied jungles of I Corps, west of the Song Bo River and in the infamous A Shau Valley. As part of Operation Texas Star, the 502nd Infantry (the "O-Deuce") lost 30 men killed and over 200 wounded in a month long battle against the 29th NVA Regiment in April and May, 1970.
- JUNGLE COMBAT SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF A YOUNG SHAKE-N-BAKE SERGEANT
- Roberts relates the shock and grief he and others felt when his 11-man squad lost 3 men killed and five wounded in about an hour of combat. The fights around Hill 714, Hill 882 and the 4-month Battle of Firebase Ripcord received very little attention in the media. The press was focused on the April invasion of Cambodia and the May student shootings at Kent State University in Ohio. Roberts, like many Vietnam combat veterans, carried the symptoms of PTSD with him when he returned home. The author is very open about the 35 year battle he had with PTSD and alcohol. With help from his family and support from medical professionals at Veterans Affairs, he has worked out a truce with the demons of PTSD and now lives a quiet life in Southern California.
- JOIN THE O-DEUCE DURING OPERATION TEXAS STAR
- When you read Mighty Men of Valor: With Charlie Company on Hill 714 - Vietnam, 1970 you have the chance to experience life (and death) as an combat infantryman during the last big American-led battles of the Vietnam War as only someone who was there can describe them.
