Souled Out:A Memoir of War and Inner Peace

Review written by Bernie Weisz, Historian, Vietnam War July 9th, 2011 Pembroke Pines, Florida U.S.A. Contact: [email protected] Title of Review: "Why Would Anyone Expect An 18 Year Old To Go To Vietnam, Witness People Being Napalmed or Blown Up, Then Coming Home Normal?" Michael Orban was born in Wisconsin in 1950, the fourth oldest of ten children in a Catholic middle class family. Growing up as a happy, healthy child, pictures in National Geographic fascinated him, particularly the remote people and cultures of Africa. With the simple joys of reaching his teenage years, Orban had dreams typical of an American youth growing up in America: a new car, money, a new stereo, going to the movies, sporting events, and girls. Unfortunately for Orban, the Cold War would conspire against him, conscripting him as a participant in a war where no one believed any longer that if Communism was not stopped in Asia, it would appear in California and spread throughout the Americas like a forest fire out of control. After President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, the problem of how to proceed in Vietnam fell squarely into the lap of his vice president, Lyndon Johnson. Not even ten months later, Orban turned fourteen and the "Gulf of Tonkin Incident" occurred. Supposedly, on On August 2, 1964 North Vietnamese PT boats fired torpedoes at the USS Maddox, a destroyer located in the international waters of the Tonkin Gulf, some thirty miles off the coast of North Vietnam. A second, even more highly disputed attack, allegedly took place two days later. An event that would impact Orban for the rest of his life happened next; The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was approved by Congress authorizing L.B.J. a free hand to wage all out hostilities against North Vietnam without ever securing a formal Declaration of War from Congress. The draft machinery went into high gear, battles were fought, and airplanes full of casualties came back. With half a million Americans in Vietnam in January of 1968, the Communists caught the US military off guard during the Vietnamese "Tet" holiday, sweeping down upon key cities and provinces throughout South Vietnam. Even though American forces turned back the onslaught and recaptured most areas, the "Tet Offensive" was a huge political and psychological victory for North Vietnam. The US military's assessment of the war was questioned and the "end of tunnel" seemed very far off. All of a sudden recent conscripts wondered if they would be the last to die in

שנה

2007

שפה

English

הוצאה

Silver Rings Press

מהדורות

1

עמודים

179

ISBN

9780976758112

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata