The River Rats of Vietnam

Review Written by Bernie Weisz vietnam War Historian Contact E Mail: [email protected] January 16, 2011 Pembroke Pines, Florida, USA Title of Review: "On The Rivers Of Vietnam: Could I Actually Take A Human Life? What If I Froze In Combat? These were questions Mark Purdy, at the tender age of twenty one, was forced to ask himself. This book took many years for the author to write, as Vietnam was a subject he considered taboo and avoided at all costs. Was it burying the forty one year past? Mark Purdy is not sure himself. However, with the skillful assistance of his wife, Christine, the two of them were finally able to sit down and come up with the story of what Mark deemed "the most horrendous period of my life." After you read "The River Rats of Vietnam," not only will you empathize with the aforementioned statement, you wouldn't wish what Purdy went through on your worst enemy. It is a miracle that this book has even seen the light of day. I have read hundreds of memoirs of combat far less gruesome, and those writers were left severely traumatized. Continue reading this review, and you will understand why Purdy would make the following comment: "Whenever we had downtime, I could not help but let my mind drift back to what my life was like before I came to this indescribable mind, altering prison of hopelessness." This whole Vietnam scenario started so innocently. Purdy states at the beginning: "In my high school years, I can remember President John F. Kennedy explaining through several news casts that we as a nation would not enter the conflict in Vietnam. That all changed with three shots on November 22, 1963. Despite the aftermath of the "Bay of Pigs" incident and subsequent brink of nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union following the "Cuban Missile Crisis," in 1962, John F. Kennedy signed NSAM 263, on October 2, 1963. This was an executive order for the immediate withdrawal of 1,000 military advisors and of all military personnel, including CIA operatives. The reason for JFK's decision is more than intriguing, and some conspiracy theorists believe that was part of the reason behind J.F.K's assassination. The tide of events were dizzying. On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated as he traveled in an open top car in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas at 12:30 PM. Texas Governor John Connally was also injured. Within two hours, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the murder of Dallas policeman J.D. Tippit and arraigned that evening. At 1:

שנה

2010

שפה

English

הוצאה

Author-House

מהדורות

1

עמודים

131

ISBN

9781452054957

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata