This is hands down the most heartbreaking and thought provoking historical novel about Khe Sanh and even the Vietnam War you will ever have the honor to read. Other books are easier to read, yet none of them will leave you a believer like this book will. It is January, 1968 and Ernest returns to Khe Sanh from R&R to the opening of the longest battle in the Vietnam War. He is a Korean American Marine Commander and the Rifle Commander of Delta 6, leading over 250 men through the toughest of battles and conditions. The siege at Khe Sanh went on non-stop for 2.5 months. Life was shrunken to full time living inside bunkers, watching rations and supplies slide out the back of cargo planes as they flew low past Hill 881 and finding ways to remain hopeful while being unable to use camaraderie or communications to keep it real. What is to become of the survivors of this incredible battle?
Seldom is the author so true to himself and the memory of those lost that he is willing to blind others with their own tears and shame rather than sacrifice what he knows to be the true story. At the end of the book, the author, Ernest Spencer was faced with having to identify a casualty from his battalion. He says,' Rodriguez is gone and I am still here. Why? I feel fear wash through me. They die while I watch. Who will care? How long will they care?'
Listen to this story and learn the haunting truths. It will probably make you feel uncomfortable. Take a few more moments and try to imagine first living the story and then laying it down on paper. It is our debt to read this book, in honor of those who have given more than we can ever imagine. And to remember what really mattered: the men and women who served and sacrificed for a country that has remained ungrateful. This book is pages and pages of heart and soul - bare naked anger, hate, suffering and despair. You will feel the weight of the Vietnam War in your hands.
How does a Macho Man become a Macho Man? And what does he do with himself after getting to play 'god' as a Vietnam War Commanding Officer of a Rifle Company in combat? This sequel to 'Welcome to Vietnam, Macho Man' digs deep into the mind of a Khe Sanh vet. The author, Ernest Spencer, opens up and shares with the world his life experiences from both before and after surviving the longest battle in the Vietnamese War - 77 non-stop days of combat in Khe Sanh.
Ernie offers a historical recount of growing up in a bi-racial family in Hawaii, loving and learning from ever present parents, grandparents and extended family and being exposed to military exercises, and heroism from a very early age.
How does wartime service change a person?
Ernest shares his struggles with finding a place to fit back into the American Dream. Some, like the author, transition back into society very well in the eyes of the world, yet the demons deep inside are grappled with daily. Ernest's undiagnosed PTSD creates havoc in his life. He feels ashamed of himself for surviving the battle of Khe Sanh while he observed so many around him perish. His silence and the sequestering of his feelings inside causes chaos and destruction in his life.
Some veterans cannot make the transition back into their former everyday life and spend a large part of their post-war lives suffering outwardly, struggling with drug addiction, and consequently being rejected/ignored by the community around them. Ernest discovers many of these veterans and retells his attempts to rehabilitate and empower them to be healthy and productive adults. Who really stands up and supports veterans with post-war mental illnesses and what are their methods? Enjoy this book, think deeply, and give praise to our brave young soldiers and all that they've endured for our country.
