Steve Exline, Vietnam Veteran
After reading the book I am now not ashamed of what I did. I am also proud to say I am a Viet Nam Vet. I did what my country asked me to do. Thank you for helping me to come to terms with this.
Fred Monahan, Past National Commander, Legion of Valor, U.S. Marines, Vietnam Veteran
Everyone should write a story like this. It is a part of Americana that’s missing. This book may be the new gold standard for Vietnam books—from someone who has read them all. Every Vietnam Vet should have this book and it should be in the PX at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky.
Russ Knapp, Vietnam War Protester
The Vietnam War era was a very difficult period for those of us who lived through it. Some of us believed we best served the country by supporting the war, others by serving in the war, or still others by protesting the war through peaceful means. We need to move past all of that now and hopefully we have learned significant lessons to help us avoid repeating history. Many, many casualties resulted from the war and some soldiers and their families are still bearing the burden of a war’s cost. Those who died or are still a Prisoner of War or Missing in Action must not be forgotten. Lives, careers, families, and dreams that were lost, destroyed, or disrupted cannot be fully assessed or valued. Jim’s book captures the
spirit of the times but doesn’t assess blame. It is more a forward looking memoir necessary for the continued healing of a country and individuals. It’s a non-gory book that is a very good read.
Wendy E. Williams, On-Line Researcher, Writer/Author
My brother Tommy was drafted in the Spring of 1968, despite his status as a young married and a full time student. He had no military nature, being the easy-going and low key type. I do not know why he chose to not resist the draft, as my older brother had done. He just gave in and went to Vietnam and died six months later.
I have, to some degree, never fully recovered from his death. I also have an Uncle on my Mom’s side, whom I never met. He served in the Calgary Highlanders and fell in the D-Day Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. He is buried in France.
Two different wars, as vastly different as night and day. I dealt with my brother’s death by heading full force into the peace movement in my youth ( I was 15 when my brother was killed) and while the peace movement gave a vent for my emotions, it did nothing to make the pain go away. Humans still behave badly, all over the place.
Except for the sincere following of faith in God and seeking the reason for human existence, war is the huge shaping structure of all of human history. I would imagine there have been thousands of wars on every continent, both large and small.
At nearly age 64, I work now part time in a library. As a writer myself and an inveterate researcher and curious girl, I see many many books with stories of one conflagration after another, the staggering toll of humans arguing with one another on the field of battle. The civilian population is always in the middle and suffers a blow from all sides.
If I did not have faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, I could not have continued through my life.
Despite my wanderings, I know there is a purpose to life and I fervently pray I will see my dear brother again when I have left this world.
Many sincere thanks to Mr. Cheskawich for making the effort to write this important book and to share his personal experiences in serving in Vietnam. I believe only a fellow veteran can understand what someone went through in any war.
Vicki Weiland, Editor, Vietnam 1971; Editor, Rex: The Blizzard King
Dear Jim, I had tears in my eyes while working with you on your book. You have humanized the War for me. Thank you.
Mike Viehman, Author, “Visit to the Wall.”
I thank you for the respectful way that you treated my poem.
Dave Sage, Meteorologist and Photographer
“For someone like me who was fortunate enough to have a student deferment during the draftable portion of the Viet Nam War, this book is just what I have needed all these years! I never wanted to be involved with the war, except of course for some student demonstrations in the spring of 1970, so I have always felt a little guilty that I never served my country during that time. I got to graduate on a Saturday and start my full time 40-year government job the very next Monday. No disrupted life for me! This book allows me to understand so much more! The author took me there with him. This book is so real and fascinating.
I loved every part of it! The author has a gift telling his story!
You know the feeling you get when watching certain movies where you just forget totally about your own life and then you are affected by it for many days thereafter. This book did that for me. Just a great read!!”
Randy Martinez, Educator, Football
and Softball Coach;
father of an Iraq Combat Warrior.
After reading your book on your Vietnam experience it brought back memories of the music, media and the culture of that era. It reminded me of the friends and relatives that served during the war and helped me to better understand the trials and difficulties of not just being there, but also of facing the harsh realities they confronted with coming home. On a personal note it made me think of my son Zach who spent 5 combat tours in Iraq and returned to a world here at home that was very difficult for him to adjust to. Zach would open up at times to me, but he really relied on his brothers and sisters that he served with to understand and counsel him. Jim has written an excellent book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Jim Weiland, USN 1965-1967.
As a combat Veteran who served two tours in a ‘Search and Rescue’ Unit in North Vietnam, rescuing or assisting in the rescue of what I recall as nine U.S. Navy pilots shot down while on bombing runs over North Vietnam, I appreciate and thank you, Jim, for your Service, and for sharing your experience in Vietnam 1971, your well-written book about Remembering The 101st Then And Now.
Annie Reid, Artist and Professional Legal Work
Growing up the Vietnam Conflict was all around me—yet it never ‘touched’ me. My much older brother-in-law survived his tour and was home by the time I was 10. I recall images on the nightly news of young American boys fighting in an unrecognizable tangle of jungles an elusive enemy in defense of an even more elusive objective.
American Boys—and they were just boys, some too young to vote—had their once potentially noble destinies undermined and dreams crushed because they couldn’t or wouldn’t dodge the draft. They were all sacrificial lambs sent to slaughter or be slaughtered. I remember it as being extremely unpopular. I remember the protests.
I remember the universal chants for peace. I remember my Father, a WWII veteran, being outraged over the protests.
He possessed an unflinching loyalty to his beloved country. To him, the protesters and draft dodgers were traitors. All Americans knew, hated and wanted to avenge the villains of WWII. But who were the Viet Cong?
What did they do to or how were they threatening us? It was all such a mystery. I remember being relieved when the conflict—this costly and undeclared war—was resolved before any of my high school friends were drafted.
But, as horrific and senseless as this conflict was, I was too young, too lucky and too protected to have it ruin my childhood and early adulthood. I got to fulfill my dreams and live happily ever after.
Vietnam 1971 is a captivating and honestly written memoir of a soldier—a son of a World War II veteran and a boy much too young, too naïve and too American to question his family’s and country’s expectations.
It is the author’s insightful, poignant and noble treatise about how, through grit, ingenuity, good common sense and humor, he managed to survive a nightmarish experience and learn enough about human nature, protocol and politics to survive the aftermath. It is a heroic effort.
I never got the chance to learn about this conflict in high school — thank you, Jim, for your perspective and for the history lesson. Your exquisitely personal account ‘touched’ me. Your story is a brilliant testament to what was both good and bad about the 1960s and early 1970s.
Jim Schueckler, Founder and President,
www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd. The Virtual Wall ™I have started reading your manuscript and enjoyed it. My unit in Vietnam, the 192nd Assault Helicopter Company, was part of the First Aviation Brigade but we supported the 3rd BN, 506th, 101st. Most of my flying time in Vietnam was working for the 3/506th at Phan Thiet.
Anonymous, as requested
After successfully surviving multiple deployments to various theatres of operations overseas and struggling each time to transition once getting back home, one clear message will forever resonate from my experiences. It is not about what I have done or seen, it is about our brothers in arms who didn’t get the opportunity to come home. By not only sharing our stories and putting our experiences into words, we are honoring the fallen and are giving them the opportunity to live once again. No one shared those precious moments with them like we did and to not keep their story alive is to fail in honoring their existence and sacrifice. This book as well as our memories are a testament to preserving those who made the ultimate sacrifice, ‘lest we forget.’ Thank you once again, Mr. Cheskawich.
Minette Siegel, Photographer and Media Consultant. Former Partner in The Studio
of David Inocencio/Minette Siegel (multimedia filmmakers). Image Director for Vietnam 1971 and Rex, The Blizzard King.I was very moved by Jim Cheskawich’s memoir about Vietnam. It gave a new perspective on the Vietnam War and it proved that ‘good’ can come out of any experience, even war. I had always ‘kept my distance’ from the subject of Vietnam but I found myself riveted to Jim’s observations and I enjoyed all his personal anecdotes from his unusual vantage point of being a soldier in an ‘office.’ I am glad that Jim Cheskawich has told his story and if it was therapeutic for him to write, it will be therapeutic for others to read. I hope other Vietnam Vets and their families and friends will read this book. I recommend it.
Judith Gail Lund, Senior Flight Attendant,
Trans America Airlines, TIA/TAA, Oakland and New York, 1969 to 1978My time in Viet Nam changed the way I would look at life forever. We were young flight attendants assigned to work on military charter (MAC) flights taking troops home from the war zone, or returning them from leave between Saigon and Travis Air Force Base in Northern California. Some were lucky to be going home for good. Often, the hot rainy and windy weather turned our sky rides into a formidable roller-coaster with beverages plastering themselves onto the ceiling. Listening to the GI’s laugh and enjoy the hard ride always gave me a sense of pride that they were certainly brave souls. Sometimes a look on a face will tell you all you need to know—that war is hell and the best you can do is talk about life back home to help them forget. ‘Yes, the A’s won the pennant,’ or ‘Yes, you saw the Miami Dolphins win the Super Bowl.’ Once we were ordered off the plane in haste as Intelligence had it that a North Vietnamese offensive was on the way to Saigon. Ushered onto a team of small helicopters (Hueys) we could see the enemy troops in the jungle below looking up and shooting at us. Some of the bullets were hitting the Huey and causing a loss of fuel, but, thankfully, we made it to the intended airfield on fumes. All I could think of was how awful it would be to crash in the jungle and face the enemy, if we did survive. What about the brave soldiers who face it every day? Seeing war up-close and personal, my heart changed forever, knowing what is at stake to save civilian lives like mine. Someone must go into that dense jungle facing death or torture! Do any of us deserve their bravery, ever?
I saw anti-war demonstrations at home, and yes we all wanted it to end, but not at the expense of treating the military personnel so badly as people trying to make them feel they were ‘outcasts’ from society just for being in Viet Nam. It was their turf, not ours. That jungle made people crazy and the war drug out too long, but, eventually, we began taking civilians out of Saigon as well. The fear on their faces was telling, many pleading with us to take more of them on board, and trying to pay us to hide them in the closets and restrooms. We refused to be paid. No more can I say. Babies must be held on laps during take-off and landing. With seven flight attendants, you have seven laps, but I never said that. What Manifest? In the early Spring of 1975, I was on one of the last Trans America Airlines flights out of Saigon, light on luggage and heavy on precious cargo, with pilots with big hearts. Knowing what happened to those we left behind, I will always wish we had won. I believe the Viet Nam Memorial had to happen. It should have been sooner.
Soldiers don’t start wars; they just go to finish them. You never forget the faces of war or the brave hearts that try so hard to do their job. The least I could do is be kind.
Kitty Hastings, Photographer
I was a college student at U.C. Berkeley and many of us there thought we ‘could change the world.’ I personally was tired of my friends coming home in ‘body bags’ when there seemed to be no reason for it. One night in 1967, my boyfriend and I decided to join a March to close down the Oakland (California) Army Induction Center. Knowing we would be up all night, we took ‘speed’ to stay awake. We were some of the first to arrive and ended up at the head of the crowd, feeling alive and powerful. Directly across the intersection, the police began to amass, clothed in their riot gear, billy clubs and all.
We waited all night and into the early morning, blocking the building. Then with no warning, the police began to move toward us very fast, forming a ‘V-shape’ into the crowd, swinging their clubs. Like Moses parting the Sea, we were forced up against the building, being struck many times, running the gauntlet. After this, many kept at it. I didn’t. Didn’t feel so powerful after all!
This memoir about the war in Vietnam should be read by Veterans and their families and friends, as the War affected all of us, and a lot of healing has not begun.
Lindy Ward, Educator and Samoyed Owner
Dear Jim, it seems like we just ‘Facebooked’ the other day. I must go back to see what I said about Vietnam and how I felt about the nightmare our troops endured.
My most-clear memory (and it was like it was yesterday!) was the low-key manner in which our soldiers were sent to Vietnam. The protesters seemed to capture all of the headlines. It was disgraceful and I felt so sad for this ‘understated War,’ lack of preparation, lack of weaponry and supplies . . . I often felt they were fighting with one hand tied behind their back!
Actually, this whole period of the Vietnam War seemingly exuded a LACK OF SUPPORT for our men and women in harm’s way. What a debacle. It was even worse upon their return. The stories told and revolved around ‘the questionable’ tactics of our guys: how the children were killed, villages burned and blown-up . . . no mention of what our troops had to endure. Yes, I understand security . . . it was, HOWEVER, a very lopsided and poorly planned, entry and exit. We did not receive our returning soldiers with support (physically or emotionally), honor, or distinction.
My heart is heavy when I reflect. The longer I continue reflecting on this period, the more I feel myself getting agitated. And, I KNOW Vietnam Vets—some have been the parents of my students, some I see on the street and it is heartbreaking, Jim!!! Some were friends from high school who served in Vietnam, and, of course, Jim, some did not return.
BLESS your heart Jim Cheskawich, and Rex, The Blizzard King (the Book, and the Dog, whom you credit) for inspiring this project. THANK YOU for YOUR Service. I appear to lack the ;just right; words to honor you and your splendid creativity.
David and Marion Gustafson.
Vietnam: 1971 is an interesting story about one person’s tour of duty in a country thousands of miles from his personal comfort zone where he had lived most of his life. As a young draftee, fresh out of college, the author is challenged to instantly shift gears and adapt to a new, military based culture, totally different from one that he has ever experienced. Prior to the Vietnam conflict, most wars could be rationalized away in that they were fought over the age-old principle of good vs. evil. With Vietnam, for some, that was never quite clear and toward the end, there was little actual support for continuing the effort, with seemingly little chance of a clear-cut victory.
Jim Cheskawich focuses on one person’s journey through his military obligation and what it was like to spend a year “in-country” at a place that absolutely no one could call home. He brings the reader along with him on his journey and helps open up a world to us that most have never experienced. The author goes on to describe how he was able to successfully return to civilian life after military service, to enroll in graduate school and to achieve positions of responsibility in the Federal sector. He also mentions his ability to “shift gears” and enter a whole new world of competitive dog breeding and showing.
At the end, I found it to be a good read.
Author on vacation in Florida in 2016, with a
“screaming eagle” that has landed!
