Jumping from Helicopters

A Vietnam Memoir

By: John Stillman, Lori Stillman

Narrated by: Scott Miller, Sarah Sampino

In 1967, at age 19, John Stillman - refusing to wait for the draft - voluntarily enlisted in the Army to aid his fellow countrymen in one of the most opposed involvements in our nation’s history: the Vietnam War. Quickly falling in love with the rush of being a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne, he believed his service would honorably help the South Vietnamese protect their country from the ruthless communist North and their Southern allies.

But once in the volatile jungles of Vietnam, the merciless hunting and killing of the enemy, constant threat of landmines and booby traps, ambushes that could easily backfire, and deaths of his comrades made Stillman question how any man - if he survived - could ever return to his life as he’d known it.

Written with John’s daughter, Lori Stillman, Jumping from Helicopters is a vivid and moving memoir that unearths 50 years of repressed memories with stunning accuracy and raw details. Interwoven with the author’s own journal entries, it is a story that will open your eyes to what these brave young men witnessed and endured and why they returned facing a lifetime of often unspoken unrest, persistent nightmares, and forced normalcy, haunting even the strongest of soldiers.

©2018 Lori Stillman (P)2019 Lori Stillman

It really puts into perspective what these men went through as told by a true Hero

What a heart wrenching recount of Mr Stillman and his brothers in Vietnam. Thank you Mr. Stillman for retelling your story and thank you for your service.

This is a phenomenal listen (or read). It helped me better understand what my uncle went through when he was in the Marines during the Vietnam War. He never spoke about his experience and found his life after was very difficult. Gun six, G/3/11, 1st Mar. Div 1 Corps.

The war Viet nam

Good story feel bad for his PTSD. I never until now how bad it is. I have friends that went over there. one of them told me it was the worst year of his life. another was a ranger he doesn't talk about it another one was drafted. he said he lucked out. they let him fix the tanks. another one said he fell asleep in an abounded church, woke up in the hospital. the church was homes while he was sleeping.

Very moving

Awed at courage it takes to retell a story. We need to support those who come home from war.

Hard memories

I so wish I had the fore thought to talk to my father more about his experiences. He shared some and he had taken old 8mm film he took and put it to video. I know he carried a lot of weight to his grave.

As a son and step son to Vietnam veterans and a veteran myself. I wish the Military had done more or veterans re-entering civilian life. Dads could be heavy handed and leave long lasting impressions.
Thank you for this as it helped me reconcile memories that I didn’t get answered before my fathers passing.

Heroes all

With the exception of a few parts of this book I was glad for it to end. I hold all combat vet's in high esteem and I hope writing this book helped bring him relief.