VIETNAM - THE TEENAGE WASTELAND

A Hippie In a War Zone

By: Tom Martiniano

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

"Vietnam - The Teenage Wasteland. A Hippie in a War Zone" by Tom Martiniano.
The author was asked: Why write this book in 2012? His response was this: "This book actually took ten years to write because of the research involved, but mainly because it was hard for me to write, emotionally speaking. After 40 years of people asking me, 'What was it like in Vietnam?' 'What was combat like?' 'Were you scared?' 'What was it like for a peace loving late-60’s Hippie, drafted, with no desires to go off to war and kill people; to go through the harshest combat that one could ever endure and not only survive but to help lead a decimated company of tattered soldiers to victory against the insurmountable odds? What was that like?" And, the big question: "What was that war really all about?"
People have asked these questions since the Vietnam War started and their quests for the truth have gone on unanswered since then. Not anymore.
Finally a book that answers ALL of these questions, and a lot more. I realize that is a big statement, but it is true. It is a rearward analytical look at what American Combat Soldiers experienced so that it not only makes sense to the reader, but it puts the reader right in the boots of a combat veteran.
This book is very different than other books in that it is laid out in an informative way to put the reader there, in the terrain, with the hot humid, stifling weather, the green vipers and chattering monkeys - all in breathtaking mountainous terrain in which a company of US soldiers traverse in hopes of not being seen and forced to engage in a fire-fight with dedicated enemy combatants.
This book is divided into four distinct parts:
1. "What Was it Like to be there?" The author answers all of the questions such as, "What was the weather like? "What about drugs?" "What about the people there?" "What were the weapons like?" and so forth. Any question the author was ever asked is covered in this section so that the reader totally gets it.
2. The story of the Hippies in combat; The author's personal story about learning how to survive in this killing machine while keeping my convictions and principles intact. He starts out being an "FNG" to the point where he ends up running the company and keeping my men alive and safe as possible while kicking the enemy's ass all the way back to North Vietnam.
3. Re-entry into the USA was in it's own way, more brutal than the war itself with more hatred from Americans than the enemy had shown us. Whatever morale Vietnam Veterans had left to them was stripped from from them in the airports and on the streets by those who were against the war.
4. And lastly - "What was the war about, anyhow?" The author did years of research to find the answers to that mega-question. And he finally did get those answers and they are laid out for anyone to understand in this book.
If you want the real skinny on this war, read this book and if you have any other questions, feel free to contact this author at Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]