The Ground You Stand Upon: Life of a Skytrooper in Vietnam

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“In Vietnam today, you will hold only the ground you stand upon.”

Step into the depths of the deepest dark forest and see this war through my dad’s eyes in this award-winning true story of his experience in Vietnam’s deadly Central Highlands.

Twenty-year-old Will Bowe is living on his family’s farm when he’s drafted in 1965. He and his impossibly young friends will become “skytroopers” in the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s new airmobile infantry. Flying into the jungle battlefield by helicopter, they soon learn what “search and destroy” means and face the reality of this new war.

Based on once-classified staff journals, situation reports, and military maps, we follow Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry as they march through rice fields, search villages, climb jungle-covered mountains, and endure many harrowing battles.

From the war zone, Will sends home many of the photographs and letters now featured in this book, often scribbled in haste before another mission, or by flashlight under a poncho in the rain. They will travel over eight thousand miles across the ocean to be placed in a mailbox that stands across from a farmhouse along a dusty county road in Wisconsin.

Many fellow soldiers are interviewed for this story, as are family members and friends of the fallen. Recalling the humor and friendship they shared, along with the sadness and tragedy of a tour of duty in Vietnam, their memories are now woven together, along with the letters, photos, and reports, to tell of one infantry company’s war story: From their training at Fort Carson to their historic voyage across the sea, their first steps into the dark highland jungles, their many battles fought together, and eventually… their final patrol.
From the Publisher

Into the depths of the deepest dark forest… “In Vietnam today, you will hold only the ground you stand upon.”

Airmobile

Follow the skytroopers of Alpha Company as they go through airmoible training at Fort Carson, Colorado, then jump into battle for the first time from their steel war horses, deep in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

Search and Destroy

Kicking off their missions by air, they pursue the phantom “Charlie” on foot through the war zone. Our story describes their many battles and firefights fought amid jungle-covered mountains and flooded rice fields.

The Reality of This New War

Each man is soon confronted by the plight of those caught in the crossfire, yet there is little they can offer besides pity. Many of their letters home describe their heartbreak for the poor villagers of Vietnam.

The men of the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry

Will Bowe

Drafted at age twenty from a small farm town in Wisconsin, Will’s letters home show the war through his eyes, providing a raw glimpse into the life of an infantryman in Vietnam. They portray a young man constantly making jokes, breaking the rules, anxious to make his family proud, and utterly unprepared for the reality of war.

Martin Quinn

Will’s bunkmate from New York City, Quinn is serious-minded compared to the carefree Will, yet they become good buddies at Fort Carson. In Vietnam, they often share C-Rations, smokes, and foxholes. His vivid memories of their many battles fought together bring to life Alpha Company’s most harrowing moments.

Marvin Bierschbach

Drafted from another small farm town in Minnesota, Bierschbach becomes another one of Will’s best friends. His memories of their time at Fort Carson, their voyage to Vietnam aboard the USNS Gaffey, and their many shenanigans, add humor and life to this story that is also colored with regret and sadness.

Rodney Henning

Drafted from another nearby farm town, Will meets Henning while standing in line for induction into the Army at the Chippewa Falls post office in 1965. Assigned to Delta Company’s long-range patrol, he faces many dangerous missions and “close calls” from the enemy, which are related in great detail.

Leaders of the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry

LTC Trevor Swett

As the 5/7th’s original commander, LTC Swett prepared the battalion for war and brought them to Vietnam in August 1966. One Alpha Company platoon leader describes Swett landing his command chopper in a rice paddy under heavy fire, attempting to rescue one of his wounded men.

CPT A.J. Wise

As Alpha Company’s original commander, CPT Wise led his men from their training at Fort Carson to the battlefields of Vietnam, where he led them in the field from August 1966 to May 1967, participating in Operation Irving, Operation Thayer II, and Operation Pershing.

CPT Jose Dorta

A Cuban exile who’d been a Major in Cuba’s pre-Castro army and an expert in jungle warfare, CPT Dorta took command of Alpha Company following CPT Wise. He led them during the battle of May 19th 1967, on a craggy jungle hillside where many were killed, and he was wounded in action.

SSG Robert Matulac

As communications sergeant, SSG Matulac intimately knew each of Alpha Company’s officers and NCOs, and many of the Joes. He shares some of his most poignant memories, like washing the blood from a dead friend’s radio, identifying a young soldier at the morgue, and his own homecoming.


ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07DCJNN8X
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Joshua Bowe; 4th edition (28 May 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 58908 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 574 pages

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