That's a Wrap

As I said when I started this Blog the reason I started it was because my of a book. My daughter Stacie sent me a book about the Oriskany for Christmas and when I called to thank her I told her how much I enjoyed it and how many memories it brought up much of which I had forgotten She told me she didn't know anything about my time in the Navy and would like to be able to share it with the kids. I decided to see what I could do and dove into so many old pictures as well as just "stuff" I had saved from that time in my life.

I can honestly say that I never talked about that time with anyone except for some of my Navy friends in recent years. I have had so many conflicted feelings over the years, mostly because of how poorly we were treated when we served and how poorly Vietnam Vets were treated for the majority of the past fifty years. 

This is the result of that walk through the past as well as diving into the following books to get some perspective. I'm just giving the book name and author not bibliographic info. 

The Mighty O - U.S.S. Oriskany CVA-34 by Art Giberson

US Navy and Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk Units of the Vietnam War by Peter Mersky

US Navy A-7 Corsair II Units of the Vietnam War by Norman Birzer and Peter Mersky

Over the Beach - The Air War in Vietnam by Zalin Grant

The Naval Air War in Vietnam by Peter Mersky and Norman Polmar

Tales of Westpac by David Bowman

Vietnam 1967-1971, Danger, Affliction, Heartbreak and Stolen Years by John Lund

CONNIE - The USS Constellation and the Last 50-Star Union Jack by Gregory Martinez

Tailhooker - Preflight to Vietnam by Willard G Dellicker

Fox Two - The Story of America's First Ace in Vietnam by Randy Cunningham with Jeff Ethell

The Wrong Stuff - The Extraordinary Saga of Randy 'Duke' Cunningham The Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught - by Marcus Stern, Jerry Kammer, Dean Calbreath, and George E. Condon JR

Two additional I just got and will read after this blog is completed are:

Dragon's Jaw - An Epic Story of Courage and Tenacity in Vietnam by Stephen Coonts and Barrett Tillman

The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club - Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver


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