A Different Face of War

Memories of a Medical Service Corps Officer in Vietnam

Nonfiction, History, Military, Vietnam War, Asian, Biography & Memoir, Historical
Cover of the book A Different Face of War by James G. Van Straten, University of North Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James G. Van Straten ISBN: 9781574416213
Publisher: University of North Texas Press Publication: November 15, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: James G. Van Straten
ISBN: 9781574416213
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
Publication: November 15, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English

A Different Face of War is a riveting account of a Medical Service Corps officer’s activities during the early years of the Vietnam War. Assigned as the senior medical advisor to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in I Corps, an area close to the DMZ, James G. Van Straten traveled extensively and interacted with military officers and non-commissioned officers, peasant-class farmers, Buddhist bonzes, shopkeepers, scribes, physicians, nurses, the mentally ill, and even political operatives. He sent his wife daily letters from July 1966 through June 1967, describing in impressive detail his experiences, and those letters became the primary source for his memoir. The author describes with great clarity and poignancy the anguish among the survivors when an American cargo plane in bad weather lands short of the Da Nang Air Base runway on Christmas Eve and crashes into a Vietnamese coastal village, killing more than 100 people and destroying their village; the heart-wrenching pleadings of a teenage girl that her shrapnel-ravaged leg not be amputated; and the anger of an American helicopter pilot who made repeated trips into a hot landing zone to evacuate the wounded, only to have the Vietnamese insist that the dead be given a higher priority.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A Different Face of War is a riveting account of a Medical Service Corps officer’s activities during the early years of the Vietnam War. Assigned as the senior medical advisor to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in I Corps, an area close to the DMZ, James G. Van Straten traveled extensively and interacted with military officers and non-commissioned officers, peasant-class farmers, Buddhist bonzes, shopkeepers, scribes, physicians, nurses, the mentally ill, and even political operatives. He sent his wife daily letters from July 1966 through June 1967, describing in impressive detail his experiences, and those letters became the primary source for his memoir. The author describes with great clarity and poignancy the anguish among the survivors when an American cargo plane in bad weather lands short of the Da Nang Air Base runway on Christmas Eve and crashes into a Vietnamese coastal village, killing more than 100 people and destroying their village; the heart-wrenching pleadings of a teenage girl that her shrapnel-ravaged leg not be amputated; and the anger of an American helicopter pilot who made repeated trips into a hot landing zone to evacuate the wounded, only to have the Vietnamese insist that the dead be given a higher priority.

More books from University of North Texas Press

Cover of the book We Were Going to Win, Or Die There by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Through Animals' Eyes, Again by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Katherine Anne Porter's Ship of Fools by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book ActivAmerica by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book The Seventh Star of the Confederacy by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Last Words of the Holy Ghost by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Captain John R. Hughes by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Captain John H. Rogers, Texas Ranger by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Life and Death in the Central Highlands: An American Sergeant in the Vietnam War 1968-1970 by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book The View from the Back of the Band by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book The Year of Perfect Happiness by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Saving Ben: A Father's Story of Autism by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Savage Frontier Volume 4 1842-1845: Rangers, Riflemen, and Indian Wars in Texas by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Behind the Walls by James G. Van Straten
Cover of the book Texan Identities by James G. Van Straten
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy