Harry G. Enoch

"A Year In Vietnam With The 101st Airborne: 1969-1970" by Harry G. Enoch is a different kind of read and does not follow the same boilerplate template used by other Vietnam authors. Instead, Mr. Enoch's work is comprised of his day to day activities as he posted them in a diary/journal over forty years ago. The title caught my interest right away because I had served with the 101st Airborne too, but it was a year later, 1971. I was anxious to compare my experiences with Harry's and downloaded his story to my Kindle and began reading in earnest.

I do have to admit that I was surprised by this type of format, but quickly learned to follow the day-to-day activities as written. Harry's humping experience were spot on and I could relate to his experiences in the bush - almost a carbon copy of my own: humping the mountains, hot days / cold nights, monsoon rains, digging foxholes, cutting through impenetrable jungle, carrying ninety pound rucksacks, and always on the lookout for the enemy. Fortunately for Mr. Enoch, he spent an equal amount of time during his tour in fire bases and rear areas.

Life in those areas are are a mixed bag, some days are boring as hell while others are filled with mundane work details like bunker guard, filling sandbags, reinforcing bunkers, laying concertina wire and burning human waste - from dawn to dusk. Then, as luck would have it, they find themselves back on the bunker line for the night. Although rear areas offer many distractions during the day like the EM Club, PX, Mess Hall, and swimming to name a few, but many of those men serving there would give it all up to get back out into the bush.

When reading this story, a person will learn more about the day-to-day life of an infantry soldier in Vietnam. It doesn't matter if he was in the bush or in the rear areas - it was a dangerous time and everyone served honorably.

One of the other reviewers mentioned that Harry spends too much time writing about what he eats on a daily basis and also itemizing the contents of his many special packages he got from home. It's a little too much and this is why I've rated this story four stars instead of five. Still worth reading!

John Podlaski
author, Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel… (meer)