When you read Terrence Crimmins, A Vietnam Veterans Journey: The effect of a tour of duty in Vietnam on a man's life, you can read first hand on what this young man went through from first being drafted to his tour of duty and finally coming home to civilian life. Terrence Crimmins short 8-page essay was sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC on the 3rd of July in the year 2013. The author was a history teacher and he writes about the drama of the American experience. This fiction essay has a theme of war and military action.
This book starts out in Haverhill, Massachusetts in Dan's dad's pickup truck drinking beer as his dad tells him he was drafted. Dan already knew then it fast forward to his tour in Vietnam and what happened over there. Then the last part of the book focuses on when he came back to Haverhill. I like that it starts out with Dan on the phone talking to his boss wondering why they hadn't called him back to work then it flashes back to when he was working. He got a job as an oiler to a construction site in the north of Boston, maintaining giant cranes. He wanted to have fun and he started drinking which affected his job due to coming to work with a hangover and sleeping on the job. You would think that they would give him some slack but they didn't because they didn't understand what he went through in the war. Dan ended up spending more time at a bar called Jim's Place because that was where more veterans like himself could hang out.
"Dan had found in civilian life that many people did not appreciate his service in Vietnam, and this troubled him" (A Vietnam Veteran's Journey, Terrence Crimmins, 2013). The Vietnam War was the only war that I know of that the soldiers were treated badly. This is sad because they risked their lives for this country. I can't imagine being called baby killers but that is what protesters called the soldiers when they came back from war. Can you imagine hearing that after seeing what you did but like a true veteran keeping silent on your experiences because no one understands what you went through? Then if this wasn't enough, you start having what we now call PTSD symptoms like flashbacks, touchiness and being frightened easily. Dan started to jump at work when he heard loud noises that erupted behind him that made him think of Vietnam while his co-workers would just laugh at him.
This a great book that gives us insight into what it was like to be a soldier in the Vietnam War. I would recommend this book to history, military and adventure buffs. I think that they would like it.
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