Nam Sense: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division

by Arthur Wiknik Jr.

Overview

A candid memoir of being sent to Vietnam at age nineteen, witnessing the carnage of Hamburger Hill, and returning to an America in turmoil.
 
Arthur Wiknik was a teenager from New England when he was drafted into the US Army in 1968, shipping out to Vietnam early the following year. Shortly after his arrival on the far side of the world, he was assigned to Camp Evans near the northern village of Phong Dien, only thirty miles from Laos and North Vietnam. On his first jungle patrol, his squad killed a female Viet Cong who turned out to have been the local prostitute. It was the first dead person he had ever seen.
 
Wiknik's account of life and death in Vietnam includes everything from heavy combat to faking insanity to get some R & R. He was the first in his unit to reach the top of Hamburger Hill, and between sporadic episodes of combat, he mingled with the locals; tricked unwitting US suppliers into providing his platoon with hard-to-get food; defied a superior and was punished with a dangerous mission; and struggled with himself and his fellow soldiers as the antiwar movement began to affect them.
 
Written with honesty and sharp wit by a soldier who was featured on a recent History Channel documentary about Vietnam, Nam Sense spares nothing and no one in its attempt to convey what really transpired for the combat soldier during this unpopular war. It is not about glory, mental breakdowns, flashbacks, or self-pity. The GIs Wiknik lived and fought with during his yearlong tour were not drug addicts or war criminals or gung-ho killers. They were there to do their duty as they were trained, support their comrades—and get home alive.
 
Recipient of an Honorable Mention from the Military Writers Society of America.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781935149675
Publisher:	Casemate Publishers
Publication date:	01/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	305
Sales rank:	88,477
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Arthur Wiknik, Jr., is an engineer who lives and works in Connecticut. He has written a wide variety of articles for publication. Arthur Wiknik, Jr., is an engineer who lives and works in Connecticut. He has written a wide variety of articles for publication. Arthur Wiknik, Jr., is an engineer who lives and works in Connecticut. He has written a wide variety of articles for publication. Arthur Wiknik, Jr., is an engineer who lives and works in Connecticut. He has written a wide variety of articles for publication. Arthur Wiknik, Jr., is an engineer who lives and works in Connecticut. He has written a wide variety of articles for publication. Arthur Wiknik, Jr., is an engineer who lives and works in Connecticut. He has written a wide variety of articles for publication.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements xi

Chapter 1 Vietnam Apprenticeship 1

Chapter 2 No Career Moves for Me 19

Chapter 3 The Battle for Hamburger Hill 33

Chapter 4 The A Shau Valley 55

Chapter 5 The Bamboo Shooters 87

Chapter 6 The Emotional Gauntlet 105

Chapter 7 Ghosting in the Rear 117

Chapter 8 The Bamboo Blues 145

Chapter 9 Guns and Chain Saws 171

Chapter 10 R&R Hawaii 183

Chapter 11 Return to Vietnam 197

Chapter 12 Insanity to go, Please 213

Chapter 13 Vacation Time 229

Chapter 14 Countdown to Freedom 237

Chapter 15 Going, Going ... 247

Epilogue 255

Glossary 259

Bibliography 263

Index 267

What People are Saying About This

Lee Elci

"Namsense is an honest and realistic account of not only the author's tour of duty but the tours of other Vietnam soldiers as well. I feel honored to have Arthur as an occasional guest on my radio show and my listeners are all the better for it."--(Lee Elci, WXLM New London, CT)

Howard Siner

"As a member of Sergeant Wiknik's squad, I found Namsense to be an authentic and absorbing narrative that resonates with every combat GI's story of survival in Vietnam."--(Howard Siner, Staten Island Advance)

Editorial Reviews

"As a member of Sergeant Wiknik's squad, I found Namsense to be an authentic and absorbing narrative that resonates with every combat GI's story of survival in Vietnam."

Staten Island Advance - Howard Siner

…the best, most accurate portrayal of the life of an Infantryman in Vietnam… A family member, girlfriend, or fiancée of a soldier who went to Vietnam will find this book most illuminating. For all the rest of you, if you read only one book about a soldier’s life in Vietnam, read NamSense!

Col. Gene Sherron

"…provides an unflinching look at a year in the life of a grunt on Vietnam…"

Military History of The West

"Namsense is an honest and realistic account of not only the author's tour of duty but the tours of other Vietnam soldiers as well. I feel honored to have Arthur as an occasional guest on my radio show and my listeners are all the better for it."

WXLM New London, CT - Lee Elci

"As a member of Sergeant Wiknik's squad, I found Namsense to be an authentic and absorbing narrative that resonates with every combat GI's story of survival in Vietnam."

Staten Island Advance Howard Siner

"Namsense is an honest and realistic account of not only the author's tour of duty but the tours of other Vietnam soldiers as well. I feel honored to have Arthur as an occasional guest on my radio show and my listeners are all the better for it."

CT Lee Elci WXLM New London

"…provides an unflinching look at a year in the life of a grunt on Vietnam…"

Military History of the West