Tragedy at Chu Lai: Reconstructing a Deadly Grenade Accident in a U.S. Army Classroom in Vietnam, July 10, 1969

by David Venditta

Overview

Nicky Venditti, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot with a love of fast cars and practical jokes, went to Vietnam in 1969 and was dead in 11 days, killed by an Americal Division grenade training explosion at Chu Lai. The full story of the incident did not come out until the author, David Venditta (a different spelling), Venditti's cousin, made a chance discovery that began a decades-long effort to find out exactly what happened, what the Army did about it and who was held responsible. This book documents the Army's mishandling of the incident and the effects on the families and friends of Venditti and of the two other young soldiers who died with him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476624389
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	06/21/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	212
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David Venditta is a retired newspaper writer and editor in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
David Venditta is a retired newspaper writer and editor in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: A Vietnam Odyssey, May 18, 1998
1. That Dirty War, July 28, 1969
2. Discovery, November 1994
3. “A good kid,” December 8, 1995
4. Nicky Emerges, Spring 1966
5. Best Friends, October 24, 1996
6. Home and Unease, June 1969
7. “Isn’t worth a nickel,” July 1969
8. “We gotta get out!” July 10, 1969
9. Bitter Pills, June 1969
10. Casting a Wide Net, 1994–2015
11. A Crowd of Commanders, November 20, 1998
12. Patchwork of Memories, 1996–2015
13. No Longer a Phantom, April 30, 2000
14. A Dog’s Bark, a Man’s Voice, November 13, 2001
15. “When you screw up in a war,” November 13, 2001
16. Making a Case for Sabotage, November 13–17, 2001
17. The Marine Corps Way, March 28, 1967
18. Change of Heart, July 20, 2013
19. “A man who did not run,” 2015
The Author’s Interviews
Selected Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

Venditta tells us what the war meant to the families who lost loved ones in a war that was hard for all of us to understand”—Americal Journal (Americal Division Veterans Association); “this is an extremely well written and documented book that reveals the tragic truth”—The VHPA Aviator; “terrific”—The Morning Call.

From the Publisher