Thirteen Months, Fourteen Days The Journey

Name: Thirteen Months, Fourteen Days The Journey
Price: £23.95 GBP
Author: William E. Mattatall
ISBN: 9781456829698

Company B 20th Engineers Vietnam

by William E. Mattatall

Formats

Hardcover

£23.95

Softcover

£15.95

Hardcover

£23.95

Book Details

Language : English

Publication Date : 08/12/2010

Format : Hardcover

Dimensions : 6x9

Page Count : 258

ISBN : 9781456829698

Format : Softcover

Dimensions : 6x9

Page Count : 258

ISBN : 9781456829681

About the Book

THIRTEEN MONTHS, FOURTEEN DAYS….illustrates the beauty and the horrors of Vietnam in the late ‘60s. Half a million U.S. troops were there. U.S. combat deaths averaged over 100 a week. Sgt. Mattatall’s perspective is that of a soldier on the ground, a draftee assigned to a combat engineer unit in the Central Highlands. Combat engineers do not seek out the enemy. Yet they are among the first in and the last out. Without them, fellow soldiers lack facilities for eating, sleeping or going to the bathroom. Engineers provide roads, bridges and protective barriers. They endure all of war’s dangers, discomforts and deprivations. Like most of his fellow soldiers, Mattatall is apolitical. Instead, his writing reveals the bravery, the youthful recklessness, the ingenuity, the goofiness and the special brotherhood of the American soldier. Robert Goodrich, retired St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, Army veteran.

About the Author

The son of a French Canadian father and a Mexican Native American mother, is a native of East St Louis IL, and now resides in Caseyville IL. He and his wife, Barbara Ann, currently have four grown children and fi ve grandchildren. Billy is a builder-remodeler, a writer, a Native American story teller, a bee keeper, and is a Mormon.

Customer Reviews

"Boo-Coo number one. I have known Bill since childhood, having gone to the same schools most of the time and living only about five blocks apart. I didn't know until we served as Boy Scout leaders together how well he could tell a story. His attention to detail and ability to keep his audience in suspence kept scouts and leaders alike sitting on the edge of their logs around many a camp fires.

When he told me he had written a book, it took me about thirty seconds to decide to buy it. I have read nineteen reviews so far and they are all positive and right on target. It's an easy read and hard to put down. I read it in two days, but only because I didn't start until 2200 hours the first day.

He tells of recruit and advanced training, the hazzards an engineer faced and the ingenious solutions to unique situations in a combat zone. He tells of experiences us midwestern folk could never have at home and some of us wonder how we got though them, but most of us did somehow. He tells of the worries and concerns we had for the folk back home, while they were so worried about us. Though he obviously made it back home, he tells of the extremely close calls he had, but makes no big deal of them. He just tell the story in a matter-of fact way without dressing it up, boasting, or looking for pity. He explains it was a job that needed to be done and he and his comrades did it the best they knew how with what they had. He tells of how each man depended on the others for survival.

I made three tours, myself but having served on aircraft carriers, never got closer than five miles from the beach. I did have some of the same experiences with the native culture in that part of the world and the welcome home. You will have to read the book. My only advice is, start early in the day. "

Fred Woods
"Boo-Coo number one. I have known Bill since childhood, having gone to the same schools most of the time and living only about five blocks apart. I didn't know until we served as Boy Scout leaders together how well he could tell a story. His attention to detail and ability to keep his audience in suspence kept scouts and leaders alike sitting on the edge of their logs around many a camp fires.

When he told me he had written a book, it took me about thirty seconds to decide to buy it. I have read nineteen reviews so far and they are all positive and right on target. It's an easy read and hard to put down. I read it in two days, but only because I didn't start until 2200 hours the first day.

He tells of recruit and advanced training, the hazzards an engineer faced and the ingenious solutions to unique situations in a combat zone. He tells of experiences us midwestern folk could never have at home and some of us wonder how we got though them, but most of us did somehow. He tells of the worries and concerns we had for the folk back home, while they were so worried about us. Though he obviously made it back home, he tells of the extremely close calls he had, but makes no big deal of them. He just tell the story in a matter-of fact way without dressing it up, boasting, or looking for pity. He explains it was a job that needed to be done and he and his comrades did it the best they knew how with what they had. He tells of how each man depended on the others for survival.

I made three tours, myself but having served on aircraft carriers, never got closer than five miles from the beach. I did have some of the same experiences with the native culture in that part of the world and the welcome home. You will have to read the book. My only advice is, start early in the day. "

Fred Woods
"Boo-Coo number one. I have known Bill since childhood, having gone to the same schools most of the time and living only about five blocks apart. I didn't know until we served as Boy Scout leaders together how well he could tell a story. His attention to detail and ability to keep his audience in suspence kept scouts and leaders alike sitting on the edge of their logs around many a camp fires.

When he told me he had written a book, it took me about thirty seconds to decide to buy it. I have read nineteen reviews so far and they are all positive and right on target. It's an easy read and hard to put down. I read it in two days, but only because I didn't start until 2200 hours the first day.

He tells of recruit and advanced training, the hazzards an engineer faced and the ingenious solutions to unique situations in a combat zone. He tells of experiences us midwestern folk could never have at home and some of us wonder how we got though them, but most of us did somehow. He tells of the worries and concerns we had for the folk back home, while they were so worried about us. Though he obviously made it back home, he tells of the extremely close calls he had, but makes no big deal of them. He just tell the story in a matter-of fact way without dressing it up, boasting, or looking for pity. He explains it was a job that needed to be done and he and his comrades did it the best they knew how with what they had. He tells of how each man depended on the others for survival.

I made three tours, myself but having served on aircraft carriers, never got closer than five miles from the beach. I did have some of the same experiences with the native culture in that part of the world and the welcome home. You will have to read the book. My only advice is, start early in the day."

Fred Woods

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