Pizza and Mortars

About the Book

In 1966 boys went to Vietnam because it was their duty to do so. Some fought, some supported the fighters. All knew danger because there were no front lines in Vietnam. Sleep sometimes was interrupted by incoming mortars. Days were often jarred by grenades tossed into bars or claymore mines planted beneath picnic tables. Bill Upton served as an airplane crew chief flying out of the resort city of Vung Tau. He survived the war and was changed by it. Pizza & Mortars: Ba-muoi-ba & Body Bags is about coming of age in a war zone.

About the Author

In1965 Bill Upton flew to Vietnam in a Caribou, a U.S. Army airplane. For twelve months, he ferried bullets, bombs, and body bags from the Mekong Delta to Quang Tri. His plane was hit thirteen times by enemy fire. Still, he snapped photos, wrote poems, and kept journals to record events that changed his life forever. The result is his coming of age memoir, Pizza & Mortars: Ba-muoi-ba & Body Bags. For his Vietnam service, Bill received an Air Medal, Vietnam Campaign and Service medals, a National Defense Service medal, and a certificate of appreciation from General Westmoreland.