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The Third Tour
“Help me, Marty, Help me.”
Radarman First Class Zack Martin’s physical wounds that were inflicted when his ship was attacked by friendly aircraft while on patrol in Vietnam have healed. His psychological wounds are another story. Recently, the flashback dreams about his friend Campbell’s mortal wounding from that terrible morning have diminished, but the panic attacks have not. His fiancé Camille is pressuring him to leave the Navy and seek help. To add to his dilemma, word has just recently been received that his new ship, a destroyer, is headed back to combat duty in Vietnam waters.
Martin is reluctant to throw away nearly ten years of his navy career. He must soon decide whether to seek psychiatric help at the Navy Hospital and accept a medical discharge or suppress his fears and sail once again into harm’s way.
In ‘The Third Tour,’ Bob Stockton draws on his personal experiences and more to deliver a fast-paced, action story of Navy combat both on the high seas and along the dangerous brown water rivers of Vietnam, placing the reader directly in the line of enemy fire.
Radarman First Class Zack Martin’s physical wounds that were inflicted when his ship was attacked by friendly aircraft while on patrol in Vietnam have healed. His psychological wounds are another story. Recently, the flashback dreams about his friend Campbell’s mortal wounding from that terrible morning have diminished, but the panic attacks have not. His fiancé Camille is pressuring him to leave the Navy and seek help. To add to his dilemma, word has just recently been received that his new ship, a destroyer, is headed back to combat duty in Vietnam waters.
Martin is reluctant to throw away nearly ten years of his navy career. He must soon decide whether to seek psychiatric help at the Navy Hospital and accept a medical discharge or suppress his fears and sail once again into harm’s way.
In ‘The Third Tour,’ Bob Stockton draws on his personal experiences and more to deliver a fast-paced, action story of Navy combat both on the high seas and along the dangerous brown water rivers of Vietnam, placing the reader directly in the line of enemy fire.
176 pages, Paperback
Published March 12, 2017
2 people are currently reading
183 people want to read
About the author
Bob Stockton
8 books35 followersBob Stockton was born in Trenton, New Jersey. Leaving school in his junior year Bob began a twenty year Navy career in 1957. During the course of that twenty year career Bob has sailed the seven seas while serving in surface vessels (destroyers), diesel electric submarines, auxiliary vessels, aircraft carriers, reconnaissance attack squadrons and patrol gunboats in Vietnam.
Following Navy retirement as a Chief Petty Officer, Bob has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees and has worked as a shipyard welder's helper, university adjunct graduate instructor, epidemiologist, pharmaceutical trainer, small business owner and radio host.
Bob currently receives full Veterans Administration disability compensation from exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. He resides in Jacksonville, Florida in close proximity to his three children and three grandchildren.
Following Navy retirement as a Chief Petty Officer, Bob has earned undergraduate and graduate degrees and has worked as a shipyard welder's helper, university adjunct graduate instructor, epidemiologist, pharmaceutical trainer, small business owner and radio host.
Bob currently receives full Veterans Administration disability compensation from exposure to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. He resides in Jacksonville, Florida in close proximity to his three children and three grandchildren.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 1, 2017
Reviewed by Sarah Stuart for Readers' Favorite
Bob Stockton’s novel, Third Tour, opens with a dramatic prologue. Radarman First Class Zack Martin is aboard USS Stroud, a ship patrolling the coastline of the Ca Mau peninsula, when she is mistakenly attacked by a friendly aircraft. He is injured, but his friend, Campbell, has his legs blown off. Zack is treated for his physical and mental wounds but flashbacks of the horrific incident continue to haunt him. Zack refuses to apply for the physiatrist help available; he has invested over nine years in the career he loves, and knows he would be discharged on medical grounds. How does he cope when his next ship, USS Ralph James, is subsequently ordered to Vietnam, and his duties include fighting from the rivers? Zack must battle not only with the enemy but to control his panic attacks.
Zack Martin ignores his girlfriend’s pleas to ask for help in controlling his frightening panic attacks, boards USS Ralph James, and loses her love and support. Told from Captain Thomas’, and other officers, points of view, specialist activities aboard ship are easy to follow and I found them extremely interesting; it’s clear the author draws on personal experience. Zack reenters the story in “Rolling Thunder” or “rolling blunder”, but comes into his own as the action hots up, literally with a fire aboard! Then there’s Zack’s adventures onboard the gunboat, Bay St Louis… Bob Stockton’s characters come vividly alive, and in Third Tour, he has created a story to captivate a wide audience. I recommend it to any reader who enjoys stories of realistic, fast-paced, action.
Bob Stockton’s novel, Third Tour, opens with a dramatic prologue. Radarman First Class Zack Martin is aboard USS Stroud, a ship patrolling the coastline of the Ca Mau peninsula, when she is mistakenly attacked by a friendly aircraft. He is injured, but his friend, Campbell, has his legs blown off. Zack is treated for his physical and mental wounds but flashbacks of the horrific incident continue to haunt him. Zack refuses to apply for the physiatrist help available; he has invested over nine years in the career he loves, and knows he would be discharged on medical grounds. How does he cope when his next ship, USS Ralph James, is subsequently ordered to Vietnam, and his duties include fighting from the rivers? Zack must battle not only with the enemy but to control his panic attacks.
Zack Martin ignores his girlfriend’s pleas to ask for help in controlling his frightening panic attacks, boards USS Ralph James, and loses her love and support. Told from Captain Thomas’, and other officers, points of view, specialist activities aboard ship are easy to follow and I found them extremely interesting; it’s clear the author draws on personal experience. Zack reenters the story in “Rolling Thunder” or “rolling blunder”, but comes into his own as the action hots up, literally with a fire aboard! Then there’s Zack’s adventures onboard the gunboat, Bay St Louis… Bob Stockton’s characters come vividly alive, and in Third Tour, he has created a story to captivate a wide audience. I recommend it to any reader who enjoys stories of realistic, fast-paced, action.
Displaying 1 of 1 review