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From Classrooms to Claymores: A Teacher at War in Vietnam
"Vietnam was a fantasy life of gunfire, blood,
heat, and superhuman toil."
By late 1969, the end of the war was just over the horizon. But for Ches Schneider, a drafted schoolteacher turned infantry grunt in the deadly Central Highlands, it was just beginning. This story of a Missouri boy, told with grit and honesty, describes the stark transition from the normalcy of schooldays to the life-and-death drama endured daily in Vietnam's bloody jungles.
As a soldier in the 1st Infantry Division, Schneider went out on twelve-man search-and-destroy combat missions, never knowing whether the next moment would bring an ambush, a firefight, or eternal oblivion. Later, when the Big Red One rotated back to the U.S., he was transferred to the 1st Cav and fought it out with the NVA in the steamy jungles of Phuoc Long Province near the Cambodian border. As an ordinary man in extraordinary times, Schneider realistically captures the pain, loss, sacrifice, and courage of the men who fought for their lives even as the war wound down . . . .
heat, and superhuman toil."
By late 1969, the end of the war was just over the horizon. But for Ches Schneider, a drafted schoolteacher turned infantry grunt in the deadly Central Highlands, it was just beginning. This story of a Missouri boy, told with grit and honesty, describes the stark transition from the normalcy of schooldays to the life-and-death drama endured daily in Vietnam's bloody jungles.
As a soldier in the 1st Infantry Division, Schneider went out on twelve-man search-and-destroy combat missions, never knowing whether the next moment would bring an ambush, a firefight, or eternal oblivion. Later, when the Big Red One rotated back to the U.S., he was transferred to the 1st Cav and fought it out with the NVA in the steamy jungles of Phuoc Long Province near the Cambodian border. As an ordinary man in extraordinary times, Schneider realistically captures the pain, loss, sacrifice, and courage of the men who fought for their lives even as the war wound down . . . .
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 29, 1999
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January 10, 2021
A 26 year old recently married schoolteacher that get sdrafted into the Army on the infantry front lines in Vietnam, that’s a story right there. The book is more of a memoir more than anything else. It’s not super long, but it’s an interesting quick read.
Ches Schneider gets sent into the 1st Infantry after being drafted, then rotated into the 1st Air Cavalry later on where he’s known as “Professor” in his units he’s in. He becomes a trusted soldier in the platoon & tries to do the best he can to survive to make it back home.
It was a book that gripped myself because it talked about the human element of war. There are even parts where it shows the comradely between the soldiers by playing practical jokes on other soldiers at the firebase in western Vietnam near Cambodia away from the front lines, even if it’s a few klicks away.
It was refreshing to read a Vietnam book focusing on the grunts & not the military objectives.
Ches Schneider gets sent into the 1st Infantry after being drafted, then rotated into the 1st Air Cavalry later on where he’s known as “Professor” in his units he’s in. He becomes a trusted soldier in the platoon & tries to do the best he can to survive to make it back home.
It was a book that gripped myself because it talked about the human element of war. There are even parts where it shows the comradely between the soldiers by playing practical jokes on other soldiers at the firebase in western Vietnam near Cambodia away from the front lines, even if it’s a few klicks away.
It was refreshing to read a Vietnam book focusing on the grunts & not the military objectives.
Displaying 1 of 1 review