FOREVER AND A WAKE-UP

Miles To Vietnam

by William Peter Grasso

March 1968: The Miles to Vietnam war saga continues, and Second Lieutenant Jif Miles is in the middle of his one-year tour as 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) returns to action in Operation Pegasus, the relief of the beleaguered Marine Corps regiment at Khe Sanh. In a series of heliborne assaults―the largest cavalry raid in history―the cav troopers strive to reclaim the main road across Quang Tri Province, evicting tenacious North Vietnamese forces in actions that include a bloody struggle for the old French fort guarding the approach to Khe Sanh and a vicious night fight with NVA tanks. After Pegasus, Jif pins on the silver bar of a first lieutenant as he spends his week of R&R with his parents and sister at their Australian home. There, he reaches a startling and life-affirming revelation.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Military Fiction

405 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 29, 2022

About the author

A lifelong student of history, William Peter Grasso served in the US Army and is retired from the aircraft maintenance industry. His devotion to all things historical, military, and aviation remains unabated and continues to inspire his fiction.

Reviews

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent addition to the Vietnam War lexicon

Asa Vietnam veteran myself, I believe that Mr. Grasso has hit another homerun with this novel. The depiction of the experiences of Lieutenant Miles ring very true. There was a lot about the war that was totally screwed up and the attitudes and myopia of many of the officers, starting with Westmoreland, lead to many mistakes of judgment and action. This was very well described in this book and the others in this series. Well done WPG.

[Ron Willoughby · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in a series seems like the hardest to pull off. It’s good. Advances the overarching plot and characters but it’s not great. The rear echelon and higher-ups are 2 dimensional often times. The divarty is a strawman from the outset. He hates him because of what his mother wrote in Foreign Affairs? And the fact that his Lieutenant has completed mission after mission, distinguished himself in combat and made Artillery Division look good has no influence whatsoever. The author can do better. Not all bad officers are wholly bad. Just saying.

I’m reading book 4 to see if Grasso recovers.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grasso sure knows his stuff! As a former USMC Butter Bar, I really appreciated his insight into the learning curve of young officers. I am enjoying this series of books and would recommend them to any who like military history. His books are fiction but with very real history to support his novels.
While in The Basic School, Quantic (TBS) I met Capt. Barnum who reminds me of the main character, Lt Jif Miles, in this series! SFMF

[Bob Uhlmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read!

The book follows my memory of events really well. And, while the likelihood of a butter bar being in the right place at the right time for these adventures to have happened. IF they happened, the resulting events would make a great story. This was a great story!

Anyone looking for a short escape to the past and having a small understanding of how the BIG GREEN MACHINE works would enjoy this book. Well written AND Proofread !

[James R. Taylor]

Entertaining and recognizable for a veteran of Vietnam. Some semi-myths exaggerated in the dialogue ...i.e., the evil, self promoting senior officer who takes actions against those with whom he disagrees. Not saying they were not there, but the vast majority of us were just trying to do our jobs as best we could in a conflict about which there was no national agreement.

[Phillip Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

cannot put it down

Picked up vol 1 Butter Bar on a whim. Now waiting for March and book 4.
Well written, good character development but these folks are elsewhere in print.
Thank you so much for writing a good story.

[Charles Schmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forever and A WAKE-Up Bill Grasso

Book was a good read and a interesting subject matter even though it was fiction. I’m a old 11th Airborne A battery FDC operator from 1955 - 1998 in Germany. This was a 105 MM battery. Bill had his facts in pretty good order.

[Francis W Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This story holds your interest from the beginning to the end. I enjoyed the story and plan on reading the next one.
I would recommend the author as well as he tells it like it is.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel

This is the 3rd in this series and I'm really enjoying the characters. The author has done his homework and made it historically accurate. Looking forward to not only reading the next one in this series but other books by this author!

[Steve Minnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

KEEPS ME ENGROSSED!!!!

This story just keeps you involved in the 'Nam.

Each book has kept it's fast pace, "you were there" excitement, and realism.

Grasso is a wonderful story teller.

[Abbigail Janick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

This is my first review of Grasso, even though it my third book of the series. Why you ask? Because his writing has me so enthralled I didn't want to waste time getting to the next book.

[Heidi Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book!

This book, like the 15 or so others by mister Grasso, was a page turner. The accuracy of the various situations and descriptions of locations is commendable.

[Stephanie Cohu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jif the hero

It seems the butter bar Jif is in the heart of the battle again. This time it is the liberation of the troops at Khe Shan. Good story.

[Sam Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tell it like it was

Extremely well written and edited. Pleasure to read, made understanding the war a bit easier.
Very informative, and descriptive.
Rock on!

[Vern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Looking forward to the release of book #4 in the series come March, 2023.

[carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Ossom read it like being there I like the way he tell a story I read all three and starting on ww2

[Jack Rilkoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good read in this series. I am looking forward to the next installment.

[Sid Mickle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forever and A Wake up

Well written and fast-paced story. It captures the up down emotions and the start stop actions of a war never fought to win.

[TomD77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable and absorbing series.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book in this series.

[Mike Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

riveting

Another great read, Miles keeps getting himself deeper into situations and is making for a great story all the way around

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read in the Jif Miles series. Grasso has continued to keep the pace and energy from the first two books as we follow Miles into the second half of his first tour of Vietnam.

[Tom Starnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

True to the exprienced

Just like real combat, same thing today as yesterday; just a little different scenario! It would be fun if the stakes weren't so high!

[Daniel Coen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in the series.

[Edward Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

review

Excellent , knowledgable, well written. Would love to listen to them on Audible. Be will be looking forward to March of 2023