Combat Bandsman: Memoir of a Tour in Vietnam with the 9th Infantry Division, 1969

by Robert F. Fischer

Overview

Playing trumpet in the 9th Infantry Division Band should have been a safe assignment but the Viet Cong swarmed throughout the Mekong Delta, and safety was nonexistent. The band's twofold mission--boosting morale and helping win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese--required them to leave their Đồng Tam (a.k.a. Mortar City) base camp and travel through a vast area of rice paddies, dense jungle and numerous villages.

By 1969, home-front support for the war had dwindled and the U.S. Army in Vietnam was on the brink of mutiny. No one wanted to die under the command of career-minded officers in a war lost to misguided politics. This memoir of a conscripted musician in Vietnam provides a personal account of the lunacy surrounding combat support service in the 9th Infantry Division during the months prior to its withdrawal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476664811
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Robert F. Fischer was a researcher and writer who divided his time between Florida and Vermont.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: The Orchestration of War, 1945–1969
 1. Screw Up and You’ll End Up in the Infantry
 2. Forget Everything You Learned in Basic Training
 3. Republic of Vietnam, January 1969
 4. Republic of Vietnam, February 1969
 5. Republic of Vietnam, March 1969
 6. Republic of Vietnam, April 1969
 7. Republic of Vietnam, May 1969
 8. Republic of Vietnam, June 1969
 9. Republic of Vietnam, July 1969
10. Republic of Vietnam, August 1969
11. Back in the USA
Glossary
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Fischer writes like a pro. He deftly weaves together humor, history lessons, insights and his own unusual experience”—The VVA Veteran.

From the Publisher