[January 7, 2021] A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Bob Reilly, who told me about a new book that tells the story of 64 Edison High School graduates who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. Vietnam War veteran Robert “Bob” Reilly is a man who has a mission. His mission is to make sure the Vietnam War vets’ stories are told so that America does not forget.
Chapter Six, They Served and Survived. It tells the stories of those who went to war and returned. It is in their own words, and their stories are emotionally moving. I asked for permission from Richard Sands, and he provided that permission through his publisher. Richard Sands names it “Ghost Job.” It is one of my personal favorites. You can read it here: Edison-64
“When I enlisted, the country was tearing itself apart over the War and those on my family’s side of the argument were saying that the enemy was just laughing at us while we were having to fight a war with our hands tied. And, no way were we baby killers or anything like that.”
“Ghost Job” tells the story of one man who survived the jungles of Vietnam as a paratrooper. He tells us about those things he did wrong, like his failure to carry enough ammunition for the 50-caliber machine gun. He tells us of his fears of being killed shortly before he departs from combat. And he tells us about his mom’s reaction when he returned home.
These stories are repeated tens of thousands of times as men (and women) returned from the Vietnam War. Down the street from me, a neighbor was a nurse in the middle of the war. She is proud of her service (as an officer in the Medical Corps) and her husband (an Infantry Officer). My community is full of Vietnam Veterans. I am proud to call them my friends.
Go to the link or navigate to the new website tab, “Edison 64.” Read this story. I also highly recommend the book. Also, you can read my book review from Christmas Eve. Please read it here: https://www.theleadermaker.com/reading-list-update-the-vietnam-war/
Excellent book, esp about the Philly area and the challenges of the times.
I ordered the book on Kindle. Now, I don’t normally do that because I like to write in books. But since I couldn’t wait, I downloaded it and started to read it. Short book, easy to read, great stories, and sad as well. Thanks Richard Sands for writing this book and bringing our attention to what so many men did for us during the Vietnam War. And, thanks to Gen. Satterfield for highlighting it for us.
Lynn, me too. I expect it soon. Based upon what I’ve read here, there is a consensus that this is the kind of book everyone should read because the Viet Nam War is an important part of who we all are.
A truly wonderful book based on comments I’ve seen so far. Thanks, Gen. Satterfield for the recommendation.
Richard Sands has done a superb job putting together this work. The lives of Edison High School students who died and others who returned to face a nation in turmoil is a must read.
Yes Fred and this is the kind of book all Americans should take the time to read. Why? To get a inside perspective on the Vietnam Nam War and the men who fought in it. But, of course, that will never happen. They will remain purposefully ignorant and that is only encouraged by our media and political elite. Go USA. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Now that Joe Biden will be president, I fear that books like this (about war) will be banned because it doesn’t sit well with progressive ideology.
….. and now all the ammo is bought up again. I thought Obama drove up gun sales. Now we have a contender. Slow, mentally handicapped Joe Biden is on it. He has a plan. But he won’t tell us the plan until after the election. Oh, election over, please tell him. Darn, wish I’d bought more ammo a month ago.
This book is an important read for all those who want to see the human impact of the Viet Nam War, especially in the local Philadelphia PA area. It tells the tales and puts faces to those who severed.
Excellent commentary on this important new book. I haven’t yet read it but after seeing all the positive reviews on Goodreads, I do plan to buy it for my Kindle.
Awwww, come on, buy the book itself. It comes in paperback and is better than an electronic version. You can write in a book. You can make notes. You can go back and read parts of it anytime you want and re-read your own notes. I like the feel of a book. Try it Bryan. I think you will prefer it that way. Besides, you can hand the book over to someone that should read it, like the crazy liberals that populate so much of the east and west coasts. Maybe it will do them some good.
Yes, thank you. I bought the book from Goodreads. Can’t wait to read it. 👍👍👍👍
Excellent book. Thanks to Gen. Satterfield for highlighting the book. Thanks to Richard Sands for writing it. And, thanks to all those who fought in the war and esp. to Edison High School boys who fought there. You guys are my heroes!!!
What jumped out at me in the book, Janna, was the conditions in North Philly both economically and socially. High crime, gangs, poor policing, ineffective politicians. Kinda reminds me of what we are seeing more of in the USA today. I foresee a worsening of those conditions now that it appears China Joe Biden will be president (small ‘p’).
China Joe, yep, things will start going to hell pretty quickly. China Joe is just a puppet. The real question is who is behind him pulling the strings.
Gen. Satterfield, back on Christmas Eve when you gave us a ‘book review’ of Edison 64, I ordered the book right away. I got the book quickly and am now reading it for the second time to make sure I did not miss anything. It is a powerful book in many ways. For me, it is the telling of war and home in the words of the vets who were there. Thanks to Richard Sand for the book! Oh, one of my favorite parts of the book is Ghost Job. I agree.
Ghost Job is just a few pages (I just read it in the tab) and found it compelling. Thanks JT. I was hoping someone would give us a little bit of the flavor of the book. 👍
Yes very compelling book. I got it a week ago.
JT, I’m happy that you got the book and have read it. Now, please help us get the word out about it so that more folks read this important story of Edison High School and the men who fought in the Vietnam War. There are lessons for all of us there.
Thank you, sir. I appreciate you getting back to me on my comment. Yes, I will help ‘get the word out’ about this book. What is important for me are the stories are now captured for anyone with the ambition to read.
Good to hear directly from you, Gen. Satterfield, thanks! 😊😊😊😊
He is pretty good about that!
Very special book with many lessons about the impact of war and the tragedies it has on us all.
.. the more lessons articulated the better. 😃
Yes, but we don’t even know those lessons, nor did we even try.
This is why we should be paying close attention to the books that Gen. Satterfield reviews and recommends. These should be compiled in some way to make it easier for us to directly go to them. Maybe he could create a TAB feature like he does others and then link all these together. Just a thought.