john harrison
During the Vietnam War I enlisted in the Army as a private. I was commissioned as an Infantry Lieutenant upon completion of Infantry Officer Candidate School at 20 years old. I was assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 506th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. The 506th Airborne is the original "Band of Brothers" in Stephen Ambrose famous book about World War II. My first book, "Steel Rain, the Tet Offensive", is the continuation of that story in Vietnam.
Initially I was the Executive Officer, I later assumed the additional duty of Rifle Platoon Leader. While in Vietnam I served as a Rifle Platoon Leader and as the Executive Officer, including combat operations incidental to the Tet '68 Offensive. My book "Steel Rain, the Tet Offensive" is mostly about our bloody year in Vietnam.
Upon returning from Vietnam I graduated from Georgetown University and then worked in real estate while going to law school at night at George Washington University. While practicing law I also worked in real estate and mortgage banking for about 30 years. Finally a few years ago I retired from the law and achieved my lifetime ambition to be a high school history teacher. I did that for 7 years. Now i write full time.
I have written two books so far. While "Steel Rain, the Tet Offensive 1968" is about the year we spent in Vietnam and our return from that then unpopular war, my second book, "It Might Have Been" is a collection of seven short stories. In the main, these stories deal with the sometimes profound effects our seemingly random choices can have on our lives. Both books are available in paperback and on Kindle.
Some of the stories in "Steel Rain" are humorous, like the one about the magnificent fart, or the tossing game played at night. Some are not. The easiest to write was "Cone of Violence" which came out all by itself one day as I was sitting at my computer. The day it describes was not easy though. I re-fight that day, February 2, 1968, every day in my mind's eye. While I have never regretted shooting the Province Chief, I have almost always regretted the necessity that required me to shoot him. It was probably the death of Jim Bunn and Smith, and the killing of the Province Chief that drove me from the Army--I have always hated killing people. All of these stories are in "Steel Rain" as well. Some of the pictures above are from that book.
As I say, there are a lot of funny stories from my Army service. We were after all, just American kids in another place, in another time. I was commissioned at 20 years old, too young to vote or drink then, but not to fight. It was a different time in so many ways. Some of the stories in my second book, "It Might Have Been", deal with the continuing effects of sometimes long ago choices, like whether to enlist in the Army.
I also publish a blog at Wordpress. At this point (March 2018) the 30+ articles posted there have been down loaded over 115,000 times by people living in over 138 countries. originally I wrote there about my experiences in Vietnam, now I blog on several topics.
Many of the stories in my book, "Steel Rain, the Tet Offensive" were originally published on my blog. There they were read, and commented on by many of the men that served with me in Vietnam. As my memory was revived these stories were rewritten many times. "Steel Rain" is our story, the story of "the Bastard Battalion", successor to the Battered Bastards of Bastogne, the original "Band of Brothers", 101st Airborne Division.
On my blog you will also find the story of a Republican, United States Senate, candidate named Ruthann Aron, and how she once hired a hit man to kill me and another lawyer according to the Montgomery County Maryland, State's Attorney. (See: https://johneharrison.wordpress.com/2014/06/02/have-you-ever-been-the-target-of-a-hit-man/) However, after she failed at poisoning her husband's chili, she changed her mind and decided to have the hit man murder her husband, instead of me.
And you thought that being a lawyer was a safe job, all inside work with no heavy lifting? Danger lurks in the strangest places.
I hope you enjoy reading all them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Top 20 Questions at a recent book club meeting.
What do you feel was the most emotional event in the book? Why did it affect you so deeply?
Why did the author include so many stories that were really funny?
Which character in the book would you most like to meet?
Why are the two stories so different, “The Day the Smith Died” and “Cone of Violence”?
What do you think motivated the author to share his story? How did you respond to the author's "voice"?
Do you think the author is trying to elicit a certain response from the reader, such as sympathy? How has this book changed or enhanced your view of the Vietnam War?
Discuss the book's structure and the author's use of language and writing style. How does the author draw the reader in and keep the reader engaged? Does the author convey his or her story with comedy, self-pity, or something else?
Compare this book to other memoirs your group has read. Is it similar to any of them? Did you like it more or less than other books you've read? What do you think will be your lasting impression of the book?
What did you like or dislike about the book that hasn't been discussed already? Were you glad you read this book? Would you recommend it to a friend? Do you want to read more works by this author?
Discuss the character's relationship with the military. Do they enjoy being part of the military, or does their attitude toward the military change through the book?
How does the military training affect the character's ability to survive or succeed in their mission?
How accurate do you think the book's depictions of the military were. If there were mistakes or inaccuracies, what were they?
What surprised you the most when you read the book?
What motivated the main character to act the way he did?
Does the book's setting contribute to the book? Would you like to visit Vietnam?
Does the main character change throughout the book?
What is the turning point of this book? What was your reaction to that pivotal moment?
Whose point of view was the book told from? How did the narrator's opinions affect the book?
What was your favorite or most memorable passage in the book? Why did it make an impression?
What type of writing style does this book use? How does that affect your interpretation or impression of the book?
