Ground Pounder: A Marine's Journey through South Vietnam, 1968-1969 (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series) - Hardcover

Short, Gregory V.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1574414526 ISBN 13: 9781574414523

Publisher: University of North Texas Press, 2012

Synopsis

  In early February of 1968, at the beginning of the Tet Offensive, Private First Class Gregory V. Short arrived in Vietnam as an eighteen-year-old U.S. Marine. Amid all of the confusion and destruction, he began his tour of duty as an 81mm mortarman with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, which was stationed at Con Thien near the DMZ. While living in horrendous conditions reminiscent of the trenches in World War I, his unit was cut off and constantly being bombarded by the North Vietnamese heavy artillery, rockets, and mortars. Direct, honest, and brutal in his observations, Short holds nothing back in describing the hardships of modern warfare and our leaders’ illusions of success.

About this title

About the Author:

 GREGORY V. SHORT is a retired educator residing in Denton, Texas. With over thirty years of teaching experience, he has taught subjects in high school ranging from world, American, and Texas history to political science, economics, and physical education. He is working on a book describing civilization and economic evolution.

Review:

“Ground Pounder is a witty, philosophical, and unflinching look at a Marine’s tour in Vietnam.   Short provides a unique perspective on topics ranging from surviving in the bush to navigating the comforts and pitfalls of REMF life.”—John P. Ernst, coeditor of The War That Never Ends: New Perspectives on the Vietnam War

“An awesome account of the author’s experiences of his two tours in Vietnam. . . . To those of us who were not there, Short makes you feel like you were right there alongside him.”—Sgt. Grit grunt.com

“Gregory Short’s Ground Pounder carries the reader into the corners of the big picture of the Vietnam War for a sharply focused view of life at the small unit level in historic struggles like Khe Sahn. He also takes the reader to the smaller, but no less important daily struggles for survival and sanity that all Marines in Vietnam endured. Ground Pounder is a must-read memoir and a valuable piece of the historical record of the Vietnam War.”—James Gillam, author of Life and Death in the Central Highlands

"His candid tales of horrifying casualties in battle, enduring the elements, and even learning about the Vietnamese culture make for absolutely compelling reading. Ground Pounder is a 'must-read' military memoir of the Vietnam War, highly recommended."--Midwest Book Review

“Ground Pounder is a wonderful account of infantrymen's physical and mental hardships in Vietnam. . . . The intrinsic value of his text lies with the reproduction of major operations during the war that he witnessed. Students of the Vietnam War have difficulty gaining a true understanding of the war experience. Short's memoir begins to fill that gap, as a primary source that can be used as a starting point for future scholarship.”—Jeremy Maxwell, H-War/H-Net Reviews

"[O]ne of the best memoirs written by a veteran who was also 'in country' during the 1968-1969 period. . . . Short's accounts of life in the bush and in the rear are excellent, but it is his depiction of his return home that will really ring true for veterans of that unpopular war. . . . Short's book should be required reading in high schools and colleges. It well describes the futility of a war that could have no long-term success."--Military Heritage

About this edition

• Publisher: University of North Texas Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1574414526
• ISBN 13: 9781574414523
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368