Original war time U.S. War and Navy Departments first editions. Pocket Guide books for 18 countries. These guidebooks were prepared by the U.S. War and Navy Departments to educate American soldiers stationed overseas during the conflict. It includes points on culture, language (including slang), local history, and the military justification for American presence in the area; in this sense these pocket books are a unique distillation of American wartime policy, composed by the highest decision-makers in government for the soldiers actually setting foot on foreign soil. …
In 1967, at age nineteen, John Stillman—refusing to wait for the draft—voluntarily enlisted in the Army to aid his fellow countrymen in one of the most opposed involvements in our nation’s history: the Vietnam War. Quickly falling in love with the rush of being a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne, he believed his service would honorably help the South Vietnamese protect their country from the ruthless communist North and their Southern allies. …
