Vietnam: My War
Five Decades Later
By James Schaap
'A MUST read!! Should be on NY BEST seller list for sure!! FIVE STARS!!!' - Reader Review on Amazon
'Dr. Jamy Schaap’s Vietnam: My War Five Decades Later is an insightful and heartfelt reflection of the Vietnam War through the teenage eyes of a Marine Grunt that lived the experience on the front lines. His reflection is now tempered by age and wisdom which puts the war, both for him and his generation, in much clearer perspective. Highly intense action, emotion, and humor abound.' — Colonel Stephen M. Pomeroy, USMC (Retired);
Associate Director, School of Business Management, Norwich University
As you probably know, there are hundreds of books on a variety of topics about the Vietnam War. Many of these manuscripts deal with heroic actions and stories of courage and sacrifice. Professor Schaap’s work does as well.
The majority of the other tomes published about this conflict are presented strictly in a historical perspective. Some books actually bounce around the course of military events that happened over a ten-year period of time. Besides, many of them—especially the memoirs—talk about the same old stuff—one combat event after another in an impersonal and unemotional way, using one vulgar word after another.
However, Dr. Schaap, an academician for over 38 years, has addressed the Vietnam War quite differently. He has adopted the individual side of this conflict in a more personal way. The author has also included a collection of his dangerous experiences and deadly missions that reflect what young warriors went through during the early phase of the Vietnam War. As such, this book is most touching as well as enlightening to read.
By comparison as well as product differentiation, Vietnam: My War—Five Decades Later is primarily about "educating" the first-time reader to what life was like for a typical combat Marine in Vietnam. Like some of the other books about Vietnam, it does cover key combat operational events. But it really goes well beyond that. Schaap’s work reaches to the more poignant and emotional side of the reader. Further to this point, it shares with the reader, in a true-to-life way, with virtually no vulgarity, what a Marine Corps existence was like for the author for almost two full years, starting off by completing a full beachhead landing in Da Nang, Vietnam, and ending with him as a military policeman in Camp Pendleton, California.
Schaap’s book provides the reader with what he or she needs to know about the Marines and the early part of this conflict. This is accomplished from a "big picture" as well as a "small-picture" standpoint. It is written in a way that youcan easily understand and appreciate.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Looking Back—Five Decades Ago
Chapter 2: Vietnam: Da Nang
Chapter 3: Vietnam: Reassigned to Another Unit
Chapter 4: Vietnam: Chu Lai
Chapter 5: Vietnam: Batangan Peninsula … and More
Chapter 6: Vietnam: Que Son Valley
Chapter 7: Vietnam: An Trach
Chapter 8: Vietnam: It is Time to Go Home, or is It?
Chapter 9: Camp Pendleton: The Later Days
Chapter 10: Five Decades Later: So, What Does It All Mean?
Chapter 11: Epilogue
Glossary
Appendix 1: Vietnam War Statistics (20 tables)
Appendix 2: Myths and Facts About the Vietnam War
Appendix 3: Facts About the Vietnam War
Appendix 4: Presidential Unit Citation to the Third Marine Division (Reinforced)
Additional Information:
Published 2017 (Merriam Press) - 99 photos/illustrations/maps
ISBN: 9781576385609 - 372 pages - Paperback
World Rights Available (excl. World English)
Dr. James Ike Schaap, who likes to be called Jamy, while born in the small town of Haarlem, Holland, grew up in the beach community of Santa Monica, California. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the
age of seventeen, where he served from 1964 - 1967 as a frontline combat war-rior and rifleman, with two legendary infantry battalions, and later as a mili-tary policeman.
After serving his time in the United States Armed Forces, he attended Santa Monica College and California State University, Northridge, where he earned an undergraduate degree in business. Dr. Schaap went on to earn an MBA at Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. He later received a second mas-ter’s degree and a Ph.D. from Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA.
After teaching for twenty-four years at the University of Nevada, Reno, Dr. Schaap is currently an adjunct professor, instructing graduate business courses, at two different universities – Norwich University, Vermont (i.e., the oldest private military college in the U.S.) and California State University, Monterey Bay, California.
Specializing in the managerial sciences field, as a college professor for al-most forty years, Dr. Schaap has published numerous business-related articles in highly respected peer-reviewed academic journals. He has also published his research in three book chapters. Besides teaching graduate-level business courses and performing research in the business arena, Dr. Schaap is the founder and principal advisor at Schaap Consulting—a consulting firm that specializes in the strategic man-agement business process. As a local professional, he is also a guest speak-er/advisor for the award-winning Michael Bosma’s radio talk show.
He has been married for thirty-eight years to his wife Marilyn. The two of them have one child—Joshua—who lives in Reno, Nevada (i.e., with his wife Jenny). Dr. Schaap and his wife also live in Reno.