From the Tobacco Fields to the Killing Fields and Back

About the Book

Robert Wall is 18, living on a farm in North Carolina. He wants adventure and excitement and joins the Army. His first overseas tour takes him to Korea for 16 months, then to Fort Polk, Louisiana. He is discharged in 1957. Restless, he joins the Air Force in 1958 and is assigned to Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas for Jet Engine Repair School. He's shipped to Everux-Fauville Air Base in France for 18 months, then to Edwards Air Force Base, California. Discharged in 1962 he decides to re-enlist in the Army. After basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, he graduated from International Morse Code School and volunteered for Special Forces (Green Berets). After successfully completing parachute school at Fort Benning, Georgia he was shipped to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and completed 8 months of Special Forces training. After additional Special Forces training for 18 months in Okinawa he volunteered for duty in Vietnam, serving 12 months as a communications supervisor. In 1968 he volunteered again for Vietnam, this time assigned to the top-secret outfit; MACV-SOG. Sent to Khe Sanh, he and his team ran reconnaissance missions in Laos and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, going from North Vietnam to South Vietnam, tolerating heat and jungle. After this tour he volunteered for the Canal Zone, working as a communication supervisor in Honduras until 1971. He spent the last 3 years of his enlistment as Operations Sergeant and Acting First Sergeant at Fort Devens, Massachusetts. He retired August 1975.

About the Author

Robert Wall grew up on a farm in North Carolina; his family was large, loving and God-fearing. At age 18 he enlisted in the Army, hoping to find excitement and see the world. He found both of these things, going from Korea to Vietnam and many other places in between. On the surface, he was living a normal life; privately he had nightmares, shakes and felt detached from "the civilians." In 1995 he began group sessions with other Vietnam combat veterans and began to feel like he wasn't alone, they all shared the same feelings and experiences. He decided to document his life in the form of a book, hoping it will be the final catharsis.