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  • Chasing Understanding in the Jungles of Vietnam

  • My Year as a Black Scarf
  • By: Douglas Beed
  • Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
  • Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (12 ratings)

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Chasing Understanding in the Jungles of Vietnam

By: Douglas Beed
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
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Summary

Author Doug Beed relates his memories of the men and missions during his year (1968-69) as a combat soldier with the First Infantry Division in Vietnam. After two years of college he couldn't afford to continue, so he was forced to relinquish his student deferment and enter the draft. He tried various strategies to get a non-combat job; nevertheless, he ended up in the infantry and was assigned to Vietnam.

The stories in this book depict the year Doug spent in Alpha Company, where he spent days on patrols finding and killing North Vietnamese soldiers along the hundreds of miles of trails heading for the Saigon. These stories range from funny to tragic, from uplifting to extremely frustrating, and from touching to horrifying. This book gives the listener a sense of life in the infantry in 1968 and 1969.

©2017 Douglas Beed (P)2017 Tantor
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What listeners say about Chasing Understanding in the Jungles of Vietnam

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really good audio book


Loved the way they author also tells the reader more about how the platoon is set up, strategy and operational information. So as well as a good insight into what happened to the troops, it’s interesting to know more about the set up

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good book, well read

Good interesting book that was well read

Book felt a little short compared with others, but is well worth a listen

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Vietnam Story With Final Understanding

First Time I've given overall higher rating than performance and story. This is based entirely on his, the authors, final chapters where he attempts to make sense, decades after the event, of what all the combat was about, the at times "senseless killing" and the emotional toll that had taken on him, evident after the many years since returning home. This large gap between the event, and him writing the book is perhaps why some of the earlier chapters are somewhat lighter on detail. This guy is clearly a thinker, and has morals, and that's plagued him, and is reflected in his book. He's very likeable, which helps, at times lazy, seeking to dodge (or cheat) the NCOs to avoid extra duties. At times cunning, and always doing what's best for him and his men, including scuppering the CO's plans for dangerous tactics - to save his men. The book had me chuckle at times, and fight to hold back a tear at others. It did all this without the author using any fancy big words, there's so much there in raw everyday language. Those with little to say can use the long words - they are "The Lifers" that the author paints quite vividly as a group of high ranking NCO's and Officers, that if repeated, would no doubt get this review censored several times over!
I hope the author, the Vietnam vet was able to heal some of his traumas, which he hoped writing the book would help him achieve. If he weren't a good man, it wouldn't have bothered him in the first place.

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Feel how a human felt as a soldier

Great book. This book manages to present the very complex nature of a very personal experience, moral and psycholological issues. Thanks for sharing it!

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