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Books by Bill Eshelman

  • Letters to Pat: A Year in the Life of a Vietnam Marine

    Letters to Pat: A Year in the Life of a Vietnam Marine

    Letters to Pat chronicles the day by day events of Bill Eshelman, a young Marine Captain writing home to his wife. Hoping to command a U.S. infantry company in combat, Eshelman is instead ordered to advisory duty with a Vietnamese Marine battalion. The ensuing months present new challenges: dealing with US headquarters, the Vietnamese way of doing things and contact with the enemy. Military history buffs will relate to the major battles described. Letters to Pat offers details in what the author believed was necessary to be a successful military advisor, in particular his relationship with his Vietnamese counterparts. “I make no attempt to buy my way into their friendship other than to accept them for who they are, eat their food, live with them, and help with advice when they ask for it . . . and when they need US support, give them everything I can get!”

     


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Bill Eshelman, graduated from the US Naval Academy and served 35 years as a Marine, retiring as a Major General in 1994. His career covered many different command and staff positions, but it was during his time as a military advisor to a South Vietnamese infantry battalion in combat that he recorded his actions and thoughts on an almost daily basis in letters written to his wife. These letters plus notes from his combat journal form the basis of his book written 50 years after his 1967-68 experience.