BOOK REVIEW: MEKONG FIRST LIGHT.

 An infantry platoon leader in Vietnam tells it like it was.

This is the final book review from my library about Vietnam, at least for the time being.

The book tells the story of a dedicated and very professional officer who served two tours in Vietnam. After an undistinguished education and early life the author decided to join the army simply because he could think of nothing else to do with his life. He joined up as a private but soon qualified, to his surprise, for officer candidate school. His first years in the army soon proved to him that in fact he was highly suited to army life.

Following his commissioning he joined 9th infantry division as a platoon commander and commenced training his troops prior to deployment of the division to Vietnam.  Almost at the end of his Vietnam tour, one of his men said " Before we got to Vietnam, the troops all thought you would be the first lieutenant killed, and in the end, you were the only one left, we were all wrong. You were the best."

The author became the consummate soldier and officer as recognised by promotion to Captain and his transfer to Special Forces. He also served as an advisor with the Royal Thai Army on its deployment to Vietnam. By the end of his service the author was clearly on the path to a long and distinguished military career. However he became very disenchanted with how the war was being managed and finally decided to leave after over four years service.

The book details an interesting and motivational life story and is one of the best accounts of action in Vietnam I have ever read while pulling no punches about the vicious nature of the war and its long term impacts on those who served. An excellent book and highly recommended.

UPDATE.

 So the UK heatwave commences. 

This morning at 9.30am the temperature was 74 in the garden, at 10.30am it was 84 and now at noon it is 90 with the hottest part of the day still 3 or 4 hours away so looks like the forecast was right that we could have record breaking heat today and tomorrow.

I have decided to stay at home for the next couple of days. The house is shut up with windows closed and curtains and blinds drawn. I intend to spend the time doing the long overdue painting of my new cavalry regiment.

We are just so unprepared for this sort of heat in the UK. With a previous record high of 101 and forecasts of 104 or even more over the next couple of days, chaos is expected. Apparently only half our roads are surfaced with heat resistant tarmac so we can expect some sticky roads with the railways expecting rail buckling. Of course no one here has AC in the house, only shopping centres and large stores have AC.

Even the cat has decided that sleeping all day in the flower beds, which is her normal practice in summer, is not a good idea today and has taken refuge in the spare room.

At least the heat is expected to break down by Wednesday with rain maybe on Thursday....can't wait !!!!!!

BREAKING NEWS.  At 2pm my garden thermometer is showing 99 degrees in the shade. 

TUESDAY...day 2 of the heatwave.... Temperature in my garden is 93 at 11am  !!!!!

UPDATE.

 It is a month since I last updated on my modelling activities. At that time I reported that I had just started making the first regiment of cavalry for my new army. Well in the past several weeks I have only managed to finish building the regiment, the only painting done has been the priming of the flags !!!!

I have in simple truth done very little modelling for a while now. There always seems to be something else to do or somewhere to go at this time of year, especially if it involves going out in my new car which I just love to drive. Amazingly in the month I have had it I have managed some 46 mpg which for a big heavy petrol car is fantastic. That said it will cruise at 50 mph on only 1000 rpm. It must be all that technology !!!! Anyway as usual I struggle to actually recall exactly what I have been doing but I feel I have been very busy !!!!

Anyway the cavalry regiment has been built and it took quite some time. With the upgrades in troop numbers since the last full unit I made it has become quite the task to make 109 mounted soldiers.

The next job will be painting, which is also time consuming. I have also made a start on a battalion of heavy artillery but these soldiers have only had a single coat of uniform colour so far. However while taking the screws for this unit from my stock I realised I was running short of treated screws. Readers may recall that much of the screw stock I bought a few years ago was zinc plated. It is not possible to paint over that zinc coating so it has to be removed.  So yesterday I "cooked" up some 1600 screws. Although I have discussed this process previously I realised I had not provided photos so here goes.

This is the product used as purchased in Wilkinsons for £1.50. Vastly better than the pickling vinegar I used to use and a lot less smelly !!!!

 

The picture above shows the full set up. An old towel covers the working space with two ice cream tubs half full of tap water and my wooden stirrer.

The contents of the pack of crystals are equally shared between the two tubs and stirred until the crystals dissolve. The screws are then added at a rate of four boxes, 800 screws, per tub. Note the shiny silver colour of the screws straight from the box. A quick stir and then they are left for 30 minutes.

After half an hour this is the result. Two tubs with a half inch thick topping of foam. Clearly the result of off gassing by the crystals as they dissolve the zinc. I give each tub another good stir and leave for another half hour. There is little smell but I opt to carry out this activity in my workshop with the door open, just in case.

The next step is to use my dedicated sieve, not from the kitchen !!!!!! to pour the solution down the drain.  A secondary benefit is that this will clean the drain !!!! I then use the hose to wash the screws thoroughly. Note the change in screw colour to gray from previous photos above.

After washing I tip the screws onto the old towel and spread them out. I then use a hot air gun to dry them off. This always results in another change in colour to reddish brown as flash rusting takes place. This is fine as this gives a much better key for painting.

After a good blast of hot air, and allowing a little time for the screws to cool down as they get very hot, they are re-boxed ready for use. This process can also be used to age modern woodworking hardware, all that is required is the addition of a good dose of WD 40 instead of the hot air gun. That drives off the water and retains the "raw" old fashioned gray steel colour by stopping the flash rusting.

BOOK REVIEW: A HUNDRED MILES OF BAD ROAD.

 AN ARMORED CAVALRYMAN IN VIETNAM 1967-68

Still another book from my library and still about Vietnam....however only another couple to review before I change subject.

This book relates the experiences of a troubled young man who volunteered for service and became a tank crewman and, later in his tour, a tank commander. He served with the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment (Armored)  also known as the 3/4 Cavalry, of 25th Infantry Division.  Throughout his 16 month tour of duty, ( he reenlisted in country),  the author was almost permanently in action culminating in the very bloody  battle of Tan Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon during the Tet Offensive.

The author had what can only be described as a harsh upbringing which together with a very tough deployment made for a man with a lot of baggage. However after his discharge he went to school and became a lawyer, much to the surprise I suspect of all who knew him including himself.

This book relates a tough life and a vicious and hard fought tour of duty and gives a deep view inside the author's mind as well as a hard look at what it could be like fighting in Vietnam. Yet again here is the evidence as to why so many soldiers suffered so much from their Vietnam experience, it really is a wonder that any of those who actually experienced combat, were able to return to a normal life.

An excellent book about Vietnam but also a tribute to an extraordinary tough man.

UPDATE.

 FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG.

My first post to this blog was on 29 June 2018. Over the subsequent four years  I have achieved the following:

Posted 333 articles.

Received 369 comments.

Had 18076 hits on the site.

Secured 13 very welcomed followers.

Although not impressive figures compared to many other blogs, I think I have done remarkably well given the very niche nature of my subject.  Woodscrew soldiers were never going to command a lot of interest especially as I am not a wargamer although I am interested in the subject.

I have tried to expand the appeal of the blog by including endless book reviews and writing about my Imagi-Nations. These activities have definitely helped expand my audience but by far and away the biggest impact on the blog was the decision by Archduke Piccolo to wargame a campaign from my Imagi-Nations series. The resulting posts he did on the battles were hugely popular and many readers crossed referenced to my blog which led to a doubling of my followers.

This all proves that well written battle reports create the most interest. As I do not wargame I will never appeal to that audience but that's ok. I write primarily for my pleasure and amusement, if that interests others so much the better but if not so be it.

Anyway, a big thank you to the following:

Ian Dury for encouraging me to start blogging.

Mark at Man of Tin, my first follower and supporter

Steve J at Wargaming Addict and Joe of Fish Tales for regularly commenting

Ion at Archduke Piccolo for his enthusiasm for my Imagi-Nations 

and of course my family who now know for sure that, having well over 60,000 painted screw soldiers, I am "not all there" !!!!