Mekong Memoirs: A GI in Tan Tru, Long An Province, 1969-1970

Facing imminent conscription, University of South Carolina graduate L. Glen Inabinet entered the Army in 1968, with a tour of Vietnam service inevitable. Scarcely six months later, he was fighting mud, mosquitos and Vietcong adversaries in the heart of the Mekong Delta. Armed with a liberal arts degree and an artillery MOS, Inabinet served in a 105mm howitzer section, as RTO with an artillery FO team, and as TAERS Clerk managing his battery's equipment records. Between filling in logbooks, he filled in for short-handed gun crews, served guard duty, defended against enemy attack, and countered stateside-like harassment with an imperishable sense of humor.

Containing previously unpublished photographs and documentary records, Inabinet's memoir is the personal voice of an on-the-spot reporter with a unique perspective as a writer of history and of human experience. Equipped with his camera, Inabinet preserved war-related images of Vietnam's exotic land and people as well as the GIs daily grind and dangers. His memory of his 401-day tour is bolstered by near-daily letters to his wife. This book presents Inabinet's stunning account of his time in the Mekong, more well-documented than would be possible for most tours of service. In a troubled war, Inabinet remained convinced of the strengths of faith and of camaraderie with brothers-in-arms, and his memoir tells this story in striking and illustrative detail.