Helmet for my Pillow
Robert Leckie  published in the late 1950s
Found: I have become slightly addicted to war memoirs..recommended on Amazon.
Progressed: Finished.

The last paragraph of the book. the names Chuckler, Big Picture, Chicken etc are the nicknames of his comrades--' the other sign' is a mushroom cloud.

"And now to that Victim whose Sign rose above the world two thousand years ago, to be menaced now by that other sign now rising. i say a prayer of contrition. I, whom you have seen as irreverent and irreligious, now pray in the name of Chuckler and Hoosier, and Runner, in the name of Smoothface, Gentleman, Amish and Oakstump, Ivy League and Big Picture, in the name of all those who suffered in the jungles and on the beaches, from Anzio to Normandy--and in the name of the immolated, of Texan , Rutherford, Chicken, Loudmouth, of the Artist and White- man, Souvenirs and Racehorse, Dreadnought and Commando--of all these and the others, dear father forgive us for that awful cloud."

After Tet: The bloodiest year in Vietnam
Ronald H. Spector published 1993
Found: looking up another book on the Library website.
Progressed to p. 57

1. It is best to compare Vietnam not to WWII or Korea but to WWI. A war of stalemates that for a long time both sides thought the other would break if they just waited it out a little longer.

2. The army that fought in the war was an Army of Vietnam...one specifically created for that theater with NCOs and Officers created in weeks and all but the top positions filled by non career soldiers.

3. The death rate for American service men in 1968 was as high as the fighting in the Pacific.

4. 1968: The Tet offensive happens in Jan.  Johnson give his "peace" address in March, says he will not run  and the cease bombing faction wins for a while ---Robert McNamara was no longer Sec. Def. had taken a position as head of the World Bank.

5. Earlier in a massive strike against N.V. POL targets the U.S. destroys most of the North's oil storage capabilities but the N.V. use comparatively little oil in their fighting and can be supplied by tankers off shore unloading already drummed oil.

My brother's new kick to get  out of answering my emails in any sort of depth is to say  "awesome! you should write a blog on what you read!" in other words stop writing really long emails Rosa and bother the internet instead (said lovingly of course) so I will.