Reflections of a Scared Soldier Boy in Vietnam: God, Redlegs, and Blueboys

This work details the constant emotional and psychological struggles of a scared young combat soldier, Robert Adams, as his experiences transformed him from a boy into manhood through the forced maturity of war.

Serving with one of America's most aggressive units--1/9^th Cavalry--he witnessed war from the front row. His duty as a combat soldier, in America's most unpopular war, was defined by powerful influences during his tour.

The first was his strong faith in Jesus Christ, a constant presence in a life threatened for 364 days in a forsaken land. No day passed and no night fell without him calling on the Lord for strength, hope, and the perseverance to continue service for an ungrateful America. This soldier left Vietnam with a richer relationship of God's presence in our lives and an appreciation for the precious value and precarious nature of life itself.

The second influence was the burning loving for a young wife, whom he'd married the day before shipping out to war. That passionate love, and the knowledge that the young couple would be together as parents, gave added impetus for survival and his return as a husband and new father.

Lastly, the constant reminder that death was a daily companion, claiming America's "best and brightest," imprinted permanent doubts of survival, while robbing young men of both youth and innocence if they did survive.

All combat soldiers experienced a similar debilitating phenomenon, and like them, Adams was just one scared boy in a place where he was neither brave nor gallant, and did only one remarkable thing: He escaped to tell his story!