Vietnam Synopsis
The first book, Permission to Kill, depicts a soldier’s daily life during the Viet Nam war from the door of a Combat Assault Huey Helicopter gunner’s perspective. This story is based on the author’s ten-month experience as a permanent door gunner of the unique and beyond-the-call-of-duty smokeship Pollution IV.
The second book, Back in the World picks up on Willie’s adventure upon his arrival home. Physically unscathed but psychologically altered, a new war comes to his doorstep. How does he merge with a civilian society that feels so out of touch with his war-conditioned mentality? The struggle is complex and lengthy.
The third book, Permission to Live focuses on Willie’s/BW’s confrontation with the Veterans Administration, which refused to recognize combat stress (PTSD) as a service-connected disability. As it turns out, an unusual reaction to an unusual experience is natural. His winning move came after he was enlightened that the Adjudication process of his claim provided a mere seven and a half minutes of review. He delivered a quarter of a million-word document explaining the pitfalls of post-war combat stress. No one would ever read this documentation. Therefore, being the Master Expressive Artist he is, he condensed his message into one 8 ½” x 11”-sized poster. That alone is worth seeing.
The good news, and spoiler alert, is that this engaging saga has a happy ending.
Permission to Kill takes you to the front line of the Vietnam War as only a combat Huey helicopter crew can, performing remarkable war maneuvers compared to most Hueys. The author was a permanent gunner of Pollution IV, the company’s smokeship.
Back in the World is when you see young Willie’s struggle with the return to the civilian world. He made it through the war without any physical damage, but what about the unseen mental, emotional, and spiritual damage done? This is a new war that has no ending but death.
Permission to Live is how Willie took control of his life and its war wounds and made his real enemies admit to and pay for their misdeeds. Oh yes, it finally has a happy ending.
Viet Nam: “Then, Again, and Beyond.”
Just when you begin to believe the war story is just that, a manufactured embellishment of tall tales, view the award-winning documentary:
Viet Nam: “Then, Again, and Beyond.” (NY Indie Film Festival. ’09.) 66 minutes run time. The footage is actual footage that BW and the crew of Pollution IV shot in action from the doors of Pollution IV. It has three parts.
Part I: Thunderhawks. Join the crew of Pollution IV and see the war as you’ve most likely never seen it before.
Part II: BW’s return to Viet Nam thirty years later, to Make Friends Not War.
Part III: Smokeships Always Leading the Way. In this part you see BW’s dedication of the vintage smoke generator he found, purchased, and donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. That fills out the Huey on display with a history of being a smokeship. The display is at the Uvdar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., but will soon be moved to a new aviation museum in Washington, DC.
This video contains three music videos written and performed by BW, as well as a killer original soundtrack. All performed, recorded, edited, and produced by BW.
I prefer to sell eBooks as there is no shipping, and once I’m either snowed in or traveling this winter, shipping will not be an option. Shipping will resume in the spring. Order any paperback book but don’t pay yet, and I will send you a PayPal invoice when I return to the shipping game.
If you don’t have an eReader, visit Calibre and download the FREE one to your computer. https://calibre-ebook.com/download
The eBook is $6.60, with no shipping and an easy download for immediate delivery to your download folder. (Click HERE to order the eBook.)
To honor Veteran’s Day, CLICK HERE for a FREE viewing of the medley. 5'10" run time:
Also, watch the full documentary for FREE in honor of Veterans Day CLICK HERE.
