Xin Loi, Viet Nam: Thirty-one Months of War: A Soldier's Memoir

Al Sever

Feb 2009 · Sold by Presidio Press

About this ebook

No one in Vietnam had to tell door gunner and gunship crew chief Al Sever that the odds didn’t look good. He volunteered for the job well aware that hanging out of slow-moving choppers over hot LZs blazing with enemy fire was not conducive to a long life. But that wasn’t going to stop Specialist Sever.

From Da Nang to Cu Chi and the Mekong Delta, Sever spent thirty-one months in Vietnam, fighting in eleven of the war’s sixteen campaigns. Every morning when his gunship lifted off, often to the clacking and muzzle flashes of AK-47s hidden in the dawn fog, Sever knew he might not return. This raw, gritty, gut-wrenching firsthand account of American boys fighting and dying in Vietnam captures all the hell, horror, and heroism of that tragic war.

Ratings and reviews

Easily the most compelling memoir from the war I have ever read, it ranks with the best of any. The author's frankness and willingness to venture to explain various experiences which seem far beyond the range of most people. He handles these subjects within the whole memoir so deftly that, in the opinion of myself and others I know who have read it, the book is elevated into a level of great literature. It feel like an honor to read.

Of all Viet Nam memoirs I have read this one stands out as probably the best to date. I found the authors blunt honesty to be refreshing, he opens a window into his mind and view of how it really was. His account really blew me away, I honestly hope he somehow found peace of mind when he returned home.

One of the most absorbing books I have read for a long time.

About the author

AL SEVER, a crew member on various types of helicopters, served in Vietnam from the heavy combat days of 1968 to the moral and physical disintegration of our forces in 1972. From the Delta to the DMZ, he observed the varied facets of the war as the opposing armies clashed and maneuvered throughout the country. He lives in Montoursville, Pennsylvania.