Jungle Combat

"It's all here, from the drama of facing danger in combat, to the frustration of dealing with the military bureaucracy, to the excesses of exhausted Marines in drunken revelry. What follows is a chronological transcript of those tapes edited only for coherence, and not to protect the readers' sensibilities. It reflects my extreme swings of mood-from fear and anxiety to grief and exhaustion to relief and exhilaration. The events described are sometimes barbarous, sometimes ridiculous and sometimes sublime, but they are always real. In the theater of war, life gushes forward at a heightened pace. But amid the cacophony and confusion, the discerning reader will hear the earnest sounds of a young man emerging into manhood. Be forewarned the language is sometimes raw and cruel, for which I make no apology. It is the honest language of who we were then, an audible snapshot of that hardest of times. Committing this story to paper has helped me come to terms with the war, and to put it in focus. It has become commonplace to describe the conflict there as a defeat, but those of us who took part in it have difficulty with that. We were never bested on the battlefield. Every time the enemy stood up to challenge us, we took the worst he had to offer and returned it with interest. Yet we were the ones who withdrew, not because we were defeated on the battlefield, but because of a failure of will among our political leadership. For a variety of reasons, the Vietnam conflict provoked a divisive cataclysm that ripped our society apart, and shook our nation to its very foundation. For me, the final evacuation was terrible humiliation. I thought of the brave men who had given their lives in the cause. Turning our backs and running away seemed to dishonor their sacrifice. It ran contrary to everything I had ever held fast and believed in, a betrayal of my values and heritage..." - Colonel John "Ace" Astle U.S.M.C. (Ret.)

About the Author :
I am the daughter of creative and entrepreneurial first generation Italian/American parents. Growing up as the youngest of 4, I spent my youth working in the family restaurant business and traveling the Northeastern water ski tournament circuit with my national jump champion dad most weekends in the summer. I observed a lot about business and people. My mother's gentle ways influenced me to take pride in my work and to be compassionate. After graduating college in New York, I enjoyed a career in commodity futures trading for 19 years; first in lower Manhattan and the last seven as a senior account executive in Chicago. One snowy evening, while visiting my sister in Pennsylvania, I met the man of my dreams. Eighteen months later we married off the 18th hole on Pebble Beach. I now live happily and creatively with Mike in Southeastern Pennsylvania and write about people and circumstances. After meeting and becoming friends with John Astle over the past 18 years, I was and remain impressed with his military stories, about his heroism and that of his military brothers. I felt compelled to put his words to print, and to share with others who wore the uniform, who served and who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom. My debut book, Jungle Combat: A Combat Pilot's Tape Recorded Transcripts From Vietnam 1968-1969.