Hill - 55
Just South of Danang Vietnam
by
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God I really screwed up this time. I wish I had never come back in the marines. This place is crazy.
Six years ago, in 1960, I failed miserably in high school. At the age of 17, it was easy to get my parents signature and join the marines. After boot camp and six months of infantry training at Camp Pendleton, my battalion shipped out to the far east where I spent the next 13 months with the 3rd Marine division. I spent the last two years of my first enlistment guarding a top secret base in Nevada, where we had a 200 marine guard detachment. I really loved my time in the marines, but at the ripe old age of 21 and having only achieved the rank of Lance Corporal, I decided that four years was enough for me. So at the marine corps' expense, I boarded a Grey Hound bus for my trip back home.
With $171.00 in my pocket, I stepped off the bus and into my new life as a civilian. It was party time in good ol' San Diego, California. Two weeks later the money was gone and reality set in. I searched the help wanted ads. For the first time in my life, I came to the realization that with only a ninth grade education to offer any potential employer, I might have a problem finding a job. Fortunately, my childhood friend, Tom Farmer, told me he might be able to pull some strings and get me hired at the bakery where he worked. Two days later, after receiving my health card, I was fully employed at Oroweat bakery. For the next couple of years, life was good. Then the war in Vietnam started to hit closer to home. One by one, all of my friends were being drafted. I was safe because I had already done my time. I could have stayed at the bakery, but I was getting bored and felt like I was missing something in my life. It's starting to rain. Time to stop reflecting on life and try not to think about home. I don't think the VC want to get wet. It's been very quiet tonight, not one sniper round. Just the way you like it for a good nights sleep. This is as safe as it gets spending the night on Hill-55 when it's raining. We all get as much sleep as we can. It's starting to get light now. Only 358 more days and I'm out of here.
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About the Book
Marking the debut of a new literary talent, Hill 55 captures the irony, fear, and camaraderie of life as a grunt during the Vietnam conflict. Drawing on his own experiences, Dave Adams spins his memoirs from a series of stories and events into a distinctive novel that anyone can appreciate, especially the grunts who lived it first hand.
Set during the buildup of the Vietnam war in 1966, Hill 55 focuses on the daily survival of comrades-in-arms and unspoken heroes situated eight miles south of Da Nang. The story evolves as Dave Adams, a twenty-three-year-old ex-Marine grunt, becomes bored with civilian life and reenlists in the Marines. Shortly after his arrival in Vietnam, the stark realization of war is nothing like he anticipated. He begins to lose his friends, his reasoning for the war, his humor, and, eventually, his sanity. The turbulent mind games of the enemy snipers and their never-ending small arms fire, and the day-to-day routine of a no-win situation with no foreseeable end in sight comes down to a war of survival, in body and in mind.
Told in a nuanced narrative that resonates with truth, Hill 55 is a haunting, bittersweet tale of survival and the road home.
About the Author
Dave Adams grew up in San Diego, California. In 1960, he left high school to follow his four older brothers into the U. S. Marine Corps. After four years of service, Lance Corporal Adams received an Honorable discharge and transferred into the inactive reserve. Two years later he re-enlisted in the Marines. Subsequently, he was severely wounded and received a medical retirement with the rank of Sergeant. Dave now writes full time from his home in San Diego, where he is working on his second novel. He is otherwise retired and lives with his wife of 28 years, Dee, a Native American artist. Hill 55 is Dave's first novel.