Preview
  • Vietnam

  • There & Back: A Combat Medic's Chronicle
  • By: Jim "Doc" Purtell
  • Narrated by: Eric Martin
  • Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (50 ratings)

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Vietnam

By: Jim "Doc" Purtell
Narrated by: Eric Martin
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Publisher's summary

In 1967, Jim Purtell left his small Midwestern town to join the US Army. He did so at a time when the country was pro-Vietnam and serving seemed an honorable thing to do. Little did he know that the tide would turn a mere six months later as drastically as it did.

Vietnam - There & Back: A Combat Medic's Chronicle is a candid account of the time when he and several other combat vets found themselves conducting operations in the jungles of Vietnam during and after the Tet Offensive.

Purtell describes in gritty detail what it was like to live and fight with an infantry company only to return to anti-Vietnam sentiment so strong that he and his fellow veterans felt nobody cared about them or the sacrifices they made.

©2018 Jim Purtell (P)2018 Tantor
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What listeners say about Vietnam

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Great book!

This is not a gung ho war book, nor is it an anti-war book, instead it is one man's story of struggling through Vietnam while trying to stay alive and help others to do the same. Jim Purtell offers an honest, straight forward, and easy to read (listen) account of his time in Vietnam as a combat medic and terrors he and many others saw and experienced.

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Loved it

I to was a medic corpsman in the Navy 1971 to 1975. Saw lots of tragedy that I would like to forget.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Candid account

This hero more than halfway through his life has gone back in history in his mind and his heart to pull out the wounds that he and his brother survived. His retelling should be heard by all and especially the young to know that they should never serve a government who uses them as Canon fodder.we are American. People are lucky to have these Vietnam vets among us some of who are disillusion some of them who are very proud to have served but it certainly was a turning point in our countries consciousness.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Short and Sweet

Great listen with a great narrator even though it was only a short few hours.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful

Being raised by Vietnam Vets, working with some later, and even having a Corpsman as a neighbor, I wish that they would all write a book about their experiences. I personally read every one that I can, and this one measures up to them all. Welcome home.

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Pain

Loved it all. Thank you for your service. Helps me appreciate my brother even more.

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Great book.

The narrator is perfect for the book. Content was really interesting and cerebral. Worth the read!

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The absolute sincerity

The author did such a good job telling the truth about what happened The good the bad the ugly just the way it should be The beauty about it is it's condensed somehow and a nice short book although I'm sure ours could be written I enjoyed this especially

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

Tightly written with sparse prose

Interesting story illuminating the experiences of a combat medic in an infantry company in Viet Nam—as remembered 50 years afterwards

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