Official blog
TWS Website
TWS Website
U

MENU

The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

The Mailman Went UA (A Vietnam Memoir) by David W. Mulldune

The Mailman Went UA (A Vietnam Memoir) by David W. Mulldune

,

The year 2025 will see a lot of retrospective looks at the Vietnam War, as the United States’ involvement began in 1965 (or 1955, depending on who you ask) and officially ended with the 1975 Fall of Saigon. The best retrospectives anyone could possibly read are the no-holds-barred accounts of the war from those who were there, on the ground, doing the job. And few Vietnam memoirs are as poignant and honest as David Mulldune’s “The Mailman Went UA.”

read more
Valentine’s Day by Charles A. Van Bibber

Valentine’s Day by Charles A. Van Bibber

,

In the late nineteen sixties, the author made a life-altering journey that led him out of Texas and into the U.S. Marine Corps and eventually into the jungles of Vietnam as a machine gunner during the tumultuous year 1968.   'Valentine's Day' (so named because Van Bidder's unit, 2nd Battalion, 27th Marine Regiment, departed Camp Pendleton for Vietnam on February 14, 1968) is a very excellent read.  What makes it so is the straightforward accounting by the author on the horror,...

read more
MSG Jerry M. Shriver, U.S. Army (1962–1969)

MSG Jerry M. Shriver, U.S. Army (1962–1969)

,

When Jerry Shriver left the United States for Vietnam, the only reason he ever came home was because the Army forced him to get some R&R. Even then, Shriver spent his time stateside talking tactics with fellow soldiers and looking for weapons to use in his unconventional, often personal war against the communists of Southeast Asia. He earned the nickname "Mad Dog" from Radio Hanoi for his fierce raids into enemy territory, his ability to fight his way out, and his refusal to use...

read more
Cpl William Thomas Perkins Jr., U.S.M.C. (1966-1967) – Vietnam War Combat Photographer

Cpl William Thomas Perkins Jr., U.S.M.C. (1966-1967) – Vietnam War Combat Photographer

,

The only Medal of Honor to be awarded to a combat photographer is now on display in the Medal of Honor Gallery in the "Price of Freedom" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. William Perkins Jr’s Medal of Honor at the Smithsonian Marine Cpl. William Thomas Perkins Jr. died at the age of 20 on Oct. 12, 1967, when he flung himself on a grenade to preserve the lives of three other Marines during Operation Medina, a Marine search and destroy operation in Quang Tri...

read more
MSG Gary Gordon (1978–1993) and SFC Randy Shughart (1976–1993), U.S. Army

MSG Gary Gordon (1978–1993) and SFC Randy Shughart (1976–1993), U.S. Army

,

The story of Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart is one of the most extraordinary acts of bravery and self-sacrifice in modern military history. Both were soldiers; U.S. Army Delta Force members who gave their lives trying to protect their fallen comrades in the face of overwhelming odds. It came in 1993, during the Battle of Mogadishu, famously depicted on the screen in the 2001 film, "Black Hawk Down."  Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart Faced Chaos American forces in Somalia were looking to...

read more
Last In, First Out A Desert Storm Diary by Ed “Tuna” Fisher

Last In, First Out A Desert Storm Diary by Ed “Tuna” Fisher

,

These days, Ed Fisher (callsign: “Tuna”) is twice-retired and living with his wife on Washington State’s Whidbey Island. His second career was as a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School, from which he retired in 2021. His first career was much more exciting. As Lt. Col. Fisher, he was a U.S. Air Force Wild Weasel Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO), who performed this duty during Operation Desert Storm. “Last In, First Out” is his diary from his days fighting combat missions there.

read more
The Boys on Cherry Street by Ron Boehm

The Boys on Cherry Street by Ron Boehm

,

Tens of thousands of books have been written on the Vietnam War. Thousands more are in the process of being written, and thousands more are being considered by other veterans. Such books inevitably deal with heroic actions and stories of courage and sacrifice. Boehm brilliant book also includes stories about heroes and their courage, but he wrote the book to be a different kind of book on Vietnam. He was highly successful.

read more
Fire in the Hole by Bob Parsons

Fire in the Hole by Bob Parsons

,

Bob Parsons was a 0311, a Marine Corps Rifleman, with 1st Battalion 26th Marines in South Vietnam’s Quang Nam province. When he first arrived on Hill 190, where his company operated, it was all rice paddy as far as his eyes could see. He was told that his time in-country would change him. He may not have realized just how much he would change.

read more
LT Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy (2000–2005)

LT Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy (2000–2005)

,

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or not, you might have heard about "The Murph Challenge." Every Memorial Day, veterans, military members, and fitness nuts around the country pledge to take the challenge. It not only helps remember the courage and sacrifice of Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, but also helps send military-connected individuals to college through the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation. Lt. Michael P. Murphy Leads SEAL Mission in Afghanistan To call the...

read more
Events in the Life of an Ordinary Man by Richard R. Pariseau

Events in the Life of an Ordinary Man by Richard R. Pariseau

In his introduction, the author wrote: “ordinary implies middle-class Americans without special privileges of wealth or title.” He was referring to his own family in Attleboro, Mass. When one reads the entire book, however, one learns he is a modern renaissance man and a high achiever who excelled in sports, academics, science, military and almost anything he set his mind to – as well as a few failures. He referred to it as a cumulative assortment of life experiences that were humorous, others sad, motivations and educational as he continually sought excitement with new or unfamiliar areas to explore.

read more
Unlikely Warriors by Lonnie M. Long and Gary B. Blackburn

Unlikely Warriors by Lonnie M. Long and Gary B. Blackburn

,

At the peak of the war, over 6,000 Army Security Agency (ASA) soldiers were assigned to every major U.S. Army unit operating in Vietnam. They were sworn to secrecy and, for the most part, never receiving any recognition for the magnificent job they did. That, however, changed over the last few years, allowing two ASA veteran authors, Lonnie Long and Gary Blackburn, to chart the years that ASA operated in Vietnam – occurring from 1961 to 1973.

read more