Thirteen Months

Thirteen Months is a novel based on the real-life experiences of the author. It allows the reader to experience the events surrounding a close-knit mortar squad through the eyes of Ski (an eighteen-year-old Marine) during the height of the Vietnam War (1968). His thirteen-month tour of duty is chronicled in detail as Ski confronts the inevitabilities of war: from his arrival in country to several major field operations, to R&R in Hong Kong, to becoming a squad leader, to going home and everything betwixt. He experiences the entire spectrum of human emotions and ultimately attains the unshakable camaraderie of men bonded in combat. Moreover, Ski possesses a strong belief in duty and country but is disheartened by the negative reception he receives from the American public upon his return.
America in the late 1960s was split by the politically controversial undertaking of the United States government in the war in Vietnam. This conflict caused the people of the United States to question, sometimes violently, the involvement of the U.S. military in that war. Nevertheless, those who fought in that war and the war itself have engendered a lasting interest