Rucksack Grunt

RUCKSACK GRUNT - A VIETNAM VETERAN'S MEMOIR

A Vietnam War Memoir with an Underlying Love Story.

Enjoy this narrative about a naïve teenage boy's evolutionary journey from his safe suburban neighborhood in Pennsylvania to the dangerous Central Highlands of Vietnam to becoming a Vietnam War Veteran as he remembers it and still struggles today to understand it all.

The events of the narrative take place from 1969-1972, beginning with a young teenage boy's love for and his marriage proposal to his high school sweetheart. Robert then decided that the best path to obtaining an education and a "real" job needed to support their future marriage was through an easy short stint in the U.S. Army. Little did the naïve teenager know that the path to accomplishing his goals would take him through the jungles of Vietnam's Central Highlands near An Khe and into the coastal rice paddies around Tuy Hoa during the latter years of the war.  Although, not a blood and guts war story, this first-hand emotional account details the many traumatic and distressing encounters of Robert Kuhn, the "rucksack carrying grunt" who served with the 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry unit during his Vietnam tour of duty.

Book Length: 186 print pages with 34,000 words.
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Kuhn served in the U.S. Army as an infantry soldier from 1970-1972. Forty years after his tour of duty in Vietnam, Robert wrote his memoir Rucksack Grunt. And then ten years after writing the book, he finally published it.

As a disabled veteran himself, he is a life member of Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). He is also a Veterans Administration (VA) volunteer driver when health conditions permit. Over the years, Robert has battled some service-connected issues and ailments, at least one of which the VA attributes to agent orange exposure while serving in Vietnam.

Among other medals and awards, Robert is the recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, as well as the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medals for meritorious service.

Recognizing that the struggles many Veterans go through are similar to his own, he focuses much of his writing on the goal of helping other Veterans by sharing his own personal stories and experiences, hopeful that others may benefit from them.

Born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania where he continues to reside today, Robert enjoys his retirement years writing, fishing, sports range target shooting, and his hobby of restoring vintage motorcycles.