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Volunteer: A Vietnam War Odyssey
Eighteen-year old Zack Martin is determined to leave his Lubbock home where he has endured ridicule and scorn from his abusive father. His mother’s recent death has given Zack the push to join the Navy where he is certain that he will find adventure – and test his courage by volunteering to serve in ships that will be sent into harm’s way in the emerging Vietnam conflict. Author Bob Stockton has revised and consolidated his three earlier Vietnam War novellas – Mediterranean Suicide, Friendly Fire and The Third Tour into “Volunteer,” a re-written and re-formatted hard-hitting, fast-paced novel that places the reader directly in the heart of the action.
Kindle Edition
Published June 3, 2020
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About the author
Bob Stockton
18 books4 followersI was born in west Texas purely due to a scheduling error. My mother made the schedule and I was the error. At the time, my father was in the service, stationed at a remote air base. My mother planned to return to Michigan to have her baby in a hospital with her doctor in attendance. Oops! I showed up over a month ahead of schedule. My father had to flag down a truck on the highway in order to get my mother to a doctor’s office in a nearby town. I’ve been a little out of phase ever since.
Growing up, I was the oldest of six, three of each. My childhood was a little reminiscent of the old TV show the Waltons. We were just about as poor, but we didn’t own a mountain. Actually, my memories of those years are almost all good ones. I may not have had everything I wanted, what kid does, but I did have everything I needed.
By the time I graduated from college I had a family to support, which meant there was no time to take up mountain climbing or to work my way around the world on a tramp steamer or to write. Instead, by pure chance, I got into the then fledgling field of Data Processing. This was way back when computers were room sized and had mouse sized memories. It turned out I had an aptitude for programming. To me it was like getting paid to solve puzzles. I ended up spending thirty years in that profession. Most of it managing software developers, though I did put in a seven year stint as what I called a Technological Mercenary. That is, being self-employed, completing technical projects for clients on a contract basis.
Thinking thirty years was more than enough, my wife and I decided to drop out. Since then, we have spent most of our time at our home in northern Michigan. While we’re not really remote, we are by ourselves most of the time. I do share a few traits with my main character, Jack Chard, and like him, I am a bit of a recluse.
My other motivation for dropping out was to get the chance, finally, to write.
I had a bit of success writing for outdoor oriented magazines, but what I wanted was to write novels, specifically thrillers. My Chard stories, Dead Game and Dead In Seven, are my first efforts in this genre.
Currently I’m at work on something different, a novel set during the Civil War. I have read quite a bit about this tragic period and have recently learned that I had a number of ancestors involved on both sides of the conflict. I do not have a title, I never do until finished, but I hope to have this work done in 2013.
Growing up, I was the oldest of six, three of each. My childhood was a little reminiscent of the old TV show the Waltons. We were just about as poor, but we didn’t own a mountain. Actually, my memories of those years are almost all good ones. I may not have had everything I wanted, what kid does, but I did have everything I needed.
By the time I graduated from college I had a family to support, which meant there was no time to take up mountain climbing or to work my way around the world on a tramp steamer or to write. Instead, by pure chance, I got into the then fledgling field of Data Processing. This was way back when computers were room sized and had mouse sized memories. It turned out I had an aptitude for programming. To me it was like getting paid to solve puzzles. I ended up spending thirty years in that profession. Most of it managing software developers, though I did put in a seven year stint as what I called a Technological Mercenary. That is, being self-employed, completing technical projects for clients on a contract basis.
Thinking thirty years was more than enough, my wife and I decided to drop out. Since then, we have spent most of our time at our home in northern Michigan. While we’re not really remote, we are by ourselves most of the time. I do share a few traits with my main character, Jack Chard, and like him, I am a bit of a recluse.
My other motivation for dropping out was to get the chance, finally, to write.
I had a bit of success writing for outdoor oriented magazines, but what I wanted was to write novels, specifically thrillers. My Chard stories, Dead Game and Dead In Seven, are my first efforts in this genre.
Currently I’m at work on something different, a novel set during the Civil War. I have read quite a bit about this tragic period and have recently learned that I had a number of ancestors involved on both sides of the conflict. I do not have a title, I never do until finished, but I hope to have this work done in 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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May 27, 2021MWSA Review
Bob Stockton fell back on his extensive career in the Navy to publish Volunteer: A Vietnam Odyssey. A compilation of his three previously published (and successful) novellas, the story follows a Navy sailor through his deployments during the Vietnam War. It is a work of fiction, but it is based on historical accounts and also the author's own experience.
The book has action, humor, and plenty of "liberty incidents" to make any vet reminisce fondly. I particularly liked the way the main character was very unassuming; he did some very important work, but to him he was just doing his job for his country, a sentiment to which many veterans can relate. It is an easy read that will spark many different memories for the intended audience.
Vietnam veterans, especially those from the Navy, will enjoy this book, as will any "tin can" sailor of the last fifty years or so.
Review by Rob Ballister (May 2021)
Bob Stockton fell back on his extensive career in the Navy to publish Volunteer: A Vietnam Odyssey. A compilation of his three previously published (and successful) novellas, the story follows a Navy sailor through his deployments during the Vietnam War. It is a work of fiction, but it is based on historical accounts and also the author's own experience.
The book has action, humor, and plenty of "liberty incidents" to make any vet reminisce fondly. I particularly liked the way the main character was very unassuming; he did some very important work, but to him he was just doing his job for his country, a sentiment to which many veterans can relate. It is an easy read that will spark many different memories for the intended audience.
Vietnam veterans, especially those from the Navy, will enjoy this book, as will any "tin can" sailor of the last fifty years or so.
Review by Rob Ballister (May 2021)
September 10, 2020
jack kregas
4.0 out of 5 stars First hand account
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2020
An interesting view of the working of the navy during the Vietnam war. Such an account can only be brought to life by someone who had first hand knowledge and in fact was no doubt there. No matter who you are or what you are doing it always comes back to who you know, and being in the right place at the right time. This narrative makes this clear as it follows the lives of different ranks trying to achieve the same goals.
4.0 out of 5 stars First hand account
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2020
An interesting view of the working of the navy during the Vietnam war. Such an account can only be brought to life by someone who had first hand knowledge and in fact was no doubt there. No matter who you are or what you are doing it always comes back to who you know, and being in the right place at the right time. This narrative makes this clear as it follows the lives of different ranks trying to achieve the same goals.
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May 23, 2021https://www.mwsadispatches.com/
Read and reviewed as part of the the Military Writers' Society of America 2021 award season.
Read and reviewed as part of the the Military Writers' Society of America 2021 award season.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews