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From Michigan to Mekong: Letters on Life, Learning, Love and War
With phone and internet technology, it's easy to look back at the recent years of our lives in great detail. The more distant past is harder. There may be fragments—a photo, a news clipping, a family story—but rarely is there enough to recapture what it really felt like in that other time.
Unless, like a young Jim Hubbard, you mailed a letter home every week or two, from the time you left your Michigan home for college in 1961 until you returned from the Vietnam War in late 1968, and your parents and wife saved them all, and your daughter chanced upon them in a bag half a century later.
The result is a treasure, an honest and often humorous time capsule of study and play at three Michigan colleges; of family, love, and marriage; and of the political and cultural touchstones that shaped the ‘60s—especially the Vietnam War during a year that changed everything for Captain Hubbard and his country. For military and social history buffs, for veterans and their families, and for readers of a certain age, Jim’s letters open a window to a bygone era.
Unless, like a young Jim Hubbard, you mailed a letter home every week or two, from the time you left your Michigan home for college in 1961 until you returned from the Vietnam War in late 1968, and your parents and wife saved them all, and your daughter chanced upon them in a bag half a century later.
The result is a treasure, an honest and often humorous time capsule of study and play at three Michigan colleges; of family, love, and marriage; and of the political and cultural touchstones that shaped the ‘60s—especially the Vietnam War during a year that changed everything for Captain Hubbard and his country. For military and social history buffs, for veterans and their families, and for readers of a certain age, Jim’s letters open a window to a bygone era.
248 pages, Paperback
Published June 9, 2021
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February 15, 2022MWSA Review
James Hubbard, Jr. and Deborah Nylec have given us an up-close and personal look at the life of Hubbard in their book, From Michigan to Mekong. The style is somewhat unique in that the vast majority of the book is a collection of letters from James, or Jim Jr. as he referred to himself back then, to his parents and later to his wife. The letters run from the time he was away for college to shortly afterwards when he was away in Vietnam. The college letters portray a young man struggling to get through college but determined to do so. The ones from Vietnam give us insight into his loneliness, his sense of humor, and a definite desire to shield the extent of danger he faced from those back home in the U.S.
The book did make me interested in Hubbard's life, and I would have loved more backstory detailing his actions, which resulted in his receiving a Silver Star, and his observations regarding the Tet Offensive. His not going into detail in his letters is, of course, understandable. This book is an easy read and could be a cherished heirloom for generations to come.
Review by Bob Doerr (February 2022)
James Hubbard, Jr. and Deborah Nylec have given us an up-close and personal look at the life of Hubbard in their book, From Michigan to Mekong. The style is somewhat unique in that the vast majority of the book is a collection of letters from James, or Jim Jr. as he referred to himself back then, to his parents and later to his wife. The letters run from the time he was away for college to shortly afterwards when he was away in Vietnam. The college letters portray a young man struggling to get through college but determined to do so. The ones from Vietnam give us insight into his loneliness, his sense of humor, and a definite desire to shield the extent of danger he faced from those back home in the U.S.
The book did make me interested in Hubbard's life, and I would have loved more backstory detailing his actions, which resulted in his receiving a Silver Star, and his observations regarding the Tet Offensive. His not going into detail in his letters is, of course, understandable. This book is an easy read and could be a cherished heirloom for generations to come.
Review by Bob Doerr (February 2022)
Displaying 1 of 1 review