Keeping Each Other Alive: A Vietnam War Memoir

by Norman Hile

At the height of the Vietnam war, the U.S. Army drafted Norman Hile out of law school, trained him to be an artillery officer, and in August 1970 sent him to serve a one year combat tour in South Vietnam's I Corps, where the war was hottest. "Keeping Each Other Alive" is Hile's memoir of that combat tour. Quoting from letters he wrote home from the field, using photos he personally took of combat operations, and recounting his memories of that unforgettable year in war, Hile describes what it felt like to be an artillery forward observer in the field with an infantry company, and then an aerial observer in light planes and helicopters flying over enemy territory. "Keeping Each Other Alive" is a very personal account of what one soldier endured in a war that had already been lost when he arrived to fight it. Hile recounts the terror of nighttime mortar attacks, sweltering in Vietnam's tropical heat and humidity while carrying a heavy pack, trying to spice up C-rations, surviving a monsoon storm on a mountainside, providing aerial cover for a convoy heading to see Bob Hope's Christmas show, and being one of the first to arrive overhead at Firebase Mary Ann to witness one of the war's worst debacles. Hile's memoir allows the reader to experience not just the conditions that soldiers in the Vietnam war withstood, but also crackles with flashes of insanity, pathos and humor that soldiers in that war were bound to experience while trying to keep themselves and each other alive.

364 pages, Paperback

Published July 22, 2021

Reviews

[thomas waltimire]

Memories of an officer

Although he spent time in Nam it was done as an officer and not a lowly grunt. As an officer he had knowledge of what was going on more than the pfc and corporal that had to blindly follow the officers. Some of what he remembers is probably true in his eyes but the book does not capture what it was really like for the average grunt. The plane and chopper rides for him were uneventful as he normally flew back to base camp with the luxury of safety opposed to staying in the crap for weeks at a time. Congratulations to him for relaying his story but don't interpret it the normal grunt who was cast into the mess Nam was.

[Dave T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to review

This was difficult to decide how to review. I am a veteran serving the year following the author's time. The military does have its issues but the mess that was first Korea and then Vietnam was caused by Washington binding the hands of the military leaders that just needed to fight to win and then go home. Between Washington's mishandling and the poor treatment of soldiers returning by the public it is no wonder that attitudes like this author's were rampant.

[Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waiting for the Next One by This Author

One of the best books on the Vietnam War. Well written and a masterpiece. Please write another. I could not put this book down. Accurate beyond the norm in its description of the Nam.

[jeff gilliland · Rating 2 out of 5]

what a putz

Some interesting chapters. However anyone worth his salt would never say John Kerry was worth listening to. Kerry the Coward is a bigger putz. This guy is just a big cry baby, oh poor, poor me.

[Shannon Pritchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoirs of a shirker

The author never stops whining and complaining. I get it, he was drafted and did not want to be there,can't say I blame him but it is not much pleasure to read. It is important to tell this side of the story for history's sake.

[Laura O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been interested in the Vietnam war because of my aunt and uncle's service. I appreciated Hile's memoir for its basis in his letters home. He sticks to the telling of his own story. I have recommended the book as a war memoir to my high school students.

[John O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book- tells it like it is

[Richard A Lambing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Subject matter, kept my interest.

[Tom Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

The author showed how fruitless that war was. The feckless, self serving officers were the saddest part of his story.

[ED Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book about the Vietnam war. Many others better if you search for them. Too much negativity by this author. Not everything about Vietnam and their soldiers was horrible. I served with some fantastic vietnamese soldiers. They fought well and were very supported of US troops. Sorry this author did not have that experience.

[Mack Branham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review.

The write was honest about his experiences in Vietnam. I was there at the same time. While we had different experiences, I appreciate what he had to say. I was US AF. At that time I was a major. Retired as an Colonel.