San Pedro Vet Publishes Amusing Vietnam Memoir

John Wood, a writer and former magazine editor, served in Vietnam in 1967 and has published an ebook about his unusual experiences there:Saigon Tease: So, What Did You Do in Nam, Dad? (Amazon Kindle).

"Catch-22" was the first classic farce about American military life. "M*A*S*H," set later during the Korean War, continued that tradition. But few books have chronicled the behind-the-scenes absurdities of the Vietnam War. 

In the tradition of "Sgt. Bilko," Saigon Tease follows the misadventures, narrow escapes, and anguish of an 18-year-old as he awkwardly transitions from boy to man.   

"Many Americans, when asked what comes to mind when they think of Vietnam, would probably say anger, torment, sadness," Wood says. "I had a different experience. For that reason, my book is a saga of wonder and beauty and innocence."

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Comment by Rick Jackson on October 17, 2014 at 2:34pm

I attended Dana Junior High from 1960 to 1963.  I wanted to attend San Pedro High, but my parents moved up to Miraleste, and I would have had to go to Palos Verdes High, so instead I entered Fermin Lasuen Catholic High.   It was a lousy school.  Anyway, in 1967, I was just joining the Navy, and my dad took me to the office of the San Pedro News Pilot.  They took a picture of me and I was on the front page, which was amazing, since there was nothing special about it.  I wonder if the record is still there, as I know it would have been some time in January, 1967 during the first two weeks, as I joined on January 16th or 17th.   Last February, I visited San Pedro and visited all my old homes there, and walked through Averil Park again.  Nothing seemed changed.  The picture of me that you see in this comment is me, standing by the USS Ohio.

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