21 months, 24 days : a blue-collar kid's journey to the Vietnam War and back

21 Months, 24 Days is an engaging memoir of a blue-collar kid turned soldier. Threatened by the draft in the late sixties, he enlisted in the Army to avoid becoming a grunt, yet ended up one anyway. He endured a grueling war in Vietnam and then returned to a country too angry to care. While his journey took unexpected turns, his choices got him there, so he did his best to react positively and keep moving forward. Udden delivers his story in a comfortable, friendly style. He conveys the experiences of basic training, advanced infantry training, and what it was like to live, work, guard, patrol, and fight in the jungle. The reader will feel the adrenalin rush of a firefight, the thrill of a wild ride dangling below a helicopter, and the humor in celebrating his 21st birthday on a firebase. Through his words and personal photographs, you will live through his journey exactly as he experienced it In the late sixties, draft boards were gathering young men for the Vietnam War. High school kids who were not bound for college had to enlist or wait for a draft notice. The burden fell on the children of blue-collar families because college was not an easy option for them. Instead of starting a career, they had their lives put on hold to fight a war. The author was one of those kids. Threatened by the draft, he enlisted in the Army. He expected an easy two years working in a trade. Instead, he was assigned to the infantry and sent to Vietnam. There in the jungle, alongside other young kids, he hunted and fought the Vietcong. When his company was sent to Cambodia to disrupt enemy supply lines, he was wounded by shrapnel from a booby trap. All of this happened before his twenty-first birthday. He delivers his story as if you were sitting with him in a bar and hearing it firsthand over a beer. You will know what it felt like to pass through basic training and advanced infantry training. You will know what it felt like to live and work in the jungle. You will experience the day-to-day grind of a job that includes combat assaults, jungle patrols, firefights and pulling guard on a firebase. He also touches on the lighter moments such as smoking pot for the first time and R & R's. Through words and pictures, you will experience every aspect of his journey to Vietnam and back again. I've read a lot of war stories. At times, you wonder just how real some of the events are. Well, honesty comes through in this book. There are no fish stories here. Those he served with will attest to it __21 Months, 24 Days__ is an engaging memoir of a blue-collar kid turned soldier. Threatened by the draft in the late sixties, he enlisted in the Army to avoid becoming a grunt, yet ended up one anyway. He endured a grueling war in Vietnam and then returned to a country too angry to care. While his journey took unexpected turns, his choices got him there, so he did his best to react positively and keep moving forward. Udden delivers his story in a comfortable, friendly style. He conveys the experiences of basic training, advanced infantry training, and what it was like to live, work, guard, patrol, and fight in the jungle. The reader will feel the adrenalin rush of a firefight, the thrill of a wild ride dangling below a helicopter, and the humor in celebrating his 21st birthday on a firebase. Through his words and personal photographs, you will live through his journey exactly as he experienced it