Book Reviews of former Vietnam/Thailand veterans by Ken Hackman

Ken Hackman

By Ken Hackman, The Godfather!

It has been forty-three years since the end of the Vietnam War.  During our time in SEA many of us, despite the war, succumbed to the enchantment of exotic food, temples, beautiful landscapes and of course the people – the Vietnamese ladies in their “ao dai” dress and the Thais with their wonderful lamp-shade style hats and the distinctive Pedi cabs in Saigon or samlors in Thailand and the wonderful culture.

Nostalgia is great and I truly love Asia, but I really want to tell you about two former Vietnam/Thailand veterans who in addition to having successful post-Air Force careers used their experiences in SEA in authoring their books.

William Diebold, “The Valley of the Queen”  and a follow-on “ ”  These novels draws heavily on the author’s experiences as a still photographer at Detachment 5, 600 Photo Squadron, Phan Rang Air Base and 7^th Air Force News in Saigon. He also weaves into the story his post Air Force time as a successful commercial advertising photographer in Chicago.

These are fascinating tales beginning with the existence of an ancient temple outside of Phan Rang Air Base. This provides the entrée into a fascinating story of a base photographer/buried treasures/stolen treasures/advertising photographer/exotic/women/war lords and love.

This is not a short story.  Both books are 400 pages of engrossing storytelling.  Both books are available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble.  Great stories my highest recommendation.

A second book is a must for all you AAVS –Vietnam and Thailand veterans.  William Van der Ven has chronicled is time as an aerial still photographer assigned to Det 3, 601^st Photo Flight, Ubon RTAFB with “In My Viewfinder: An Air Force Photographer’s Thailand Tour of Duty from USAF Basic Training to Documenting the War over Laos and Cambodia (1971-1972)”

This is the ideal book to lets your kids and grand-kids know what you did while stationed in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.  Bill take the reader from the beginning of his Air Force, through Basic Training, Tech School, first assignment to March AFB, Fairchild and Jungle Survival schools and then finally to Det 3 a Ubon where he flew aerial mission in addition to the typical duties as a base photographer.  He exhibits an amazing recollection of those times.  I found that it brought back many memories from almost fifty years ago. With over 400 pages of Bill’s experiences being assigned to 601^st Photo Flight it is a fascinating read and I heartily recommend it for your library.

You can get a copy of this book from williamvanderven@gmail.com for $25.00 no tax or shipping.