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Nam-Sense: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
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Nam-Sense: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne
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Summary
An honest tour of the Vietnam War from the soldier's eye view...
Nam-Sense is the brilliantly written story of a combat squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Arthur Wiknik was a 19-year-old kid from New England when he was drafted into the US Army in 1968. After completing various NCO training programs, he was promoted to sergeant "without ever setting foot in a combat zone" and sent to Vietnam in early 1969. Shortly after his arrival on the far side of the world, Wiknik was assigned to Camp Evans, a mixed-unit base camp near the Northern village of Phong Dien, only 30 miles from Laos and North Vietnam.
On his first jungle patrol, his squad killed a female Viet Cong who turned out to have been the local prostitute. It was the first dead person he had ever seen. Wiknik's account of life and death in Vietnam includes everything from heavy combat to faking insanity to get some R&R. He was the first man in his unit to reach the top of Hamburger Hill during one of the last offensives launched by US forces, and later discovered a weapons cache that prevented an attack on his advance fire support base.
Between the sporadic episodes of combat he mingled with the locals, tricked unwitting US suppliers into providing his platoon with a year of hard-to-get food, defied a superior and was punished with a dangerous mission, and struggled with himself and his fellow soldiers as the anti-war movement began to affect his ability to wage victorious war. Nam-Sense offers a perfect blend of candor, sarcasm, and humor, and it spares nothing and no one in its attempt to accurately convey what really transpired for the combat soldier during this unpopular war.
Nam-Sense is not about heroism or glory, mental breakdowns, haunting flashbacks, or wallowing in self-pity. The soldiers Wiknik lived and fought with during his yearlong tour did not rape, murder, or burn villages, were not strung out on drugs, and did not enjoy killing. They were there to do their duty as they were trained, support their comrades, and get home alive.
"The soldiers I knew," explains the author, "demonstrated courage, principle, kindness, and friendship, all the elements found in other wars Americans have proudly fought in." Wiknik has produced a gripping and complete record of life and death in Vietnam, and he has done so with a style and flair few others will ever achieve.
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What listeners say about Nam-Sense: Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pete W
- 27-04-20
Received and understood.
From the moment the audio book started I was transported into the authors mind and his experiences...12 months of hell! A great listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. R. Moseley
- 20-06-23
Interesting perspective
I enjoyed the book - the narration in my opinion didn’t need the change of voices for certain characters but overall a good account of one man’s year in Vietnam.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Martin Scoley
- 24-07-21
Engaging
It's ok. but aspects of the authors behaviour I do not like, condone or respect.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr D
- 03-07-22
Great listen
Have listened to this book twice now , really well narrated and a great account from the author of his tour of duty . Funny in parts but also serious where needed 5*
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Paul Tobin
- 05-02-19
Well worth it
Great story about 1 man trying to survive his tour and get everyone back alive fighting the jungle , NVA , mental health and worst of all the top brass along the way .
Wish it was longer :)
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- mr ms hughes
- 21-03-19
Fiction based on fact??
Now personally I'm not one to judge someone's experiences, especially in the Vietnam war, but.....
This book has every single Vietnam clichè going.
Apparently the first to the top of Hamburger Hill, dispite being a "cherry" among other things has the hallmarks of a good dit, but very much exaggerated. Compared to the vast amounts of other Vietnam Vets books I've read and listened to, this is just a tad too accurate, e.g full conversations ect.
I have no doubts that this book is based on his experiences in that war but it feel far to much like it's fiction based on fact.
It's still a good read though and worth it. But I'd take whats being said with a large pinch of salt.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Fox 3 Simulations
- 06-03-23
His story comes full circle
This book highlights the problems experienced by all concerned, when soldiers can join up in the middle of a war, as a sergeant, based not on time and experience, but a test score and some weeks additional training. What I found interesting about this, was all the problems the guy faced being accepted when he was "new in country" (being accepted by the guys was his main concern) would later cause him seemingly endless bother, once he was the experienced one, dealing with other newbies with a rank, perhaps junior officers the most dangerous of all. He never mentioned it once, perhaps he didn't need to, but almost every mistake he made was reflected back to him months later as "frustrating" new guys! He's also candid about attempting to dodge duty, pull scams, and some of his adventures on R&R, that are perhaps frowned upon by many today. a likeable chap
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr James D Millard
- 16-08-22
Ooh-aah-ee
Great story. I always enjoy hearing first hand accounts and personal history, so I found this very interesting and quite harrowing. The only thing that drove me crazy was the pronunciation of Hawaii, a little like the "Yuman" narrator in the Chiimp Paradox.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Robert Vernon
- 01-02-23
Great book
It was a very good story and I learnt a lot I didn't know aboute the war and was told in a very good way.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Viano
- 05-10-23
Highly Recommended
Couldn’t possibly imagine what these guys went through during their tour, but this will give you a glimpse. Outstanding personal account. Funny, sad, surreal and everything in between.
Thank you.
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