Beschrijving
Welcome Home is a story about the final years of the Vietnam War and its impact on American servicemen and the South Vietnamese who lived through it. It’s a story of spies, combat, intrigue and recovery. Josh Harding is a gunner’s mate on a strike assault boat in a little-known Brownwater Navy operation in the Mekong Delta. His experiences during this pivotal time reveal many obscure events that set the stage for South Vietnam’s defeat. Little did he know at the time that some of the most profound experiences would arrive after he returned home.
Obscure Navy operations during the war included a picket line of gunboats set up at night on waterways opposite the Cambodian border to strangle the North Vietnamese Army’s infiltration into the Mekong Delta. To counter this barrier, enemy sapper squads hunted down gunboats, hid among civilians, and ambushed gunboats to open gaps in the cordon. Still, U.S. commanders required naval personnel to request permission to open fire unless they were fired upon. Meanwhile, a spy in the allied command in Saigon transmitted the location of U.S. special operations and battle plans to their enemy.
Welcome Home also reveals the plight of a segment of the Vietnamese who chose to flee the country by boat and an orphan’s quest to find her father.
Welcome Home is historical fiction, but the characters portray many real-life experiences during and after the war. It reveals forgotten events and lessons about the costs of military actions driven by ephemeral political motives.
