Surviving Vietnam

Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam

Homeland Magazine recently had an opportunity to visit with Bill Taylor, author of On Full Automatic: Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam. In this epic and largely untold story, Taylor reveals his personal story of an eighteen-year-old Marine recruit who ages a lifetime in a little more than a year and who is transformed into an experienced, hard fighting grunt while struggling to survive his time in the Vietnam War.

Homeland: At what point did you realize you needed to write a book about your time in Vietnam?

Taylor: After Vietnam, I always knew I had this incredible story to tell, I just had a difficult time sharing it. As a child, I remember asking my dad about his experiences fighting in WWII and he just never wanted to talk about it. As a Veteran myself, I finally understood how hard it is to talk about. But when my children started asking, I started talking about it, even though I really didn’t want to.

That’s when I started to visualize the stories on paper, over thirty years ago. I realized I needed to write a book someday. Whenever I’d remember a particular story or experience from Vietnam, I would write them down and put them in an envelope. After years of doing this, I had accumulated this unbelievable package of stories for my book. And I had basically told so many people I was going to write a book, that I was kind of embarrassed not to at that point. Homeland: You do a great job of showing vs. telling the reader what happened in Vietnam. How did you remember everything so vividly over 50 years later?

Taylor: My notes really helped. And rewriting helped. I was also able to put the battles together with letters I had written home to my dad that he saved. My medical records listed when and where I was wounded, my treatment etc. I also obtained the battalion record to explain all the different locations our troops were in. At the time, I may have known the name of where we were going, but the record allows me to see on a map where we were and the different cities we traveled through.

Homeland: How did you obtain the official records?

Taylor: It’s not that hard, you have to be a detective. And you had to talk to people. I actually found the guy that had maps of the areas at the time, including information on where all the different battalions and companies were. I was able to put together all kinds of great information.

You can go to the Vietnam War Memorial Wall and find stories and pictures. There’s websites out there with pictures of every single person on the wall. There’s websites out there with pictures of every single person on the wall. It’s amazing the history and resources you can find on the internet today, just by looking.

Homeland: How has talking with other veterans helped you write the book?

I’ve been attending the Third Marine Division reunions for the past ten years, which really helped me tell the whole story behind particular battles. Because guys were constantly coming and going during my thirteen months in Vietnam, there were thousands of soldiers in my unit. The reunions have given me a chance to talk to different guys and hear their side of the story, because everyone has a unique story and it helped make battle scenes well-rounded in my book, really transporting the reader.

For example, in the book when we’re sweeping into a village, all of a sudden there’s an explosion to my right. Personally, I saw the explosion and guys flying in different directions. And in the original manuscript, that’s what I shared. But later, I actually met one of the guys that was wounded and he told me everything that happened when they walked up, when the bomb went off, how he was blown back and even what he was feeling in his ears. It’s amazing how many veterans contact me almost on a daily basis. People from all walks of life. Family members also call me. I even had a woman who was a Vietnam War protester in the 1960’s ask me for forgiveness. She didn’t realize what we went through.

I shed a million tears writing this book, probably more. But it’s been a healing process for me. I’m just so honored to tell my story and the stories of the men I fought with. And that the book has touched so many people.

Bill Taylor, author of On Full Automatic: Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam served in the First Battalion, Third Marine Regiment in Vietnam for 13 months in 1967 and 1968. He has spoken for Veterans Organizations and to local schools about the Vietnam War.

He currently belongs to the VFW, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans, Third Marine Division Association, and the Marine Corp League. He has been a Chapter Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

www.williamvtaylor.com www.amazon.com/dp/1736621602/

(Photo’s by Bruce Axelrod & Ed Kalwara)