Doug McComas Books

American involvement in Vietnam started in 1945, immediately after World War II, and ended with the evacuation of the South Vietnam Embassy in Saigon in 1975. Throughout the thirty years our participation ranged from cautious observer, to arms supplier, to advisors, to active combatants, than back to arms supplier. It started with an ardent determination to stop tumbling dominos and ended with (what I would consider) a numbed indifference.

In the summer of 1945 World War II...

In April of 1975 I was a thirteen and was considered wealthy by my friends because I had a paper route. Serving seventy-five households in North Tacoma, I could complete my route in thirty-five minutes and pocket about seventy dollars per month. I enjoyed the job except for the end of the month collecting. Like most unpleasant memories, they fade, but one particular month I will never forget.

The usual routine of collecting for the paper went like this: I would knock on the door, an adu...

I started writing shortly after our youngest was born eighteen years ago. Having four daughters, there was much to write about. But stories about little girls dealing with a foul-mouthed, elderly neighbor, or finding a runaway princess in a barn loft weren’t keeping my attention.

I’ve studied military history most of my life. My mother took me to see Patton and Waterloo on the big scree...