Striking Eight Bells: A Vietnam Memoir. By George Trowbridge.
After twenty years in mariner education and training, I have made the transition to becoming an author writing a story versus marine training books. In writing, “Striking Eight Bells,” it is my first crossover from technical writing to just writing in order to tell a story, a very different writing experience.
Join me on my journey from my teenage years through the age of 20 via the Vietnam War. My journey to adult life began early. In “Striking Eight Bells,” I recount my journey from being a 16-year-old Iowa farm kid to at the age of 19, reporting onboard my first U.S. Navy destroyer. My first ship, USS Rich DD-820 deployed to Vietnam in October 1972, and with this deployment began my seagoing career.
There were two primary reasons why I wrote, “Striking Eight Bells;” A Vietnam Memoir:
- The forgotten era of where many young men like myself struck out into the world at a young age and left the security of our families behind, but often ended up serving in one of the military services due to the Vietnam draft system;
- The sacrifices made by the crews serving on board U.S. Navy destroyers in conducting combat operations off the coasts of South and North Vietnam has not been recognized and essentially flat out ignored, but definitely it is a story that needs to be widely told;
An Amazon customer recently made this comment in their review of Striking Eight Bells: “After hearing stories of my elders going through similar hardships from the war, it is really refreshing to hear a firsthand experience. Trowbridge makes you feel like you’re right there with him, which is essential to any great read. His story is one that needed to be told, and I’m glad he did.”
If you are interested in checking out “Striking Eight Bells,” here are the links to my book on Amazon.com and Smashwords.com:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1945812338/
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/795264
