Welcome to Vietnam, Macho Man - Reflections of a Khe Sahn Vet

This is hands down the most heartbreaking and thought provoking book about Khe Sanh and even the Vietnam War you will ever have the honor to read. Other books are easier to read, yet none of them will leave you a believer in the way that this book has. It is January, 1968 and Ernest returns to Khe Sanh from R&R to the opening of the longest battle in the Vietnam War. He is a Korean American Marine Commander and the Rifle Commander of Delta 6, leading over 250 men through the toughest of battles and conditions. The siege at Khe Sanh went on non-stop for 2.5 months. Life was shrunken to full time living inside bunkers, watching rations and supplies slide out the back of cargo planes as they flew low past Hill 881 and finding ways to remain hopeful while being unable to use camaraderie or communications to keep it real. What is to become of the survivors of this incredible battle?
Seldom is the author so true to himself and the memory of those lost that he is willing to blind others with their own tears and shame rather than sacrifice what he knows to be the true story. On the very last page of this book, the author, Ernest Spencer was faced with having to identify a casualty from his battalion. He says," Rodriguez is gone and I am still here. Why? Am I but a witness? I feel fear wash through me. They die while I watch. Whom should I tell? Who will care? How long will they care"? You will find some rather colorful language and the haunting truth. Please read the book. It will probably make you feel uncomfortable. Good! It should. If for even a few moments you feel you have suffered from reading about such waste and suffering, then take a few more moments and try to imagine first living the story and then laying it down on paper. It is our debt to read this book, in honor of those who have given more than we can ever imagine. And to remember what really mattered: the men and women who served and sacrificed for a country that has remained ungrateful. This ebook is pages and pages of heart and soul - bare naked anger, hate, suffering and despair. You will feel the weight of the war in Vietnam in your hands.

Ernest Spencer is a Hawaiian born Korean American. Born in the mid 1940's, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1963.

During his second year in college, where he was studying philosophy, he "was overwhelmed by the futility of reason as an effective force in life." Disillusioned by reason, his life did not make sense to him. He was drawn to the Marine Corps by the sense of belonging. The Corps also offered him the chance to confront life rather than read about it. Spencer states, "I could confront life by going to the edge, or at least what I perceived as the edge: Existence itself."

In 1967, he was sent to lead a line unit (an infantry unit) that is at Khe Sanh, the 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment. There were four rifle companies in this infantry battalion: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Spencer commanded Delta. He recalls "you have got to understand what it means to a 24-year-old guy who's macho to be made a commanding officer of a rifle company in combat. He is Jesus Christ himself." He was also the first Korean American to command a marine rifle company in combat.

Since his time in Vietnam, Spencer founded a publishing company.

Now, after enjoying retirement, he has founded a non-profit to support education in his beloved Hawaii. He is now writing a historical fiction trilogy and self-narrating his books for the audio book market.

And keeping his softball skills up!