Richard Desoto

Never a Hero Richard Desoto

The book tells the story of a young man leaving the quiet suburbs of the south side of Chicago in the late 1960's for a short career with the United States Army. Like many young men during this time he was drafted into the service of his country. His journey and early training in the Army led him to the U. S. Army Artillery Officer Candidate school and then to Vietnam. In one long year in Vietnam he experienced a lifetime of memories. While in Vietnam he was assigned to Charlie Battery 5th Battalion 22nd Artillery and served with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) as a Forward Observer and Advisor throughout II Corp. He also was attached to the 101st Airborne out of Phan Thiet Vietnam working as a Forward Observer and Battery Executive Officer. After six months of field duties he finally was assigned to Charlie Battery as a Fire Direction Officer and Executive Officer. The book documents his service in Vietnam and provides the reader with an insight to what a soldier faces day in day out in a battle zone, even in today's world. As a soldier performing his assigned duties for our Government, he faced life and death decisions. He made those decisions and learned to move back from a violent world to a world that does not accept violence as a way of life. The book shares the author's memories and reinforces how difficult it is to forget the past.