Ashburn Vietnam vet pens book about experience

ASHBURN — It took 40 years of writing on and off to finish “From Georgia to Vietnam.” And now that his book is done, Vietnam veteran Clent Thomas said he hopes the book will help people understand what war actually is and allow ‘Nam veterans to relate to the stories he shares and find comfort therein.

One thing is definite, he said: “War is hell.”

Thomas started his book about 40 years ago. The entire writing process took about a year, if all the time was consecutive.

“Prior to me starting writing, the first thing I wrote was ‘Whatever happened to Bravo?’” the veteran-turned-author said. “Bravo was our mascot. I wanted to find out if anyone knew what happened to her.”

Bravo was a Vietnamese dog that took up with Thomas’ unit in the country. He did find out what happened to her.

“She got killed,” he said. “I have the story in my book. It broke my heart the way she got killed.”

Another reason for the book is to share what Thomas and other American soldiers went through.

“I talked to one of my cousins,” he said. “I started going back to family reunions. I dropped by his house to talk to him, and he questioned me about my past. I told him a lot of things. He said, ‘You had a rough time.’ I said, ‘You don’t know the half of it.’ I started writing my personal history along with my Vietnam history. Then I put all my Vietnam stories together and produced a book.”

Thomas said he understands why many veterans of that war are reluctant to discuss what they went through.

“A lot of people do not talk about their service in Vietnam,” he said. “There are different reasons for that to happen. It’s hard to sit down and tell someone a year’s worth of activity and get the story straight. So I decided to write it down so other people could see what we went through in Vietnam.”

Putting his stories on paper has helped in some ways, Thomas said.

“I was having nightmares and flashbacks,” he noted. “It ended in the early ’80s with the Lord’s help. Writing it out, putting on paper where others can read it and what happened to a guy in Vietnam, it helped me.”

Reading the stories, he said, has a greater impact that hearing them.

“If you sit and try to explain, people probably won’t grasp it,” Thomas said. “They will think of this and that. If they sit and read a book, maybe they will understand it better. A lot of people don’t understand about people in a war like that. They are curious, but how to do you tell them about that?”

In the years since his service, Thomas said he also has thought about the nation, the military and the young people who enter military service. The terrorist attacks of 9-11 brought this into much clearer focus for him.

“When 9-11 happened, I was welding at Rainbow Irrigation, listening to the radio,” he said. “I got so mad. I picked up a hammer and slammed it on a table. I was so mad I had to hit something. I said in my mind, ‘Are we prepared to go to war?’ If we are not prepared, I’d volunteer in a heartbeat. If I could slow them down until we got our men trained, my job would be done.”

Thomas said he hopes that some young people will read his book and realize what it means to go to war.

“If someone is thinking about the service, look ahead to see if we are at war and if they are prepared for it,” he said.

As for what’s in the book, it’s all true, no matter how unbelievable some of the stories may be.

“It’s got a lot of jokes and stories in there,” Thomas said. “It may be funny to someone. Those really did happen. The thought process I had in writing and remembering, I tried to put it down so it would be light and not so serious. But everything was serious over there.”

FROM GEORGIA TO VIETNAM

— By Clent Thomas

— Spiral-bound book is priced at $20

— If the buyer is close to Turner County, author will deliver at no charge

— For information or a book, email [email protected]