My War with Vietnam

The expression “Fog of War” perfectly encapsulates what it was like to experience the Vietnam War first hand. This is an account of what it was like to be there, an account of what the war demanded of young American boys fighting, flying and dying in it. And life afterwards for me. As an Army helicopter pilot there, I learned to become numb to all the carnage in combat, to stop feeling anything at all, to bury my own humanity and to find a dark place in my heart to fly the missions required in that war. My second tour saw even more haunting revelations about that war as I became Aircraft Commander on Four Star General Abrams’ helicopter.
This book is a gripping memoir of a harrowing tour of duty and the healing that followed. The last few chapters tell of the unsolicited healing I received from strangers in countries I visited before going home. Their warmth, outstretched hands and open hearts reacquainted me with the wonderful gift of being human. So many gracious strangers helped me see I couldn’t, shouldn’t stay numb. My healing began.

Former advertising writer/director, Richard W. Jellerson is a documentary filmmaker. He lives in the mountains above Los Angeles, California.

Richard W. Jellerson
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info: ca. 10 photos, glossary, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9760-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5536-9
Imprint: McFarland

• “My War with Vietnam: A Pilot’s Healing Journey Home from War is an honest, deeply moving book about war and life after war. As an archaeologist who studies war, I often encounter an echo of the past on empty battlefields and or in sunken warships. This book is no faint echo. It is an honest, personal narrative that anyone who has fought, or who thinks they want to fight should read. The journey home, both physical and emotional, is where most war books end. Not this one. I could not put it down, and I will remember it for the rest of my life.”—James Delgado, PhD, RPA, senior vice president, exploration sector leader, SEARCH DC Station, author, co-author or editor of over 35 books as well as numerous articles and archeological reports covering a wide range of subjects related to the histories of shipwrecks

• “My War with Vietnam: A Pilot’s Healing Journey Home from War is an experience of a lifetime followed by a trip of a lifetime. Richard Jellerson walks you through an extraordinary voyage of life. A fascinating narrative and he writes it well. I also spent two tours flying Army helicopters in Vietnam. Richard tells a great story of how he dealt with the peaks and valleys of combat and how a peaceful journey afterward helped and healed him. I cannot wait for the movie.”—LTC. Tom Lasser, USA, retired (Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart)

• “My War with Vietnam: A Pilot’s Healing Journey Home from War should be required reading for everyone. A lot of us were spared the hellish maturing experience that Richard Jellerson and many others were forced to live through in war. They are so savagely described here that only the most insensitive would not learn from them. His personal journey of travel and healing after that war is touching, joyful and compelling. How sad that anyone must live through this. How invaluable though, that each of us can learn from this wonderful, well-written memoir.”—Rick Ray, retired literary agent

• “When Army helicopter pilot Richard Jellerson’s second tour in Vietnam came to an end in 1970, he had served his country well, having been assigned as the personal Huey pilot to Creighton Abrams, Commanding General of Armed Forces in Vietnam. Readers will be blessed to read about that journey in his book My War with Vietnam: A Pilot’s Healing Journey Home from War. …deeply heart-rendering … [Jellerson’s] reputation as a writer has touched him down safely in the LZ of military nonfiction. I hope it is a good omen of more to come from this brilliant writer!”—Marc Phillip Yablonka, author of Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of Word and Film, Hot Mics and TV Lights: The American Forces Vietnam Network, and Tears Across the Mekong

• “In writing this book and uncovering his deeply emotional combat and world-traveling experiences, Richard has created an exceptional healing book for all who have experienced war and found their return home difficult. Perhaps the book’s most important audience, however, will be the family members and friends who have witnessed changes that have occurred in a returning combat veteran. This book will help all readers achieve a better understanding of such things by learning how one such ‘healing’ took place.”—Colonel Bill Fortier, US Army, retired