ANDY ADKINS
US Navy Veteran... City Firefighter... Engineer... Consultant... Author
"Life is a journey, one step followed by another..."
NOW AVAILABLE!
I'm pleased to announce that my new book, The 'Nam "AC-48", is published and available on Amazon. It's a tribute to the 48 servicemen from Alachua County, Florida who died in the line of service during the Vietnam War.
Much has been written about the Vietnam War, but The 'NAM "AC-48" is unique. This is a personal look ... beyond the numbers. I didn't want to stop at the 58,266 names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall or even the 1,567 still listed as Missing in Action.
I wanted to present a more personal side - the individual.
Forty-eight young men with ties to Alachua County, Florida lost their lives in Vietnam. This book is about them. These men volunteered or were drafted - it makes no difference. They answered the call from their Country. To them, it was the patriotic thing.
"God, Family, Country."
Patriotism has been described as love and duty to your Country. But as you read some of these stories, you will understand it is also the love and duty to their comrades ... members of their unit.
Please take time to think of these young men, not just as another number or name as part of the KIA or MIA; don't think of them as just the cost of war.
These young men - sons, brothers, fathers, and husbands - were real people with real lives that were cut far too short. They will never know what we are able to enjoy, in part because of their ultimate sacrifice. Thank them and thank you for taking the time to read this book.
For more information, click HERE.
Also available in audio
My latest blog post: 3/17/26 #212 - Down Time, Part 1: NAS Agana, Guam (On-duty)
I write a lot about times on the flight deck during flight ops, which, as you may recall, are always exciting.
But it's not all about an adrenaline rush. We weren't always flying planes.
There was plenty of downtime, which we all needed. Sometimes in port, sometimes at sea. It wasn't boring at all, and most of the time, I spent my downtime with shipmates. In fact, it gave us time to build lifetime relationships with "our family away from home."
You get to know these guys when you spend a lot of time with a crew in a firetruck and are confined to a small space. I'm not just talking about where they're from or where they went to school (or, in my case, where I flunked out).
You learn how to actually talk to people.
Sometimes our discussions got a little uncomfortable or confrontational, but we respected each other enough to either talk it through or get some space.
Unfortunately, that's not always the case these days and times.
Books written by Andy Adkins
80th Division (WWII) Books edited by Andy Adkins
