Heroes to the End

<p>Jim Smith might be one of the few people that tried extending his tour in Vietnam and was actually forced to leave.</p><p>As a correspondent for Stars and Stripes the Defense Department's daily newspaper he saw every major city in Vietnam from the Delta to the Demilitarized Zone from 1971 to 1972.</p><p>Drawing on dozens of his stories that were published and dozens that were not he looks back at the war through the eyes of a 23-year-old who was technically a specialist fourth class in the Army but who acted like a civilian sporting long hair and wearing safari suits with no rank insignia.</p><p>He laughed at Bob Hope's jokes took cover during rocket attacks pulled guard duty at night in the jungle got in trouble with the brass and was caught up in the adrenaline rush of war. </p><p>Whether it was observing training of South Vietnamese troops by U.S. advisers watching massive U.S. firepower take out enemy targets or reporting on other efforts to repel the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive he was there to witness the events.</p><p>With the keen observations of a young combat reporter he reveals many acts of bravery and courage in Heroes to the End.</p>