Tragedy at Chu Lai - Reconstructing a Deadly Grenade Accident in a U.S. Army Classroom in Vietnam, July 10, 1969

Nicky Venditti, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot with a love of fast cars and practical jokes, went to Vietnam in 1969 and was dead in 11 days, killed by an Americal Division grenade training explosion at Chu Lai. The full story of the incident did not come out until the author, David Venditta (a different spelling), Venditti's cousin, made a chance discovery that began a decades-long effort to find out exactly what happened, what the Army did about it and who was held responsible. This book documents the Army's mishandling of the incident and the effects on the families and friends of Venditti and of the two other young soldiers who died with him.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction: A Vietnam Odyssey, May 18, 1998

1.¿That Dirty War, July 28, 1969

2.¿Discovery, November 1994

3.¿"A good kid," December 8, 1995

4.¿Nicky Emerges, Spring 1966

5.¿Best Friends, October 24, 1996

6.¿Home and Unease, June 1969

7.¿"Isn't worth a nickel," July 1969

8.¿"We gotta get out!" July 10, 1969

9.¿Bitter Pills, June 1969

10.¿Casting a Wide Net, 1994-2015

11.¿A Crowd of Commanders, November 20, 1998

12.¿Patchwork of Memories, 1996-2015

13.¿No Longer a Phantom, April 30, 2000

14.¿A Dog's Bark, a Man's Voice, November 13, 2001

15.¿"When you screw up in a war," November 13, 2001

16.¿Making a Case for Sabotage, November 13-17, 2001

17.¿The Marine Corps Way, March 28, 1967

18.¿Change of Heart, July 20, 2013

19.¿"A man who did not run," 2015

The Author's Interviews

Selected Reading

Index

About the author

David Venditta is a retired newspaper writer and editor in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Product details

• Authors: David Venditta, Venditta David
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 23.06.2016
• EAN: 9781476664316
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-6431-6
• No. of pages: 212
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 11 mm
• Weight: 295 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Vietnam, History, HISTORY / Military / United States, Military history: post-WW2 conflicts, c 1955 to c 1975 (Vietnam War period), Aircraft and aviation, Vietnam War, HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / Vietnam War, vietnam army