Peaches and Pound Cake: Vietnam 1966-67

This is the story of one artilleryman who was part of a new unit being formed in California and sent to Vietnam to find out that all the training in the hills of Pendleton did not prepare the unit for what they encountered in Vietnam. The main story is about the forming of another artillery unit in-country and the bond between an African-American and a gun crew made up of mostly Southerners. Artillery is nominally supportive of the infantry. There have been books, movies, and documentaries about the infantry. I know of only one book written about an artillery unit, and I felt that artillery needed another voice. This book recalls the turmoil, laughter, and hardships of being an artilleryman. I feel that this book will show readers some of the functions of a firing battery. Since artillery is never the nucleus in combat, sometimes they had to resort to providing on their own. For example, when the artillery unit that had formed in California was sent to Vietnam, nobody wanted them. They were like an orphan child that couldn’t be adopted. Artillery had to adapt quickly to an unconventional war. A new manual was written for fighting a war with no defensive lines defined. I hope this book will show that artillery was and still is a big part of combat.