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Not Without Blood is an autobiographical chronicle focusing on the life, times and passions of the author, Robert L. Mason, and the men with whom he marched away to war. Mason was born and reared in “Smalltown, Kentucky,” to a loving mother and anMoreNot Without Blood is an autobiographical chronicle focusing on the life, times and passions of the author, Robert L. Mason, and the men with whom he marched away to war. Mason was born and reared in “Smalltown, Kentucky,” to a loving mother and an irascible father, a frustrated, World War II vintage soldier. The rancor and violence of the father forced the son into exile at the age of 17. Following high-school graduation in 1966, and with the Vietnam War raging, Mason volunteered for service in the U. S. Marine Corps and Vietnam. Although other branches of service served a 12-month tour in Vietnam, the Marine Corps tour of duty was 13 months. An infantry machine-gunner (0331), Mason fought with the 3rd Battalion of the 26th Marine Regiment until his return to the Continental United States (CONUS) in late April of 1968.In language at once poetic and, at the same time, brutally graphic, the author relates his personal story and that of the Marines of his units--a story striking curious parallels with the experiences of hundreds of thousands of other young men who left mothers, wives and sweethearts behind and marched off to join the Marines or other branches of service. From the brutality of Marine Corps boot camp, to the long hours of arduous training along the road to war, the author brings to light the severe training regimen that enabled the Corps to keep abreast of its staggering manpower needs in theater. From the blood-soaked savannahs of Con Thien, to the napalm-scalded hills of KheSanh, Not Without Blood takes readers “bodysnatchin’” along the DMZ. Not Without Blood provides fresh insights into the day-to-day lives of the “grunts” of northern I Corps, the combat Marines who did the bulk of the fighting, killing and dying in that theater. The author fought throughout northern I Corps, defending against both the Siege of Con Thien and the Siege of KheSanh--arguably, the two most significant sieges of the war.This work also exposes a carefully-concealed chapter of the war--the internecine strife that surfaced in Vietnam, threatening to shatter the iron-clad brotherhood and unity among Black, Hispanic and White fighting men, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in early April of 1968. Not Without Blood by Robert L. Mason
