About the Author

Jim McGinnis is a former outside sales professional and retired after forty-three years in the pharmaceutical industry. He served with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade from 1965 through 1967, being deployed in South Vietnam from July 1966 to July 1967 as a senior scout observer in the Reconnaissance Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment. He participated in many combat operations during his tour of duty, where his unit operated in III Corps and I Corps in South Vietnam, performing various airmobile helicopter assaults, daytime combat patrols, search-and-destroy missions, and the always-dangerous night ambush patrols, which he participated in a total of sixty-two times. In addition to his nine earned military ribbons and medals, he also earned the prestigious Combat Infantryman Badge.

Jim contributed his Vietnam experiences to Rutgers Living History Society, which he is currently a member of. He is currently a tour guide for the past eleven years at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, Museum, and Learning Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.