This Is What Hell Looks Like

MWSA Review

After more than forty years Stuart Allan Steinberg decided to face his demons of his past as a veteran of the Vietnam War. It is in Vietnam that Mr. Steinberg served in a period of eighteen months with EOD units doing a very dangerous but necessary job.

The continual romantic view of war seem to always come from the actions of the infantry or armor soldiers fighting on the fields of combat. It seems that the view of war comes only from the combat arms of the infantry, armor and artillery along with maybe the combat engineers and Seabees and fighter pilots. All other branches seem to be of only the support nature which does not figure into combat.

However, lest we forget the horrors of war are seen all too much in all other branches of service such as our author’s exploits as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Operator. An EOD specialist is constantly putting himself in harm’s way as they defuse armaments, bombs and other explosives. These men traveled all over Vietnam defusing armed weaponry with great alacrity and at great danger to their well-being. They were assigned to infantry units as well as well as other units in built up areas which were considered rear areas but as everyone should know that Vietnam really had no rear areas. The enemy was everywhere and with the enemy there were always weapons in which and EOD specialist would be needed.

The author goes into great detail as to how each of the incidents required some expertise in order to accomplish their dangerous missions. In doing so Steinberg shows the camaraderie and dedication of the EOD units serving in Vietnam.

Mr. Steinberg tells his story as how these incidents effected his entire life that led him down the road to drugs and alcoholism. This book is his therapy as to how he dealt with PTSD.

Reviewed by: Dick Geschke (2014)

Author's Summary

Information provided by the author. From 1967 until 1971, I served in the U.S. Army as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal operator. In January 1968, I was sent to Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, where we stockpiled huge amounts of chemical and biological warfare weapons. I was there until July 1968. On March 13, 1968, I was involved in helping clean up the worst nerve gas disaster in this country's history. As a result, I volunteered for Vietnam, where I served from September 4, 1968, until March 24, 1970. This is the story of the hell that my teammates and I went through during those 27 months.