Fate Unknown

MWSA Review

The author provides tactical details and brings to life the unthinkable realities of a 101^st Airborne trooper’s Vietnam. 

His writing style makes the mind wonder how anyone could ever survive or recover from the situations faced.  As you read, you are in fight.  Transference made me feel each casualty, drink canteen water filled downstream from bloated bodies, wade neck deep to fight, and absorb a round in the face. 

I wish Fate Unknown was required reading for the American History student.  Vietnam was different than other wars.  This memoir blew me away with the idiosyncrasies. Mitchell’s duty reflections left me with a vivid education from multiple perspectives about the hell faced. 

War terminology can be understood, pictures are clear, and some are in color.  From professional skills required to launch an assault to the “pucker factor” measurement of fear, I came away soberly informed and in admiration for the brave.  I highly recommend this book.  It injects a breathtaking dose of reality from the courageous who served in life-taking combat far away in the jungle and on the rice paddies.          

Reviewed by: Hodge Wood (2015)

Author's Summary

Many of you have seen movie versions of war, but have you ever asked yourself what it was really like to be a fighting soldier in the Vietnam War? In Fate Unknown, the author, a member of the famed 101st Airborne Division takes the readers to the battlefield, with boots on the ground, as he candidly shares many of his personal experiences of his 1966 tour. He also reveals insightful accounts from fellow soldiers of different ranks, as they saw and lived through it. Situations and battles come into sharp focus through the eyes and ears of those whose lives were changed forever by their tour in Vietnam. This is a compelling, insightful and nonfictional account of a combat tour. So lace up your jungle boots and live the battle as experienced by an airborne infantry unit during the Vietnam War. You will gain a true understanding of combat and probably change your outlook of war.