Letters From Long Binh: Memoirs of a Military Policeman in Vietnam

Author's Summary

I boarded the plane to Vietnam at exactly midnight on January 1st, 1967. I was a 19 year old soldier with pen and paper in hand. I began to write. 
“Letters from Long Binh" gives the reader an honest appraisal of the everyday life of an MP in Vietnam. Sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous, but always gripping, the book is written with a deep sense of respect for his fellow brothers-in-arms in a war-torn county.” Lou Fantauzzi - Vietnam 1966-67

MWSA Review

Just another book about Vietnam? Wait; don’t dismiss this memoir out of hand. Every experience is different and every soldier has both a shared and a unique vision of that experience and Randy Mixter tells an honest and humorous story of his time in Vietnam in Letters From Long Binh.

Memories change over the years for most, for soldiers they are forever part of their life. So many stories of those so young can start saying “I boarded the plane.” If thoughts or ideas existed about easy and heroes they ended with wheels down.

In sharing his memories through the letters of that time in his life Mixter has opened the door into his and many Veterans lives. From the mundane day to day to the absolutely frightening he shares it all. Adding humor into the telling makes it easier for Veterans to read.

History buffs and those that simply do not understand what it is like to serve in country need to read this. It will definitely open their eyes.

One phrase keeps banging around in my head, remembering how many times I have heard it, reminded after all these years by Letters From Long Binh “You’ll be fine.”


Reviewed by: Jim Greenwald (2012)