W.I.A. (Wounded in Action) by T. Clement Robison | Books in Review

T. Clement Robison retired from the U. S. Army due to medical disability after spending nearly two years in military and veterans hospitals. He has been inducted into the U. S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning.

His novel,  W.I.A. (Wounded in Action) (XLibris, 330 pp., $22.99, hardcover; $19.99, paper), is based on a true story: An Army Ranger named Robison steps on an enemy landmine in Vietnam, survives, and then battles with the injuries he survived. Before that, Robison arrives in country in April of 1968 and becomes a small part of the 4^th Battalion, 21^st Infantry, 11th Brigade, Americal Division, where he is assigned as an RTO for the 4^th Battalion’s E company.

He tires of how this outfit is run, and opts to transfer for training to become a LRRP, a long range reconnaissance patrol team member. He does well in the training and gets his wish.The old cliché warns us to be careful of what we wish for.

W.I.A. is a handsome book, well-written, and well-edited.  It is a great read if you want to know what life was like in Vietnam in 1968 for an RTO and a Lurp. I’ve read many Lurp books, and this is the best of the bunch so far, whether memoir or novel. I highly recommend it.

The author’s website is http://tclementrobison.com

—David Willson

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