Outskirts Press
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Depth of Field

An Army Photographers Year in Vietnam

by Al Carlisle

Depth of Field
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Depth of Field

An Army Photographers Year in Vietnam

by Al Carlisle

Published Apr 30, 2012
148 Pages
Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs



 

Book Details

I see the muzzle flash from the AK-47 and I wait for the copper jacketed lead rounds to find their mark. My body tenses as I prepares for what is coming, “This is it Carlisle you’re a dead man, God, please make it fast and painless.”

In August 1964, three days after his 17th birthday, the author entered the U.S. Army. At that time Vietnam was just a small blurb on the six o’clock news. After a tour in Europe, where he became the youngest E5 in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Artillery. He was looking forward to interring a new faze in his Army career. Life was good; then everything changed with orders to Vietnam, which in 1967 is front page news, and the lead story by Walter Cronkite.

 

Book Excerpt

I see the muzzle flash from his AK-47 and I wait for the copper jacketed lead rounds to find their mark. My mind immediately prepares for what is coming, "This is it Carlisle you're a dead man, God, please make it fast and painless… I wonder how mom will react when she gets the news and Pat my dear Pat… I love you."

 

About the Author

Al Carlisle

Al Carlisle spent his childhood playing war games with his twin brother, and neighborhood friends, in the fields and vacant lots of Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. Al always knew that one day he would be a soldier, a veteran like his Dad. He also developed a keen interest in photography, when he won a contest during Vacation Bible School, he chose a little Kodak Brownie over a football. His desire to serve his country, and his love of photography came together in 1967, the same year he met his wife Pat. Vietnam proved to be a turning point in his life; he no longer saw the Army as a life career choice. Al has lived his life with gusto, knowing how very close he came to being an additional name on that black marble wall in Washington D.C. To which he has paid homage to many times. He currently resides in Orlando, Fl. and is the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Taft. The purpose for his being spared is manifested in his ministry.