The author went to Vietnam in 1967. His story evokes combat, and the cultural shock of Southeast Asia. He saw the death of his friends, treatment of Vietnam woman by their people and napalming of civilians. A compelling look at what our youth endured in the Vietnam war.

Another war time story and a true story but tells out the truth about a Vietnam veteran.

Wow! If you like this genre- true life war stories that make you feel like you are there, then this is a great one. This book captrues how crazy the war was. Told from the point of view of a guy who was supporting the front line- a mechanic who was ambushed at times, on convoy details and mostly just fixing trucks, but at a place that would get shelled periodically. Not a "I was in the jungle for a year fighting every day" but just a typical guy- and how that screwed him up royally. The confusion, pot smoke, fear mixture pours off the pages. I cried when he came home.

This is one of the best books dealing with the Vietnam experience I have read. Perhaps part of its appeal for me came from the parallels between Ketwigs experience and my own. Both of us served in non combat units but were drawn into combat from the periphery by the nature of our work. Though precise experiences were different our responses were oh so very similar. More importantly his observations and thought were so ver familiar to me; now after so many years my own have faded into a kind of heavy cloud that carries a felt sense but from which much detail has fled. This book brought my own responses back in stark relief.

The other similarity was his tour in Thailand. I did almost the same thing. After Vietnam I went to serve as a free lance soldier with FANK forces in Cambodia.There the combat I saw was of very high intensity and at close range. After I was slightly wounded, and the bubble of a sense of teenage invulnerability had been shattered by that event I went to Thailand to recover and spent several months traveling around that country, which then before the ruin of commercial tourism, it was the most beautiful place in the world and the Thai people before the greed of western consumerism got them by the throat were a very special people. Again his observations and thoughts as well as many of his experiences paralleled my own. This is a frank and truthful account by a young man who was typical of so many. we are all old now and the rawness of those years has dimmed, some may wonder and ask what it was like, the answers can be glimpsed here.

"One loves the sick child but curses the disease."

I agree with Mr. Ketwig's criticism of our government. I am impressed by his frank delivery of his time at war, including portions that must have generated awkward conversations with his wife and children.

At the time of this review, the US spent more on its military budget than the next nine countries combined. As Mr. Ketwig notes, what has this use of taxpayer money achieved? To quote Bernie Sanders, who tried to make military audits hold weight with accountability,

"The Pentagon and the military industrial complex have been plagued by a massive amount of waste, fraud, and financial mismanagement for decades."

Mr. Ketwig's lessons from his experience in Vietnam are as prescient as when he first wrote them.

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Now one of favorites books. Very highly reocmmended

John Ketwig’s memoir was a fascinating, absorbing story. I have read a lot of war stories, and this is one of the most memorable. He describes his experiences in Viet Nam with complete honesty. He talks about the fear, the terror, the despair, the hopelessness, and terrible destruction and what it did to him. The details about the war were enough to make this a worthwhile read, but the real story was about what it did to him. He did not know how to return to the United States after his year, so he transferred to a post in Thailand, where he decompressed and somehow put away his war experience. Not so easy, though. Ketwig struggled for a long time to return to society. He appears to have been able to do so, though he says Viet Nam has pursued him for the rest of his life. In the afterward of the 2007 edition, he talks about the evils of the military industrial complex, saying that our country is indeed in the business of war for profit. He says that as we send forces to the middle east, we have not learned the lessons from what happened now fifty years ago.

This was a fascinating and truly engaging read. I will carry Ketwig’s story of survival in the war and afterward for a long time.

The author's first hand accounts are brilliantly written and will keep you reading when you wish you could stop. I do not recommend this book if you wish to remain isolated from what we learned about ourselves in the 60's and 70's. If you know a Vietnam Vet, or have the hubris to express an opinion on the war, or the period in US history, without having been there -- read it.

More respect everyday for those who obeyed and served in a hell that made no sense.

I’m a Marine Vietnam Vet(FLSG-Bravo, Chu Lai 8/66-9/67). I know many things in this account are true and I’m not commenting on the author’s experience or bravery. I just found the story telling kind of off putting. Not every second of a tour was a matter of life and death. Early in the book when talking about boot camp he mentions a particularly rough and cruel trainer and refers to him as a DI. The army does not have drill instructors , the have drill sergeants. Not a big deal but it lead me to wonder what other kind of inaccuracies or embellishment are inherent. About a third of the way through I just quit reading it. Sorry if this upsets any vets. It’s just my view of the book based on my time in Vietnam. I have great respect for my brothers who served in Vietnam.

Review: 26And a hard rain fell by John Ketwig.

A GI 19s experience of the war in Vietnam. Every person who served in Vietnam has their own traumatizing story to tell. Many people have put this author down and claim he is a whiner. I was only about ten when the war in Vietnam was going on and I have heard many stories some worst then others so why condemn this one soldier for his two years he gave to his Country. Why not read his accounts, even if some are flawed? He saw it the way it was to him. Other authors and Vietnam Vets have documented well the haze of depersonalization that characterized the U.S. Military in the middle 1960s. The trauma of such transformation is hard to understand unless one has 1Cbeen there, done that 1C.

Ketwig was in a stage of confusion when he signed up for another year in Thailand. He wanted to go home but fear at that time held him back. He felt another year was a good choice for him. It became therapeutic for him and allowed him to shut his demons away without confronting them at that time. Then the day came when he goes home to suffer the dislocation common to many Vietnam Vets. In time he makes a life, but his demons never rest. At least not until he begins to tap this story out painfully, page by page 26..

I was intrigued, interested and curious to read about the two years John Ketwig spent in Southeast Asia. It is a story of one man 19s war. It 19s a valuable recollection of what war does to human beings. This story is even more critical today, as Iraq and Afghanistan blaze across our national consciousness. This book was well written and should not be downsized.

A statement in the book that stays with me: Is a human being really in control of his/her own destiny? Were we victors, or victims? What is a person 19s duty to his Country? To his/her God? To his/her fellow person? Which has priority? It is difficult to agree upon the answers to those questions; it was more difficult in Vietnam. The average age of the American fighting person in The Nam War was nineteen. The average age of the American fighting person in World War II was twenty-six. A lot of persons spent a year in Nam and came home and couldn 19t legally drink a beer. We debate teenage drinking, teenage voting, and teenage marriage. Vietnam haunts America. When will we debate teenage war?

and a Hard Rain Fell by John Ketwig is a powerful and deeply personal memoir of the Vietnam War. Ketwig’s vivid storytelling captures the chaos, fear, and disillusionment faced by American soldiers, offering a raw and unfiltered perspective on the conflict. His honesty and attention to detail make this account both moving and unforgettable.

While the book’s emotional depth and first-hand insight are its greatest strengths, the narrative sometimes meanders, which slows the pacing in parts. Still, this is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the human cost of war through the eyes of someone who lived it.

An excellent journal of the war in Vietnam. It had a great balance of personal life in Vietnam vs Wartime in Vietnam. The Vietnam War is a part of history that I am very much interested in and this was a great paperback that depicts the emotion involved.