Book Review - Combat Chaplain: A Thirty Year Vietnam Battle

By Tony W. Cartledge

BR Editor

In Combat Chaplain: A Thirty Year Vietnam Battle (University of North Texas Press, 2001), Jim Johnson relates the poignant account of a young combat chaplain who did what few chaplains ventured to do - he accompanied members of his unit into the heat of combat.

Drawing upon a sharp memory, a detailed journal and correspondence with his wife, Johnson recalls the horrors of warfare in the rivers, jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam. In doing so, he reflects upon the emotional toll of warfare, the questions raised by the experience, and the coping mechanisms needed to carry on despite a head full of traumatic memories and a heart full of sorrow.

Johnson was awarded a number of service decorations, including two bronze stars with a "V" for valor.

Now a certified counselor on staff at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Johnson began the book as a matter of personal therapy, then chose to share his story with others in hopes that they might find help and encouragement.

For those who served in Vietnam, for those who wonder what it was like, and for those who seek to understand and minister to soldiers who are encountering or returning from battle, Combat Chaplain is an engaging and helpful book.

Combat Chaplain is available through bookstores and Internet sites such as amazon.com. Autographed copies can be obtained by contacting Johnson at (910) 484-3191 or gymjimgem@aol.com.