Marine Corps Gazette
July, 1997
Reviewer unknown
Images from the Otherland: Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam
Sympson provides neither a Vietnam history nor an autobiography, but rather a personal journey to find understanding among threads of a life that, for him, lead back to the beginning of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Particularly moving is his account of Operation TEXAS, when Sympson coordinated the firing of 2,500 rounds of artillery, and his continuing loyalty to those also serving their Nation's interests in Vietnam, including LtCol P.X. Kelley. Gen Kelley returns the sentiment in the book's foreword.
MHR Publishing Corporation
2122 28th Street
Sacramento, CA 95818
March, 1997
Review by Sgt. Maj. Robert F. Singer, USMC (ret)
Images from the Otherland: Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam
Images from the Otherland is a short, fast-paced combat narrative that covers the entire Viet-Nam experience as seen by those who fought the ground war. The author, a former Marine artillery officer, served as a forward observer attached to the infantry and writes with a veteran's eye for detail.
Arriving in Viet-Nam in 1965 during the initial U.S. troop buildup, he tells of the transformation of green troops into hardened campaigners. His stories of ground combat in Viet-Nam encompass every danger and hardship encountered by the troops who fought there. The combat sequences follow all aspects of the fighting, from the endless combat patrols to the larger battalion and regimental size operations. One operation is covered in vivid detail and describes the author's battalion literally fighting for its life.
In this action then-Lieutenant Sympson helps save the day by calling in massive artillery fires that break the enemy's stranglehold. Decorated for valor and credited with helping kill 146 of the enemy, he will have mixed emotions for the rest of his life. The enemy was described in the book as a tough, skilled and dedicated opponent who used conventional and unconventional tactics with equal adeptness. The infamous mines and booby traps long associated with the Viet-Nam war are covered also.
Interwoven throughout the story is the underlying theme of comradeship formed by men in combat units. These bonds of loyalty to both the men and the units he served in remain with the author till this day. The old adage "Once A Marine, Always A Marine" is a suit worn well by Ken Sympson.
As with most combat veterans, the author has had to grapple with myriad thoughts and memories long after the war has ended. He writes candidly of these but makes no complaint against anyone or anything. During the Persian Gulf War, he felt such kinship with the troops overseas that he brought a television to work to follow the war. Later he was instrumental in forming a welcome home committee in the city of Rochester, NY, for the returning troops. Images from the Otherland is a book that puts the image of the Viet-Nam veteran up where it belongs. Thanks Ken, Semper Fidelis.
Vietnam Veterans of America
1224 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20005-5183
May, 1996
Books in Review: Reviews by Marc Leepson
Images from the Otherland: Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam
The heart of Kenneth P. Sympson's Images from the Otherland is a fact-filled recounting of his 1965-66 tour as a young Marine artillery officer with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, and with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. But this book also contains a thoughtful meditation on the meaning of Sympson's action-filled tour and how it continues to impact on the author's life today.
Sympson poses some difficult questions. "Is it better to recall or to forget?" "Am I a better person for the experience [of Vietnam] or worse?" He does not come up with any clear answers. But Sympson's quest to do so makes compelling reading.
Brighton-Pittsford Post
4 South Main Street
Pittsford, NY 14534
December 4, 1995
Review titled "Relentless tug of war," by Marcia Morphy
Images from the Otherland: Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam
There are moments in this book that are powerfully moving.
Kenneth P. Sympson, author of Images from the Otherland, takes us on a wartime journey with a descriptive account of his tour of duty as a Marine Corps officer during America's longest war - Vietnam.
"Villages in the distance. Rice paddies framed by dikes. Peaceful. Primitive," Sympson recounts. "The helicopter about 75 meters ahead of us begins its descent to the target LZ. Suddenly it's hit by ground fire from the hamlet. (Jesus, what was that!) Trailing smoke, it rolls to the left and free-falls out of sight. Now we are the prey."
Vietnam. Back home, the word itself either brought cheers over each American victory, or was drowned out by marches and protests. But what was it like for a young 23-year old artillery officer fighting on the battlefield?
"At the time, I felt a strange form of pleasure in being at risk in combat," Sympson said during a recent phone interview. "It was like a roller coaster ride with drops and high-speed turns."
"Vietnam was a netherland, not hell exactly, but some other place," Sympson said. "It was almost as if it never really existed."
But it did. In his book, Sympson vividly and sensitively recounts the horrors of war: small pockets of Viet Cong hiding in hedgerows and tunnels, booby traps and punji stakes (deadly pointed metal stakes with barbs at either end that could pass through a man's chest or abdomen), expressionless children, bodies and pieces of flesh and bone spread everywhere - "hidden from sight by high grasses, but not concealed from the sense of smell."
Sympson started writing this book as a form of self-therapy after he was stricken with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer probably caused by exposure to Agent Orange.
"I felt increasing pressure to tell someone about my tour in Vietnam," Sympson said. "It was difficult to do, but felt good in the end - like pulling a thorn out. At the time it hurts, then it's over."
"And also, I did it for the veterans community," he continued. "They listened, encouraged, understood, and did not judge. I no longer feel alone with my thoughts."
U.S. Naval Institute
2062 Generals Highway
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
January, 1996
Reviewer unknown
Images from the Otherland: Memoir of a United States Marine Corps Artillery Officer in Vietnam
Sympson records his experiences in America's most unpopular war. As an Artillery officer with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment (known more commonly as "the Magnificent Bastards"), he participated in Operation Starlite, the first major U.S. action in the war, and Operation Texas, one of the bloodiest battles of the entire conflict. Included is a discussion of how his experiences in Vietnam still affect him 30 years later.
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