Customer Reviews

From Classrooms to Claymores: A Teacher at War in Vietnam

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Since FROM CLASSROOMS TO CLAYMORES is my first book, I 'm very excited to see it in print. I am pleased that Amazon.com will distribute it. There are several corrections that should be made to the Synopsis. When I was drafted at the age of 26, not 21, I was much older than most of the other men in my unit. (I was drafted 30 days before my 26th birthday. Had I made the age of 26, I would have been draft exempt and this book wouldn't have been written). Also, I served in the 1st Air Cavalry, not the 1st Air Vietnam. While I did behave myself most of the time and did get a Good Conduct Medal, I actually received the Air Medal for 25 plus combat assaults into enemy territory. I believe everyone who reads my story will enjoy it. Readers will find it different from the typical Vietnam type book. While I do tell a few shoot-em up stories (What war vet wouldn't?), about 50% of the book is humor and tales of daily survival in the jungle and on Fire Support bases.

Intrigued after hearing the author share some anecdotes recently, I read From Classrooms to Claymores. As a female reader, I never would have imagined picking up (let alone enjoying) a Vietnam-related story. I am not even a big fan of pop-culture war movies! However, being a teacher myself, it was interesting to get a glimpse into the persona of this fantastic storyteller and teacher. His sense of humor and realism hit home and make Vietnam not so much a glorified box office hit, but a story more young people should read. Thank you for your stories Mr. Schneider!

I bought the book after attending a 2-day workshop that the author had put on to a few fellow teachers. He had mentioned his book and said that he was a Vietnam vet. Looking for some light summer reading, I was a bit intrigued to read about a confusing time in our country's history. After taking a few history courses over my years of "academia", this book quite simply spelled out a unique viewpoint of the war which I clearly understood, as well as, "felt." Mr. Schneider wrote the book with the "everyday Joe" in mind -- one day enjoying his MidWestern life as an everyday American citizen and then suddenly on the combat lines in Vietnam. He had had no previous experience with military. He was a school teacher; not quite the ideal tough field "grunt" that runs through the typical American mind when one envisions Vietnam. He does an outstanding job of even putting a "Glossary of Terms" in the back of the book to use for the readers to constantly refer to for some military and war terms used throughout the book. Mr. Schneider uses an excellent mix of reality, humor, and emotions in his book to keep the reader intrigued. What originally was intended for some light reading wound up being an excellent, heart-felt history lesson. Thank you, Mr. Schneider, for putting your story into a book so this confusing time in American history can better be understood.

I purchased this book because Ches Schneider is a teacher--and so am I. More coincidentally, we are about the same age. Like Schneider, I spent 2 years in the army at about the same time he served. I was not sent to Vietnam, though I was on active duty when the war was hot. Schneider's perspective, that of a 26 year old married man who has a college degree and has taught for a year or two, is refreshingly unique. The vast majority of men who fought in Vietam were much younger, less educated and unattached. Most of the men Schneider serves with look up to him and with good reason; he shows maturity and good judgment in irrational situations. At the same time, he shows the basic human instinct for survival. He exploits the opportunity for rear echelon duty and finally ends up as an company clerk well away from the action. If the politicians and generals who made the major decisions about this war had sent more people like Ches Schneider over there, I believe the war would have ended earlier and there would have been no Mai Lai. There are better written books about the Vietnam War, but this one provides a fresh perspective. Well worth the time.

From CLASSROOMS to CLAYMORES was one of the most enjoyable books by far that i read all year. The author has a very curious sense of humor which never ceased to entertain me all throughout the novel. Should be read by anyone interested in a unique perspective of Vietnam, or mainly by anyone seeking a great book to read for enjoyment.

This one is a keeper. It's written well and interesting and plausible. But Schneider needs a punch in the nose for his attitude about the Air Force. Schneider! Airmen by necessity are REMFs. You cannot repair, maintain, and arm aircraft in the boonies. It's all high-tech. The aircraft were for your benefit, not our's. All of us worked 12 hour days, and 6 day weeks. We also repaired a few tanks and other army vehicles, to help the grunts out. Our food tasted like @#$%& and our toilets were generally overflowing with the same. We stole C-Rations from the army because it was better than what we were fed. And we were mortared and attacked. So get-over it. But your book is pretty good otherwise.

I don't need to put many words down, but if you read books at night to help you get to sleep,well........don't by this one because you'll see the sunrise. Enough said.

It provided me a general knowledge of everyday life in Vietnam. The men that fought were very couragous, and it is great the Ches now passes that knowledge on to his students. A must read for the Vietnam book reader!

Since I went from 23 years in the Army and two combat tours to the middle school classroom, I enjoyed the book. The author did a good job. Good read. Buy it!

Very well written documentary of an infantry soldier's day to day life in Vietnam. He puts you there with him to feel what he felt. From the sudden rush of a firefight to the hump of packing everything on your back through the jungle, he puts you there with him.