Kimchee Days, or, Stoned-cold Warriors [Paperback]

Timothy V. Gatto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2010

Millions of men served in the Army during the Cold War-many inside major American cities-in ARADCOM (Army Air Defense Command). Until recently, one of the Army's best kept secrets was that the men in the Nike-Hercules system were in charge of nuclear missiles ready to knock down fleets of Soviet planes or ICBMs should they attempt to attack the U.S. To those inside ARADCOM, though, the even better-kept secret was the one about duty in Korea-a country where anything went and where the officers and senior NCOs shut themselves away to wait for their 13 months to be over, leaving the business of running nuclear facilities to the lower enlisted men. You could almost say that duty in Korea was duty in a place where the inmates were running the asylum. Kimchee Days is about life in a Nike-Hercules battery near Inchon in the early 1970s, a part of the Korean Air Defense Artillery-or the ADA, which the men usually called "A Different Army." In its way, the book embraces the spirit of the 1970s, along with the lives, loves-and many other things-that came with that time. Welcome to the asylum.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: THE OLIVER ARTS AND OPEN PRESS (March 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981989144
• ISBN-13: 978-0981989143
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,244,057 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to Kimchee Days, March 15, 2010

By 

Matthew Cuerdon "mac" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kimchee Days, or, Stoned-cold Warriors (Paperback)

I first read Kimchee Days back in 2000 before it was published. I read it cover to cover non-stop! And have re-read it several times. I laughed. I cried. I cheered! It felt like home to me.

In a time when super-power rivalries defined the direction of nations and the destiny of America's youth, KIMCHEE DAYS takes us into the Cold War of 1970's South Korea at a time of coming of age for a crew of young American Cold Warriors manning Foxtrot Battery, one of America's most advanced anti-aircraft missile system. It is a modern voyage into our ancient souls, into our very essence on which we embark, it is M*A*S*H with nuclear tipped missiles, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER in combat fatigues, with a touch of COLD WAR reality to keep you from putting it down.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What if they had just kept coming?, May 24, 2010

By 

BLUE INDY (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kimchee Days, or, Stoned-cold Warriors (Paperback)

"The light above him clanged red and the BCO reported, "Red status, battle stations!" "Patty was stunned! There had to be a mistake. The B scope showed them what the BCO was looking at..." "He could see the north-south border. On the south side he saw two or three targets. The north side had about two hundred!" -all headed south.

In a book noted for its humor, I found this incident the most CHILLING. A routine drill known as "Blazing Skies" had just morphed into a potential nightmare that could have started a North -South Korean "hot" war and perhaps warmed up a chilled Cold War into World War 3. And so was life in the Nike Hercules antiaircraft batteries in the 1970's near the DMZ. As a veteran whose sole experience of the Cold War was state side, this was all new territory to me, and I found it fasicinating!

The trials, tribulations and "free enterprise" opportunities of a young, new recruit are spelled out in graphic detail in Tim Gatto's EXCELLENT book, "KIMCHEE DAYS or Stoned-cold Warriors" a fictionalized account of the author's - and others - experiences on the front lines of the Cold War. Populated by a cast of weird characters and with Gatto's usual sparse, no fluff or frills writing style, "KIMCHEE DAYS" is Tim Gatto at his finest -and leaves the reader hungry for more - much more. From the officious First Shirt to the highly admirable guard dog Fred and his fine "taste" in Commanding Officers, I promise the book will please and delight the discriminating reader of historical fiction.

And really, like so many others, I want to know... What became of FRED?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Did nike site change that much?, April 1, 2010

By 

Hammer (Mn) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kimchee Days, or, Stoned-cold Warriors (Paperback)

I served at "E" Battery which was the most southern nike missle site in Korea. I was there in 1967 & 1968. While stationed there The Satus Of Forces Agreement was enacted and the USN ship Pueblo was captured. That said I couldn't believe how much had changed at the sites from 68 until the 70's. The seemingly total disregard for authority be it from nco's or officers I found to be a bit over the top, and the percieved daily use of pot and pills was something I never experienced. I know that in our battery rank was not much of an issue off duty, but on duty it would have been somebodys Nads on the table if someone acted in the manner described. The exploits of the main character in the story, both on and off duty reminded me more of stories told by a recruit just home From basic, than that of a seasoned vet. I'm sure that life for an off duty serviceman stationed near a large city like Inchon was much different than what we experienced in the "one road through it village" we knew. We had three small clubs that held maybe 50 people,crude would be an understatement. Entertainment was supplied by a couple of speakers and a turntable that spun the latest bootleg copies of the current hits. There were ladies that would cater to the needs of those who needed and lots of beer and booze to supply a lifetime of memories. There were some very belieable instances, in the book that certainly brought me a smile and peaked some memories. I wasn'nt there in the 70's so I cant'say that it wasn't that way , it just wasn't that way at Echo Battery in 67 & 68. I know the book was written as as fiction based on life at a nike site in the 70's, but as a nike crewman at sites in Korea, Florida, and Germany it just didn't depict what I experienced. I did enjoyed reading the book , just couldn't wrap myself around it.