James Ballard intimately knows the subject matter explored in Poisoned Jungle. His tour as a medic in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta altered the course of his life. War has consequences, and he has not only lived with them, but spent a lifetime examining the impact of Vietnam on his and other veteran’s lives. In that regard, Poisoned Jungle, the author’s first novel, is a work fifty years in the making.
Ballard served as an army medic in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam from December of 1968 until the end of October in 1969. He has been exploring the repercussions of his experiences ever since. In his author’s note to Poisoned Jungle, he writes: “The impact of war is not only transformational on the human psyche—but ongoing. It sets in motion a powerful set of psychological consequences. Finding equilibrium with those forces is imperative.”
Graduating from high school in 1967, the author soon got caught in the ever-expanding American involvement in the war. By December of 1968 he was in the war zone.
“The biggest initial shock was to witness the number of civilian war casualties created by our immense firepower, the artillery, B-52’s and gunships. It didn’t square with the rationale for the war given by our leaders—that we were there to help the Vietnamese. It also meant the young Americans being killed and wounded were being sacrificed for dubious reasons. Everything just seemed so out of control and to lack a constructive purpose. Making sense of the experience and the impact it’s had on my life has been a lifetime endeavor.”
Assigned to the quadriplegic ward at Letterman’s Army Hospital after his return from Vietnam, brought home the reality that the war never really ends for a lot of its participants. “If I had to sum up my feelings after my tour, and witnessing the ongoing suffering at Letterman’s, it’s that a country should have an absolutely good reason for going to war. I could never arrive at that conclusion about Vietnam.”
Discharged in 1970, the author spent three years traveling and working in Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. Briefly introduced to beekeeping in Hawaii, it would later influence his career choice.
After his return to the U.S., Ballard enrolled at Gavilan College in Gilroy, California. He transferred to the University of Alberta in Edmonton and immigrated to Canada in 1975.
After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree, the author settled in the Peace River Region of Alberta where he established and operated a commercial beekeeping farm for forty years near the hamlet of DeBolt.
“After all the wandering of my post-army days, I stayed in one location for the next forty years. Beekeeping became an all-consuming passion. I started with five hives and wound up with two thousand. The Peace River Region produced wonderful crops of honey with the long days of summer and abundant fields of clover and alfalfa.” One of the major centers of beekeeping in Canada, commercial apiarists operate 80,000 hives in the area.
During his years of beekeeping, Ballard kept in touch with friends from the war and followed news of issues related to Vietnam Vets. “Of course, PTSD came to be associated closely with veterans. In my view, the psychological research has gotten better, and now includes survivor’s guilt and moral injury, both pertinent to the experiences of many soldiers.
“Agent Orange exposure has had devastating effects for both American Veterans and the people of Vietnam, where the contamination continues, being churned up in the soils and stream beds, and toxic hot spots from leakage of the dioxins in the defoliants. Not only carcinogenic, the chemicals have caused embedded changes in the genes of subsequent generations. For so many, the war never ends.”
Just before retiring from beekeeping, Ballard began to write seriously. “I have always enjoyed literature and chose the novel because it gives the author full range to explore how events shape and impact the lives of several characters.”
Poisoned Jungle is his first book to be published, but the author has another novel completed and works on a third. “The unpublished story needs another draft, but I would eventually like to see it in print as well.” Also on the war, it explores the dynamics of an infantry platoon in more detail.
“I will run out of years before I run out of material. Besides the war as subject matter, I would like to write a beekeeping memoir, a personal reflection of the many people and events that left strong impressions. Whether it was working with the bees themselves, hauling them to Osoyoos for the winter, or keeping the bears away from the hives, forty years of stories might make for an interesting book.”
