Retired U.S. Navy Master Chief, George Trowbridge Publishes Memoir About the Vietnam
 

Retired U.S. Navy Master Chief, George Trowbridge Publishes Memoir About the Vietnam Draft Era Experience, and the Combat Operations His Navy Destroyer Carried Out in Vietnam
By: George Trowbridge 08:30 ET / 3-12-18
RE: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300611642.html

TAMPA, Fla., March 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- George Trowbridge recounts his journey from Iowa in his new book, Striking Eight Bells: A Vietnam Memoir, to becoming a crewmember aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer during the closing months of the Vietnam War. Enlisting in the Navy at 19, he left a wife and newborn son as he traversed the oceans of the globe to fight in America's most unpopular war.

George shares the details of the living conditions on board a naval destroyer during this era, what it was like going through training, the grind for his ship's crew in supporting ground forces with naval gunfire as well as the strike attacks his ship made on enemy coastal defenses, and coming home at the end of the war. This emotional story is not only historically focused, but is also informative about life in the military, all filtered through the personal lens of a first-hand perspective.

Trowbridge wrote his story to revive the memory of an era of where many young men struck out into the world at a young age leaving the security of families behind, but often ended up serving in one of the military services due to the Vietnam draft system. Trowbridge also told of the sacrifices made by the crews of U.S. Navy destroyers in conducting combat operations along the coasts of South and North Vietnam, which has not been recognized and essentially flat out ignored, but definitely is a story that now needs to be widely told. One reader recently made this comment in their review of Striking Eight Bells: "After hearing stories of my elders going through similar hardships from the war, it is really refreshing to hear a firsthand experience. Trowbridge makes you feel like you're right there with him, which is essential to any great read. His story is one that needed to be told, and I'm glad he did."

After more serving more than twenty years, George retired from the U.S. Navy in 1992, as a Master Chief Petty Officer. After retiring from the Navy, he sailed for several years as a Merchant Marine Officer on board various commercial merchant vessels. His experiences working on board merchant vessels prompted him to become a training provider for the maritime industry. George has founded two maritime training institutions and has managed two other similar institutions in the Gulf of Mexico region.