James E. Davidson spent 1968 in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader in the Central Highlands and as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Popular Forces. He is now a community college instructor in Indiana.  James E. Davidson is the author of Highway One: A Vietnam War Story.

According to the book description of Highway One: A Vietnam War Story, “When the light at the end of the tunnel in Vietnam was getting pretty dim in 1968, the Pentagon decided to "Vietnamize" the war. The United States' strategy was to turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese, supplying them with weapons, material, and advisors. However, the problem with this new policy was not so much the persistence of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers, but the American advisors and their advice. These Americans weren't necessarily incompetent, it was just that they were sent to Vietnam for only a one-year tour of duty and always felt like they had to do something.

Highway One: A Vietnam War Story James E Davidson  More Info

So when a young Army lieutenant who only wants out of the Army is sent to a small village to build a rifle range for the local self-defense force during his last fourteen days in-country, he becomes caught between the Army's gung ho philosophy and the villagers' traditional Asian concept of the relationship between time and war. To further complicate things, he is drawn to a beautiful woman in the village who is mysteriously close to the local Viet Cong.”