According to the book description, “drafted in October 1968, John A. Nesser left behind his wife and young son to fight in the controversial Vietnam War. Like many in his generation, he was deeply at odds with himself over the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, instilled with a strong sense of duty to his country but uncertain about its mission and his role in it.

Nesser was deployed to the Ashau Valley, site of some of the war's heaviest fighting, and served eight months as an infantry rifleman before transferring to become a door gunner for a Chinook helicopter. In this stirring memoir, he recalls in detail the exhausting missions in the mountainous jungle, the terror of walking into an ambush, the dull-edged anxiety that filled quiet days, and the steady fear of being shot out of the sky. The accounts are richly illustrated with Nesser's own photographs of the military firebases and aircraft, the landscapes, and the people he encountered.

One reader of Ghosts of Thua Thien: An American Soldier's Memoir of Vietnam said, “I served in another battalion of the 101st Airborne at the same time and area as John Nesser, and I can testify to the realistic picture he describes of the daily life of a grunt. The A Shau Valley and DMZ were particularly rough and dangerous areas, and John captures the feeling of these places. His description of the day-to-day details of a grunt's life is one of the best I've read.”

One reader of Ghosts of Thua Thien: An American Soldier's Memoir of Vietnam said, “I have known John for over 30 years, as a good friend and neighbor. After reading this excellent book I realized that I didn't really know John and what he went through in Vietnam. Once I started reading The Ghosts of Thua Thien I found it hard to put down. It is one of the best written books about a soldier's experience from growing up in Central Wisconsin, college, a new family man and being drafted in the Army. His experiences in basic training, to combat in Vietnam and his returning home to live a normal life. John is a very quiet person I know it must have been difficult to relive these good and bad experiences. He brings them to life in this book for you to relive with him. Thanks John for writing this book! Terry”