Please join us for our next Speaker at the Center talk with Author L. Glen Inabinet, who will share from his book "Mekong Memoirs: A GI in Tan Tru, Long An Province, 1969-1970".

Facing imminent conscription, University of South Carolina graduate L. Glen Inabinet entered the Army in 1968, with a tour of Vietnam service inevitable. Scarcely six months later, he was fighting mud, mosquitos and Vietcong adversaries in the heart of the Mekong Delta. Armed with a liberal arts degree and an artillery MOS, Inabinet served in a 105mm howitzer section, as RTO with an artillery FO team, and as TAERS Clerk managing his battery's equipment records. Between filling in logbooks, he filled in for short-handed gun crews, served guard duty, defended against enemy attack, and countered stateside-like harassment with an imperishable sense of humor.

Containing previously unpublished photographs and documentary records, Inabinet's memoir is the personal voice of an on-the-spot reporter with a unique perspective as a writer of history and of human experience. Equipped with his camera, Inabinet preserved war-related images of Vietnam's exotic land and people as well as the GIs daily grind and dangers. His memory of his 401-day tour is bolstered by near-daily letters to his wife. This book presents Inabinet's stunning account of his time in the Mekong, more well-documented than would be possible for most tours of service. In a troubled war, Inabinet remained convinced of the strengths of faith and of camaraderie with brothers-in-arms, and his memoir tells this story in striking and illustrative detail.

L. Glen Inabinet, researcher, photographer, freelance writer, and retired high school history teacher, is active in local and state historical societies and veterans' organizations. He lives in Camden, South Carolina.

Contact

For more information, please get in touch with McCabe Rentz, SC Center for the Book Coordinator, at 803-734-4816 or mrentz@statelibrary.sc.gov.

Location & Parking

The event is held at the South Carolina State Library, 1500 Senate Street, Columbia, SC 29201. On-street metered parking is available. Enter between the two lions.

Accessibility

FM Auditory Assistance, large print materials, and other accessibility accommodations are available upon request. Please contact the program organizer in advance if you need a reasonable accommodation to participate.