Sign-In
Cart
Surviving Vietnam
Hardcover
ISBN13: 9781960890016
Publisher: Second Mission Foundation
Published: Apr 18 2025
Pages: 232
Weight: 1.27
Height: 0.75 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
One of seven siblings born and raised in California's San Joaquin and Central Valley, Dennis Nickell lived a life that was anything but boring. Whether joyriding in stolen cars, hanging out with Hells Angels, or reveling in street fights, what he experienced in his youth turned out to be fun and games compared to the horrors that awaited him in the jungles of Vietnam. The war had already claimed the life of a high school friend - and an impulsive, revenge driven decision to join the Army would result in a lifetime of consequences.
In Surviving Vietnam, Dennis tells not only his war stories, but also the seldom-shared reality that combat veterans experience trying to go back to living a normal life. A crippling drug addiction carried over from Vietnam, coupled with alcoholism as a coping mechanism to deal with the horrific PTSD from combat, formed the thin foundation that would barely allow this extremely angry violent man to survive.
Literally escaping from a psych ward of a California hospital and a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia from doctors who didn't yet understand at the time what PTSD was, Dennis found himself constantly in and out of homelessness, getting into fights, the drugs and alcohol not providing the relief he desperately needed. While staying at his mother's house, he hit rock bottom and finally gave in to the suicidal thoughts. A gun barrel pressed to his head, finger on the trigger, his mother arrived home early and unknowingly saved his life. Hearing her car in the driveway, he wasn't able to go through with it knowing she would find him that way.
Soon after this he would meet his future wife Diana and the course of his life would change dramatically. From a hopeless, homeless, drug addicted alcoholic to a married man with a beautiful wife and children that would give him something to fight for other than himself. Breaking free from those terrible addictions, he would go on to live a life full of actual miracles, carried by a faith stronger than anything he had ever experienced in his life. In his last few years, he would dedicate his time and energy to sharing his story on YouTube in his original series Surviving Vietnam - with the sole purpose of stopping his brothers and sisters in arms from committing suicide.
Dennis believed that we all have the potential for a future so much greater than anything we can ever see at any given moment - a future that is always worth fighting for - regardless of our circumstances or how low we've fallen. He desperately wanted his fellow veterans to choose life and experience the unexpected joy and rewards that God is always ready to give.
Also in
Vietnam War
The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton
Leepson, Marc
Hardcover
Kennedy's Coup: A White House Plot, a Saigon Murder, and America's Descent Into Vietnam
Cheevers, Jack
Hardcover
Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul
Delmont, Matthew F.
Hardcover
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
Galloway, Joseph L.
Moore, Harold G.
Paperback
Women In War: A Gripping Collection of the Untold True Stories of History's Bravest Women Warriors
Yuzuk, David A.
Paperback
Healing Wounds: A Vietnam War Combat Nurse's 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington, D.C.
Evans, Diane Carlson
Hardcover
Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent
Berman, Larry
Paperback
Then All Hell Broke Loose: The Odyssey of a Marine Corps Photographer in Vietnam
Fisher, Dennis
Paperback
Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of MIKE 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
Until the Last Gun Is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul (Large Print Edition)
Delmont, Matthew F.
Hardcover
I'm Alive: A Young Fighter Pilot's Diary of the US Navy Air War in Vietnam, 1964-1965 Volume 25
Reilly, Errol F.
Hardcover
Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam
Nagl, John A.
Paperback
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Sheehan, Neil
Paperback
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Galloway, Joseph
Moore, General Ha
Paperback
Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It
Freeman, Gregory A.
Paperback
A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam
Sorley, Lewis
Paperback
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Galloway, Joseph
Moore, General Ha
Paperback
Spies in Saigon: CIA Covert Operations in French Indochina and South Vietnam, 1950-1963
Bevill, James P.
Hardcover
Lions of Medina: The True Story of the Marines of Charlie 1/1 in Vietnam, 11-12 October 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
Cag: The Naval Aviation Career of Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale (1949-1965) In His Own Words
Stockdale, James B.
Paperback
What Now, Lieutenant?: Leadership Forged from Events in Vietnam, Desert Storm and Beyond
Neal, Richard
Paperback
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Moore, General Ha
Galloway, Joseph
Hardcover
When I Die I'm Going to Heaven 'Cause I've Spent my Time in Hell: A memoir of my year as an Army Nurse in Vietnam
Kautz, Barbara
Paperback
A Brief History of Vietnam: Colonialism, War and Renewal: The Story of a Nation Transformed
Hayton, Bill
Paperback
The Vietnam War for Teens: Amazing Facts, Heroic Acts, Major Events, Public Protest, and How the War Changed the America
Burrows, James
Paperback
Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam
Drury, Bob
Clavin, Tom
Paperback
Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
McMaster, H. R.
Paperback
The Secret War Against Hanoi: The Untold Story of Spies, Saboteurs, and Covert Warriors in North Vietnam
Shultz, Richard H., Jr.
Paperback
The Legacy of the Twins Platoon: The True-Life Stories of Marines Who Went to War in Vietnam
Sauro, Christy, Jr.
Paperback
Would I Do It All Over Again?: A Journey Through War, Diplomacy, and Global Affairs
Palarino, R. Nicholas
Hardcover
The End of the Rope: The Ripcord Campaign and American Disengagement in Vietnam
Smither, James R.
Hardcover
LZ Sitting Duck: The Fight for FSB Argonne
Arsenault Ltcol Usmc (Ret), John
Gourneau Uscg, Thomas
Paperback
Powerful and Brutal Weapons: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Easter Offensive
Randolph, Stephen P.
Hardcover
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
Wurts, Jay
Hayslip, Le Ly
Paperback
Hill 119: Defending a Reconnaissance Marines' Op, Vietnam, 1969-70
Fallon, Michael O., USMC (Ret ).
Hardcover
Drafted: An Illustrated Memoir of a Veteran's Service During the War in Vietnam
Parker, Rick
Hardcover
Steel My Soldiers' Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam
Hackworth, David H.
Paperback
The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World
Boomhower, Ray E.
Paperback
What War Could Not Destroy: Two Soldiers, One Diary, and Crossing from War to Peace
Reed, Paul
Paperback
The Legacy of the Twins Platoon: The True-Life Stories of Marines Who Went to War in Vietnam
Sauro, Christy, Jr.
Hardcover
Fire Road: The Napalm Girl's Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace
Thi, Kim Phuc Phan
Paperback
If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need
Jacobs, Colonel Jack
Century, Douglas
Paperback
The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps' Greatest Marksman of All Time
Lindsay, Jim
Paperback
NCO School: How the Vietnam-era NCO Candidate Course Shaped the Modern Army
Elder, Daniel K.
Paperback
War Is a Racket: A Decorated U.S. Marine General's Shocking Exposé of War Profiteering
Butler, Major General Smedley D.
Paperback
In Love and War, Revised and Updated: The Story of a Family's Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years
Stockdale, Sybil B.
Stockdale, James B.
Paperback
Unlikely Warriors: The Army Security Agency's Secret War in Vietnam 1961-1973d
Long, Lonnie M.
Blackburn, Gary B.
Hardcover
Beyond the Call of Duty: The Life of Colonel Robert Howard, America's Most Decorated Green Beret
Moore, Stephen L.
Paperback
Of Their Own Accord: A Company of Army Rangers Changing Lives in Changing Times: A Company of Army Rangers
Magruder, Lawson
Kleibacker, Fred
Paperback
The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
Lee, Heath Hardage
Paperback
Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America's Biggest Mass Arrest
Roberts, Lawrence
Paperback
Tap Code: The Epic Survival Tale of a Vietnam POW and the Secret Code That Changed Everything
Harris, Carlyle S.
Berry, Sara W.
Paperback
Bare Feet, Iron Will Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields
Zumwalt, James G.
Paperback
The Ballad of Roy Benavidez: The Life and Times of America's Most Famous Hispanic War Hero
Sturkey, William
Hardcover
Tiger Men: A young Australian soldier among the Rhade Montagnard of Vietnam
Petersen, Barry
Paperback
100 Questions and Answers About Hmong Americans: Secret No More
Michigan State School of Journalism
Paperback
Where We Were in Vietnam: A Comprehensive Guide to the Firebases, Military Installations and Naval Vessels of the Vietnam War - 1945-75
Kelley, Michael P.
Paperback
Across the Wing: Stories of Navy Carrier Combat Squadrons in the Vietnam Theatre
Heller, Dan
Paperback
Trauma and Truce: Personal Stories of American Veterans and Their Return to Vietnam
Woods Usmc, Ed
Paperback