Borrowed Time

About the Book

In Borrowed Time decorated Vietnam veteran Charles Kinney picks up where We Were Soldiers leaves off. He tells the compelling story of his year as a combat medic with the renowned 7th Cavalry of the US Army, focusing on C Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th.

After the Ia Drang campaign of We Were Soldiers fame, which took place in the Central Highlands of Vietnam in 1965, came the Bong Son I and II campaigns in the coastal plains of South Vietnam in 1966. Kinney gives riveting firsthand accounts of the devastating battle at Landing Zone 4 (rated by the US Army as the 2nd bloodiest battle of the war from 1965- 1972), the triumphant wipeout of an entire North Vietnamese Army battalion at Than Son II, and the tragic ambush of C Company at Tuy Hoa.

In 1970, Kinney volunteered for another tour of duty in Vietnam, returning to work for a year as a senior clinical technician at the 3rd Surgical Hospital at Binh Tuy south of Saigon. There he became the assistant chief wardmaster and oversaw creation of the Army's first drug rehabilitation and detoxification center.

Rather than focusing on facts and figures, body counts, weapons specifications and the like, Kinney's narrative concentrates on the people- the men he lived with, fought with, loved as brothers and lost, those who survived , and those who remain his cherished friends to this day. In doing so, Kinney teaches us unforgettable lessons about courage, fear, love and the human cost of war. These lessons are just as valuable in understanding the world's current armed conflicts as they are in understanding the war in Vietnam.

About the Author

After a distinguished 20-year career in the Army, author Charles Kinney retired to Orange, Texas. Subsequently he worked in security for an art museum for 9 years, and then he decided to obtain a college degree. Upon graduation from college, he worked for 2 years as a Registered Respiratory Therapist in nearby Beaumont, Texas. In the early 1990s, Mr. Kinney and his wife, Linda, decided to open an animal care and boarding facility called Peaceful Acres. Clients drive all the way from Houston to board their pets with the Kinneys.

Mr. Kinney is active in the community, volunteering his time and services for a variety of causes, including performing military funerals as part of a burial team with the Southeast Texas Veterans Service Group headed by Rev. Marv Howland. A trustee of the 7th Cavalry Association, Mr. Kinney was one of a select group invited to attend the Fort Hood, Texas, premiere of the recent movie We Were Soldiers, which was about the battle at LZ X-Ray fought by 7th Cavalry units in Vietnam.

Recently Mr. Kinney was selected as the Vietnam Veteran of the Year for southeast Texas. Beloved by friends and family alike, he is a favorite of the local news media.