Dennis Latham: Life, Fiction, and the Pursuit of Madness

A rocket attack at Camp Books. Read comment below  from Mark Harms about this and other attacks. Near the finish of my Vietnam tour, I was with B Company 7th Motors at the north end of a small firebase called Camp Books. We were separated from the main base by water, pretty much isolating our group except for an access road. I had it good by Vietnam standards, compared to when I was with the grunt battalion. We had plywood buildings to sleep in when we weren't in fighting holes. Every other building had a bunker. The problem was I spent most nights in a perimeter fighting hole. While with B Company, I was on the receiving end of at least 300 rockets. The 122mm rocket is a killer. The enemy still uses it on our troops in Iraq today. You just don't hear about it much. The 122 is six feet long and carries a 40 pound TNT warhead up to six miles, fired from portable launchers. The 122 is unstable and cannot be set to strike a specific target. They aim it in the general

Dennis and Dorothy Marino (Latham) Our Big Band Show features swing, big band, some torch songs, and high quality vocals. Music Is A Lot Like Writing Fiction About eighteen months ago I decided to sing again, doing music I wanted to perform. I didn't care that I wouldn't be popular with younger crowds. Our market is the older crowd who remember the music. I blew chances to be a big time singer while a young man. I turned down offers that could have made me rich to stay with a road band because I thought we would make it in Nashville. When that all fell through, my window to the big time had closed and I quit singing for years. Now, I'm going to make the best of the remaining opportunity. My wife has a beautiful voice that is perfect for the difficult songs of singers like Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald. Real vocal talent is something you inherit. It can't be taught, despite what some voice teachers say. They make their living that way. But, you either have it o