In Good Company

On Friday 8th March 1968, 20 year old Gary McKay lost the lottery - he was conscripted. From a comfortable and carefree life of surfing and rugby football, he was drafted into the deadly serious preparation for war in the jungles of South Vietnam. "In Good Company" is his story. It begins with induction and selection for the officer academy for national servicemen at Scheyville, a six-month "pressure cooker" course which produced second lieutenants ready to lead troops into action against the Viet Cong. It ends three and a half years later with a burst of NVA machine-gun fire during a battle among enemy-held bunkers in the hills of Nui Lae. This book is a grass-roots account of the blood, sweat and tears shared by a rifle platoon in jungle warfare, a story of the fears and the camaraderie which soldiers experience in combat. Gary McKay fashioned this account from his experience in action, leading his platoon. The detail is provided from the 80 letters he wrote to his wife while he served. He wrote his story for the reader who wants to know what the soldier on the ground went through - in the jungle and in battle.