Red Clay on My Boots: Encounters with Khe Sanh, 1968 to 2005 by Robert J. Topmiller (review)

BOOK REVIEWS In Part Two, Knepp argues that even though antislavery leaders in Clermont County worked diligently to undermine slavery,they were frustrated by their slow progress. Most antislavery whites concentrated their efforts in the courts and in the political arena, but eventu·ally key people became more active and offered handson aid to fugitive slaves searching for freedom in Canada. Knepp offers descriptions of church communities and profiles of well over a dozen local activists, some familiar but others not so well known. Most important,he concentrates not onlv on the white abolitionists who fought in various ways on behalf of blacks both slave and free,but also on the rich story of the local black community's struggle . against slavery. In the introduction Knepp explains why attention to African American involvement in the Underground Railroad has often been missing in historical accounts. In contrast,his inclusion of the black perspective enables him to describe the stark reality that fugitive slaves faced in Clermont County and neighboring Kentucky. Knepp provides a gripping account of the broad support provided by the free black community to enslaved people escaping bondage . The account of African Americans living in Felicity and their bold and open resistance to a group of slave hunters who came into town looking for two fugitive slaves is particularly moving. The inclusion of a bibliography would be helpful for serious researchers who wish to make good use ofthe book. Still,Knepp' s study of a relatively small geographical region is valuable for several reasons. First, he explains in rich detail the context of the antebellum period in which the antislavery movement and the Underground Railroad activists worked. He also tells us a great deal about how this area of Ohio fit into the larger national struggle against slavery. Finally,Knepp's book serves as an example that other researchers can follow as they attempt the arduous task of undertaking SUC h a difficult project. Pamela R. Peters Independent Scholar New Albanv,Indiana Robert J.Topmiller. Red Clay on My Boots: Encounters witb Kbe Sanb,1968 to 2005. Minneapolis: Kirk House Publishers,2007. 197 pp. ISBN: 9781933794051 ( paper), $ 16.00. War certainly le dves a lasting impact on those who serve in uniform, but it also has a lasting impact on the civilians and families who remain on the home front. ' Ihe impact of the Vietnam War has spanned generations , with many Americans still questioning the role that the United States should play in global affairs because of it. lhe war also left in its wake physical, spiritual, and emotional devastation on generations of Vietnamese. in Red Clay on My Boots, Robert J. Topmiller,an assistant professor of history at Eastern Kentucky University, shares his personal journey as he has evolved from United States Navy corpsman serving at the siege of Khe Sanh in 1968, to social activist concerned with the welfare of the Vietnamese Buddhist community and with the Vietnamese children whose birth defects reveal the true devastation caused by the American use of the defoliant,Agent Orange,during the war. In a theme that recurs in the memoirs of many Vietnam veterans, Topmiller opens his account with descriptions of his SUMMER 2008 97 ON M¥ Encointers with Khe Sanh 1968 to ZOOS BOOK REVIEWS childhood. As a young man in the 1960s, he shared in the nation' s hopeful idealism . He was eager to serve in the military in Vietnam and give his best in the struggle to combat what many contemporaries believed was the further expansion of global communism. As a Navy corpsman, Topmiller did not experience combat from the perspective of an infantryman , but from th·at of a medic whose job entailed patching together the broken bodies of his comrades. Topmiller regul .arly faced tough decisions about letting some men die in order to help others who had a higher probability of survival. Red Clay on My Boots is not only a tale about the tragedy of combat,but it is also one of personal transition. During his inany return trips to Vietn·am,Topmiller's perceptions of his experience and the war began to change. His attitude toward the soldiers and citizens of Vietnam...