Kurt Chismark

An Honorable Illusion: a Memoir Kurt Chismark

An Honorable Illusion-A Memoir, is a powerful story about a young man's one-year journey into manhood as a U. S. Army officer in combat in Vietnam in 1970. Kurt Michael Chismark was the product of a middle class, conservative, Catholic family from Syracuse, New York - patriotic, religious, hardworking, and idealistic. After graduating from an Ivy League school when the Vietnam War was at its peak, he enlisted in the Army and earned his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. After Airborne and Special Forces training, he was surprisingly assigned to the infamous 173rd Airborne Brigade to be a platoon leader, replacing one who had just been killed. He led "search and destroy" missions to "engage the enemy and free the Vietnamese people from communism" His platoon trekked tirelessly through mountainous jungles, and later through populated hamlets and villages. Regularly, they patrolled through lethal minefields, hunting and being hunted by a determined Viet Cong enemy that was aided by a hostile populace. His haunting accounts are as intriguing, thought provoking, and relevant today as they were back then. Relive his journey to manhood that changed him forever -a journey of ambiguity, confusion, guilt, and sorrow; as well as one of courage, faith, love, and honor.