He Survived To Tell The Tale
By: Tim Timmons
If Rick Vincent can write as well as he can talk, he’s likely got a best-seller on his hands. And after a quick run through the 399-page paperback, it certainly appears that he can.
Vincent, a 1966 Noblesville High School graduate, recently completed a memoire that is currently available on Amazon, but will likely soon be in Barnes & Noble as well.
Surviving to Tell The Tale – A Time to Forgive, is a look back at a life full of hopes and dreams that were met, dashed and rose again from the ashes.
“I joined the military with the intention to not come home (from Vietnam),” he explained. “I wasn’t interested in committing suicide, but (his family – mother and nine siblings) were hurting for money so much that I bought some insurance so there’d at least be enough for college for everyone.”
It started quietly in a house between Clinton and Wayne streets, right beside what was the NHS baseball field. Vincent was one of 10 children in a Catholic family that would experience the untimely and early death of the father – leaving a widow and at least the older children to find a way to fend for themselves.
The book details an early start to a very successful career in photography, along with some fortunate alliances, and led to serving in the special forces with the U.S. Navy.
“The squadron I was in was classified for 35 years,” Vincent explained. “I was 40, 50 years old before I could tell anyone what I had done.”
And what he did is the stuff of legend. It’s a fascinating read. One of his stories involves laying sensors around the perimeter of Khe Sanh – a battle that lasted for months in 1968 where thousands on both sides were killed and even more wounded. It was called the most vicious battle of the entire Vietnam war.
Years later, Vincent’s squad was given a Presidential Unit Citation, an honor reserved for extraordinary heroism in battle.
“Somebody said thank you finally,” Vincent said quietly.
It was that experience, and others, that led Vincent to this book.
“I had good days and bad days after Vietnam,” he said. “On the bad days I would just get drunk and stay drunk. I thought it was photography that was making me crazy. Of course now I know differently. Most of the problems I had (involved) nightmares. So I would get drunk. The alcohol took over. It took the middle part of my life.”
Vincent talks openly about his struggles.
“I was married several times. It always fell apart. I didn’t realize how much the war had altered me. I just had a hard time coming home. I couldn’t talk about it. You were just told to stuff it and keep it stuffed.”
After everything was finally declassified, Vincent turned to writing.
“When I started, I didn’t know how to write a book. I didn’t know how, so I just put everything in chronological order.”
Vincent credits another author for their helping hand.
“I ran across a woman from Noblesville who had published novels with Simon & Schuster. I e-mailed her and offered to buy her breakfast. She read it and said ‘I’ll help you along the way.’ She was a great help.”
That woman was Noblesville’s Susan Crandall, a best-selling, award-winning author.
“The purpose of the book was not to get published,” he said. “The purpose was to write it as accurately as humanly possible for my children. (It) had the effect I was hoping it would.”-Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically in The Times. Timmons is the chief executive officer of Sagamore News Media, the company that owns The Noblesville Times. He is also a proud Noblesville High School graduate and can be contacted at [email protected]