The Third Tour

“Help me, Marty, Help me.” 

Radarman First Class Zack Martin’s physical wounds that were inflicted when his ship was attacked by friendly aircraft while on patrol in Vietnam have healed. His psychological wounds are another story. Recently, the flashback dreams about his friend Campbell’s mortal wounding from that terrible morning have diminished, but the panic attacks have not. His fiancé Camille is pressuring him to leave the Navy and seek help. To add to his dilemma, word has just recently been received that his new ship, a destroyer, is headed back to combat duty in Vietnam waters.

Martin is reluctant to throw away nearly ten years of his navy career. He must soon decide whether to seek psychiatric help at the Navy Hospital and accept a medical discharge or suppress his fears and sail once again into harm’s way.

In ‘The Third Tour,’ Bob Stockton draws on his personal experiences and more to deliver a fast-paced, action story of Navy combat both on the high seas and along the dangerous brown water rivers of Vietnam, placing the reader directly in the line of enemy fire.

Trenton, New Jersey native Bob Stockton left high school in 1957 to join the Navy, where he served for 20 years, sailing the seven seas. His duty assignments sent him to serve aboard destroyers, diesel electric submarines, aircraft carriers, auxiliary vessels, reconnaissance attack squadrons and patrol gunboats in Vietnam. Bob, who retired as a chief petty officer, went on to receive undergraduate and graduate degrees. Since retiring from the Navy, Bob has worked as a shipyard welder’s helper, epidemiologist, adjunct graduate instructor, small business owner, pharmaceutical trainer and international radio host.

Exposure to Agent Orange while in Vietnam led to the Veterans Administration declaring Bob fully disabled. He now lives near his three children and four grandchildren in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Third Tour is the final book in the Zack Martin Navy Trilogy, following Stories from the US Navy I: A Suicide in the Mediterranean and Stories from the US Navy II: Friendly Fire.