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84 pages

English

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This book is about a young teenager walking in the jungles of Vietnam fighting for his life. After getting shot in the mouth, losing teeth and bone, and causing stuttering and a hard time pronouncing words, God called him into the ministry speaking before people for 40 years. Through-out this book you will hear Tom's sense of humor getting him through many difficult times of his life. This book will make you laugh, cry, get mad, and many other emotions. It is an encouraging book that will show you. with God's help. you truly can do anything you want, even with disabilities.

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Biography

Autobiography

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Publié par	AuthorHouse
Date de parution	08 mars 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9798823003001
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	8 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Shot in the Mouth and Still Preaching

Tom Williams

AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: 833-262-8899

© 2023 Tom Williams. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/07/2023

ISBN: 979-8-8230-0301-8 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-8230-0300-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023904335

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 In Vietnam
Chapter 2 Growing Up
Chapter 3 Back on the Carrier
Chapter 4 Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky
Chapter 5 Walking in Vietnam
Chapter 6 Mail Call
Chapter 7 Animals and Insects of Vietnam
Chapter 8 How Did I Get in Vietnam Anyway?
Chapter 9 The First Bullet Fired at Us
Chapter 10 Friends in Vietnam Never Forgotten
Chapter 11 The War in Your Mind
Chapter 12 My Valentine’s Day Gift
Chapter 13 Wounded and Going Nowhere
Chapter 14 My Time in the Hospital
Chapter 15 A Time to Reflect
Chapter 16 Now I Am Superman
Chapter 17 Leaving Vietnam, but Vietnam Never Leaves You
Chapter 18 How Vietnam Changed Me for the Good
Chapter 19 Home and Starting My New Life
Chapter 20 Taking Risks
Chapter 21 What is Happening to Me?
Chapter 22 A Conversation that Changed My Life
Chapter 23 The “The Oh God” of Vietnam
Chapter 24 My Call into Another Army Life
Chapter 25 Going to Bible College
Chapter 26 Our Move to Illinois and then Back
Chapter 27 The Start of Liberty Baptist Church
Chapter 28 Living Life Can Make You or Break You
Chapter 29 Back to Liberty Baptist Church
Chapter 30 A New Pastor at Liberty Baptist Church
Chapter 31 My Heroes of the Faith
Chapter 32 A Story of Riches

Dedication
This book is dedicated to my hero in the faith, Terry “Shrek” Nalian. Shrek went home to be with the Lord on April 15, 2021, and I truly miss him. Shrek founded the Stand Strength Team and was an evangelist for over twenty-eight years. We have been friends for more than seventeen years, and we would challenge each other with Bible questions. This was a very special time for us, during which we grew closer to the Lord and each other. Shrek was always encouraging me to write this book, and even though I would tell him I couldn’t write a book about myself, he never stopped telling me, “You should write a book about your life.” One day during a phone conversation with Shrek, of which we have had many, I told him that I was stepping down as the pastor of Liberty Baptist Church. He said, “Now you have time to write the book.” I don’t know why, but I agreed. We came up with the title, and he told me what the first chapter should be about. I couldn’t believe I was going to do it, but Shrek finally broke me down. I never dreamed that would be the last time I would talk to him, for he went home to be with the Lord about a month later at the young age of fifty-nine. It was a very hard time for me, as it was for his family and all the friends he had. I thought, I must write this book now because that was what we talked about in our last conversation. Well, Shrek, here it is, and the book is dedicated to you, my friend. I can’t wait to see you again, but I am not writing another book.

Acknowledgments
Sandy Williams —My wife and very best friend, without whom I could have never written this book. You have been the very best encourager a person could have. I love you so much, and I thank God for giving you to me for these fifty-three years and counting. Sandy, I like you a lot!
Jen Vaughn —For all the time you put into my book when you did all the initial proofreading. You had a lot of patience and were very kind in showing me all my errors, and I do mean all . Thank you, Jen!
Luke Vaughn and Rick Allerton —For not just helping me with the computer stuff but doing most of it. Computer is a foreign language to me, and I would still be working on it were it not for your help. Thanks, guys!
Santino Vitale —For designing the front cover of the book. Who would have thought that, after knowing you when you were just hours old, you would be making me look good on the front cover of this book? Santino, thank you!
Anastasia Miller —For doing all the work on the photos and making them presentable for the book, which I know was some work for you, and for allowing me to come to your work to bug you about the photos. Anastasia, thank you!

1
In Vietnam
About six months earlier, I graduated from Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio. Then I found myself in Vietnam on a troop carrier going back to where soldiers had been killed and wounded. They needed replacements, and I was one of them. When I first flew into Vietnam, I thought for sure I would get shot when I was getting off the plane, but nothing happened and we stepped on Vietnamese ground without any gunfire. The next day, the leaders lined all of us rookies up and told us that we were now infantrymen. We were replacing one third of the Forty-Seventh Infantry Regiment, Ninth Infantry Divi sion.
I had gone through basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where I was trained as a tank driver, so naturally I was ready to receive my keys for the tank I would be driving. The soldier beside me was trained as a clerk and was looking for his typewriter—but things do change in times of war. I thought, Okay, so I won’t be driving a tank. That’s not so bad. How much worse could it be? I knew I wasn’t supposed to think things like that. But I was in for one more surprise—they said I would be carrying the radio. I had no idea how much a radio weighed, but someone told me it was about fifty pounds. Remember, I had just graduated from high school six months earlier and was only seventeen years old. I figured that would be it for the surprising news, but it wasn’t. They told me I would be walking point, which meant I would be about one hundred yards in front of the rest of the guys.
So in a few short days, I went from driving a tank on dry ground to walking in rice paddies and crossing rivers in front of the other guys. I didn’t realize how dangerous this job was or that the chance of survival was very small—and I do mean very small . Many years later, I watched a documentary that revealed that infantrymen carrying radios and walking point got shot every fifty-four seconds. I’m really glad I didn’t know this at the time. The enemy wanted to cut off all communications, so when they saw an antenna waving around in the air, that was the first thing they shot at. And by walking in front of the other guys—well, you get the picture. I said my new job was to be a human guinea pig because we were to spot the enemy first. If they spotted us first, they would shoot at us f irst.
So there I was, weighing in at a whopping 138 pounds and carrying a radio on my back weighing about 50 pounds. I also carried a . 45-caliber pistol, an M-16 rifle, many hand grenades, a lot of M-16 clips, smoke grenades, and other stuff—altogether weighing about 70 pounds. If you double that weight, it would come to 140 pounds, so I was carrying half my body weight every time we went in the field. I never did know why they didn’t give the radio to someone who weighed about 200 po unds.
It was only about six years earlier that I had played with toy soldiers in my safe backyard. And two years earlier, I got my driver’s license. My life had truly taken sharp turn in a few short years. But I did volunteer for the military, so this isn’t a complaint—just letting you know where I was at that time. I will admit that I didn’t like the thought of walking on very wet terrain instead of driving a big tank on dry ground, but somehow I understood why I got the assignment. These soldiers must have been through a lot and needed help, so why shouldn’t we go and help them out?
When I first put that radio on my back, I thought I was going to tip over backward. It truly was heavy, and I thought, How in the world am I going to do this?

Okay, let’s get back to the troop carrier. I couldn’t believe we’d be working with the navy. My dad had been in the navy, so I thought this was really neat. We were going to someplace where a lot of soldiers had been either killed or wounded, and they needed help. We loaded up the carrier, and I was the last one on, which meant I would be the first one off. When that thought came to my mind, being the first one off, I thought of the war movies I had seen. The first soldiers who got off these carriers would be shot as soon as they ran off. Listen, I was no John Wayne, storming up the beach. I was a 138-pound guy carrying 70 pounds of equipment. I was thinking, How am I going to be able to move, let alone run?
I really thought I was going to throw up; in fact, I’m not sure I didn’t. I think I swallowed