Bob

Worthington

Writer  |  Soldier  |  Pilot

Feature in Vietnam Magazine

Read the latest cover article by Dr. Bob Worthington, “Returning to a world that no longer existed”, beginning on page 34 of Vietnam magazine. The article is a report on the adjustment on the U.S. Army repatriated Vietnam War prisoners of war, based on his psychological evaluations of the RPOWs during the Department of Defense Operation Homecoming (1973-78). At that time Dr. Bob Worthing was a senior clinical psychologist in the Army. 

Presentation Event Jan. 18

Topic:  PowerPoint presentation on latest book and documentary movie. Where:  Branigan Library in Las Cruces, NM Date & time:  Saturday 18 January 2020 from 1 to 3 pm. Las Cruces writer Dr. Bob Worthington will do a PowerPoint presentation on his latest book and documentary movie at Branigan Library on Saturday 18 January from 1-3 pm.   His book, Under Fire with ARVN Infantry, was published in October 2018 by McFarland & Company, Inc, Publishers.  It is about his first tour in Vietnam as a combat advisor serving with Vietnamese Army infantry units.  His presentation will cover the book to describe who and what combat advisors were, the specialized training they received (U.S. Army Special Warfare School and Vietnamese language school) and how they were deployed.  His presentation will show photos from his tour as he will explain the story behind the photos. This book covers his 1966-67 tour. He returned to Vietnam for his second year as a combat advisor in 1968.  He will also show some clips from the documentary movie he produced, Combat Advisor in Vietnam, commercially released in early 2019 by Borderlands Media.  The one-hour movie was filmed by Bob during the last three months of his first tour.  The movie has been acclaimed as a film on the Vietnam War, unlike any other Vietnam movie.  Copies of both the book and the movie will be for sale at his presentation.   Dr. Worthington is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, a retired New Mexico State University Journalism professor as well as a non-fiction writer with over 2500 publications.  

September Events

September 8th – Celebrate Authors hosted by Branigan Library.   September 12th- 14th Book Signing at the Joint Military Writers Society of American and the Southwest Writers’ Organization Conference in Albuquerque, NM.

Counterparts Reunion

As can be imagined, the history of U.S. military advisors in southeast Asia created many strong relationships that continue to this day. An association of military and civilian advisors along with their foreign counterparts exists to promote an appreciation of the advisory experience and accomplishments to the general public. Counterparts operates a nationwide locator service to assist former advisors, their counterparts, and families to locate one another and find their former comrades.  Dr. Bob Worthington was honored to be a part of the recent Counterparts Reunion which took place this past April in Houston, Texas.  With his well-documented experiences as a former U.S. military advisor, Dr. Worthington was excited to see old friends and meet new people with connections to southeast Asia.  In this photo, Dr. Worthington was pleased to meet Henry and Tania Newinn, sponsors of the event. The Newinns escaped Vietnam in 1975 as the North overran the South. At the time, Mr. Newinn was an ARVN special forces soldier and Mrs. Newinn was a 21-year old mother of a one-year old baby. After they fled their home country, they came to the United States and settled in Houston.  The Saturday evening banquet at the Counterparts Reunion allowed Dr. Worthington to meet some more very special people. Standing behind him in this photograph is Tom Tran, a former ARVN soldier that was only 18 years old when he escaped Vietnam with his brother in 1975. Mr. Tran also settled in Houston and graduated from Rice University. Today, he is a senior executive and an exploration petroleum engineer with a major oil and gas company in Houston. Mrs. Tran stands next to her husband. Dr. James Wells stands on the right, a full professor of Criminal Justice at Eastern Kentucky University. Mr. Wells’ father was initially an advisor for the U.S. Army and later returned as a State Department advisor. Ultimately, Mr. Wells’ father died when the CIA plane he was in was shot down after taking off from the Bao Trai air strip near the Cambodian border. Dr. Worthington hopes to include the story in his next book.     More information about Counterparts and their mission can be found on their website at http://www.counterparts.net/

Movie Premiere of Combat Advisor in Vietnam

A Special Event in Las Cruces, NM – November 17th, 2018 Non-fiction writer and film producer Dr Bob Worthington, in conjunction with Bob Worthington Films, PRC Productions and Borderlands Media are hosting the premiere of Bob’s one-hour documentary film depicting what combat military advisors, serving with South Vietnamese combat units, did during the Vietnam War. After this premiere this film will be commercially available via Internet streaming services and directly from Borderlands Media. This movie will show what combat advisors actually did. Where we lived with the Vietnamese troops, what we ate, combat operations, including Vietnamese “County Fair” operations where Vietnamese and US military would secure a rural village and provide medical and government services to its citizens, is presented. There are scenes depicting US and Vietnamese medical personnel holding a joint medical clinic for rural Vietnamese, a night combat operation where the Viet Cong agreed to stop the fighting if the American advisor would arrange for a military helicopter medical evacuation, to save a Viet Cong baby’s life (which he was able to do), and the filming of a Viet Cong machine gunner shooting at Bob as he filmed being shot at (the VC missed). All footage was shot by Bob serving as a combat advisor on his first tour in Vietnam, during 1966-67. The film discusses the extensive training for combat advisors (counter-insurgency, counter-guerrilla and unconventional/special operations warfare, learning about the culture, customs, and history of Vietnam and then Vietnamese language school). This film footage was shot during Bob’s last three months in Vietnam for his first tour there. The entire year is described in his next book, Under Fire with ARVN Infantry, to be released this fall by McFarland Publishers. Bob’s second tour in Vietnam (1968-69) involved mostly special operations, again as a combat advisor with Vietnamese combat units. This will be described in his second book on combat advisors in Vietnam. Associated with this event will be the US Pilots Association and all the USPA affiliated state pilot organizations. This weekend is offered as a special fly-in activity, where members can participate by flying their planes to Las Cruces. USPA is a national 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization for general aviation pilots and aircraft owners. USPA was created to assist pilots in organizing state and local pilot groups for providing safety education for people who own and fly small planes. Bob is a Director Emeritus and former, long-term president of USPA. USPA members will arrive on Friday, 16 November and fly into Las Cruces Airport, parking and refueling at Southwest Aviation.  USPA members will be staying at the new Hilton property, Home 2 Suites, located on North Telshor Blvd. That evening USPA members will eat, as a group, in a local restaurant. The premiere of this documentary film will be held at the oldest theatre in New Mexico, the Rio Grande. On Saturday morning, USPA will be the special guests of the movie studios of PRC Productions to see what goes on behind-the-scenes of making a movie. USPA members will participate in various aspects of movie making magic. Late that afternoon, USPA and movie production company hosts will attend a light dinner and then attend the film premiere. After the film and a Q & A session in the theatre, there will be a champagne reception for everyone at an adjacent restaurant. USPA attendees and special guests, will receive a special Movie Premiere DVD copy of the film, with extra added combat footage, filmed by Bob, that is not in the commercial version of the movie. This special DVD of the film is made only for USPA and special guests, autographed by the producer, Bob Worthington.