James Ballard

After graduating from high school in 1967, James Ballard came of age as the US escalated its involvement in Vietnam.Trained as an army medic, by December of 1968 he was in the war zone. Coinciding with the Ninth Infantry's Operation Speedy Express, he began his tour while the Mekong Delta remained a bloody battleground for control of Vietnam's major rice-growing region.The author saw much of the Delta during his tour. As a medic, he not only treated his fellow soldiers, but Vietnamese civilians...See more

After graduating from high school in 1967, James Ballard came of age as the US escalated its involvement in Vietnam.Trained as an army medic, by December of 1968 he was in the war zone. Coinciding with the Ninth Infantry's Operation Speedy Express, he began his tour while the Mekong Delta remained a bloody battleground for control of Vietnam's major rice-growing region.The author saw much of the Delta during his tour. As a medic, he not only treated his fellow soldiers, but Vietnamese civilians caught in the crossfire. His experiences altered the course of his life. James has spent a lifetime exploring the pervasive consequences war has on its participants and the innocents ensnared, with effects rippling through societies at large.After attending the University of Alberta in Edmonton, James immigrated to Canada in 1975. Establishing a commercial beekeeping operation in the Peace River Region of the province, James spent the next forty years on his bee farm. Staying in touch with some of the men from his tour, he continued to follow events in Vietnam and among his fellow veterans."If I had to describe my work in one phrase it would be an examination of the 'consequences of war, ' which extend far beyond the timelines of the immediate conflict and the individual soldiers on the field of battle."More about the author and his work can be found at james-ballard.net, where James further explores the subject matter of his novels. See less