Faith & Spirituality

Vietnam Vet Claims Publishers Rejected War Memoir for Four Years Until He Removed All Profanity

Shawn Ryan Show · #317 Johnnie Clark - Surviving One of the Deadliest Jobs During the Vietnam War · June 29, 2026

Shawn Ryan Show

#317 Johnnie Clark - Surviving One of the Deadliest Jobs During the Vietnam War

"Within one month, this book that had been rejected by every publisher in New York, North Carolina, California, everywhere I could find a publisher, within one month, 9 publishers now wanted the book. And the one that bought it was Random House, biggest publisher in the world."

Johnny Clark says his Vietnam memoir Guns Up was rejected by every major publisher for over four years. After removing all profanity from the manuscript due to religious conviction, three magazines simultaneously called to publish excerpts from the four-year-old submission, followed by nine publishers offering contracts within a month. Random House editor Pam Strickler, who had previously rejected the book, purchased it but asked Clark to add profanity back in because no one would believe a Vietnam War book without it. Clark refused and the book has remained in print for 42 years, now on the Marine Corps Commandant's reading list.

About this episode

On this episode of The Sean Ryan Show, host Sean Ryan sits down with Vietnam War veteran Johnny Clark, a former Marine Corps machine gunner who served with the 5th Marines during some of the most intense fighting of the war, including the aftermath of the Battle of Hue City. Clark, now 76, is the author of nine books including Guns Up, which sits on the Marine Corps Commandant's reading list and is required reading at the School of Infantry. The conversation spans Clark's impoverished upbringing in West Virginia, his enlistment at 17, and his harrowing experiences as an M60 machine gunner—a position with a reported 7-to-10 second life expectancy once firefights began. Clark details multiple combat engagements including Troy Bridge, a graveyard battle where he earned the Silver Star, and a mercy killing of a wounded NVA nurse that haunts him decades later. The episode takes a profound spiritual turn as both Clark and Ryan share remarkably similar testimonies of supernatural encounters they attribute to divine intervention. Clark recounts Medal of Honor recipient Mitchell Page's account of being frozen in place during Guadalcanal, preventing him from being killed, then describes experiencing an identical phenomenon 40 years later on a North Carolina hiking trail while struggling with PTSD. Both men discuss their journeys from spiritual indifference to faith in Christ, with Ryan detailing his own recent conversion experience in Sedona involving what he believes were messages from deceased friends and guardian angels. The interview also covers Clark's decades-long martial arts career as an 8th Dan Grandmaster, his 49-year marriage, and the miraculous publishing story of Guns Up after he removed all profanity from the manuscript. Throughout the conversation, Clark emphasizes themes of brotherhood, the reality of spiritual warfare, and God's sovereignty over human affairs, while providing visceral combat accounts that illustrate both the horror of war and the courage of the Marines who fought it.

Key takeaways

Clark recounts Medal of Honor recipient Mitchell Page being supernaturally frozen during Guadalcanal firefight, then claims identical experience happened to him 40 years later on hiking trail leading to Bible verse.
Clark's Vietnam memoir Guns Up was rejected by every major publisher for 4 years until he removed profanity, then 9 publishers including Random House competed for it within one month.
Machine gunners in Vietnam had 7-to-10 second life expectancy once firefights started because every enemy targeted them first due to tracer rounds acting like spotlights on their position.
Clark describes mercy killing wounded female NVA nurse with .45 pistol after her skull cracked open and M16 rounds failed to kill her, says sergeant kept her ID for 30 years.
NVA soldier carrying boombox tuned to Armed Forces Radio Network accidentally turned it on during approach, leading to Clark's hand-to-hand knife fight after soldier was shot.
Both Clark and Ryan share detailed conversion testimonies involving supernatural encounters, with Ryan describing recent Sedona experience with mysterious guardian figure and repeated 444 angel number confirmations.
Clark spent over 50 years in martial arts, became 8th Dan Grandmaster of Taekwondo, trained with legendary Okinawan masters after being ordered to martial arts as physical therapy for combat wounds.