NOONIE FORTIN
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NOONIE FORTIN
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Book Reviews This
page was last updated on 1 June 2008.
This is a lengthy page so I chose a quiet song piece. You should be listening to "Sound of Silence." I have written several book reviews. You'll soon be able to read all of them on this page. BUT meanwhile here are some of those I could easily put my hands on:
A Father’s Love by Steven Manchester is probably the best of
his works thus far! As I read one portion of the book I could sense the love of
one father for his children. Though Dennis had a loving relationship with his
wife and three children everything seemed to fall apart at once. But through the
author’s wonderful pen he shows the reader just how this young man’s life is
altered. As I sat in a doctor’s waiting room wiping my eyes reading the portion
titled “The Three Shoeboxes” people around me wondered why I was weeping. This
segment brought me to tears several times. It was written that well!
Having already had a copy of Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt's book about the women who served during World War II, I was anxious to read her latest book A Time Remembered: American Women in the Vietnam War (Presidio Press, ISBN 0891416692, 272 pages). What made it even more interesting for me was that I knew some of the women mentioned in her new book. Knowing how hard of a time I have had getting some women Veterans to open up, I was interested to see how the author collected her information and put it together. I quickly realized that she laid out her book by branches of the military and then the civilians who also served. She started quickly by stating, "Estimates of the number of women who served in Vietnam vary, ranging from 7,500 to 11,000 military women, with the greatest number being nurses. Add to this arbitrary figure the hundreds and hundreds of women sponsored by civilian organizations, and the figure could be near thirty thousand." As I opened the front cover I soon realized that I have already met or been in touch with some of the women the author interviewed. That helped to make this book even more interesting to me. Each chapter was about another woman and what she did during the Vietnam War. Each was powerful in its own right. The first eleven chapters were about the women who served as nurses in Vietnam. The author had five members of the Army Nurse Corps (ANC), two who were in the Navy Nurse Corps (NNC) and four women from the Air Force Nurse Corps (AFNC). Naturally having served in the Army myself I was more familiar with the terminology used by the five women who were in the ANC as well as the three women who were in the Women's Army Corps (WAC). The nurses had been with the 36th Evacuation (EVAC) Hospital, 67th EVAC, 91st EVAC, and 24th EVAC. They were in Vung Tau, Qui Nhon, Tuy Hoa, and Long Binh respectively. The events they described were amazing. The WACs had been in Saigon and Long Binh. Other chapters included stories from civilians. Those women were in Vietnam with the Special Services, United Service Organization (USO), American Red Cross (ARC), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Some of the chapters were actually written by the women themselves. Others were put together following interviews and emails between the author and the women. Regardless of how they were done-they showed the various aspects of how these women's lives were affected both in-country and since returning to The World. This book is a tribute to the women who volunteered to put themselves in harm's way. It should be required reading for students, as well as military members and families of those who have served. This book will help many others to understand that it is not just the male Veterans who suffer from various maladies of war. Our women's history is very important and sadly there is not enough books written about what our women have done to serve our country. I was glad to see this one on the bookshelf at my local bookstore.
Mary Reynolds Powell has written a wonderful book titled A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam. Some of what she has shared in this book is her own feelings while other parts are those from some of the people she came to know while stationed at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, Vietnam. I met Mary online in one of the many email groups I belong to. I finally met her in person during Veterans Day activities in Washington, DC in 2002. I told Mary I would read and review the book. While other things have come up this past year I am glad to say that I just finished reading this amazing part of her life. Mary interviewed seven other individuals for A World of Hurt besides including her own personal stories of what it was like for her in-country and upon her return to the states. Stephanie Genthon Kilpatrick, John Miller, Frank Chamberlin, Son Dinh Nguyen, Chris Slavsky, Terry Corneil, Doug Powell and Mary shared so much in this interesting perspective 171-page book. Retired Army Colonel David Hackworth wrote in his Foreword "Mary Reynolds Powell’s powerful book is the perfect antidote to blow the revisionists out of the water—with the facts eloquently presented….Frequently…I found tears running down my face." I could tell that he had read this book and was as deeply moved as I had been. In 1965 Mary "marched in a New York City parade backing the war." By 1969 she "wore a black armband in support of the national peace moratorium." After being "a registered nurse for only twelve months" in 1970 Mary found herself in Vietnam at the 24th Evac with the US Army Nurse Corps. Mary recalled her stopover in Hawaii enroute to Vietnam walking past a group of Marines headed stateside "staring into the oldest eyes we had ever seen….their eyes were ancient, their faces blank." She quickly realized what she was getting into. She described her first night in-country as "Artillery hammered in the distance, mosquitoes feasted on me, and diarrhea induced by the malaria pills…kept me running to the latrine all night. Sleep came in brief, restless spurts." The hospital’s chief nurse asked Mary where she would like to work. When Mary said that she had done most of her work in internal medicine the chief nurse said there was an opening there and she was to start right away. I think this is one of the first books I’ve read where the author then tells the reader everything you’d ever want to know about the 24th Evac including a map of the area. I found it most interesting. One of the items she described was the amphitheater where shows were put on. She pointed out something I was well aware of already. The site was where the "annual Bob Hope Show" was put on every "Christmas afternoon….You want to know something? Bob Hope has never spent a night in Vietnam. He flies to Thailand after every show." I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one to point this fact out. Mary explained the first day at Wards 7 & 8. She wrote of her name being added to the DEROS chart "in Vietnam, Marines stayed for thirteen months while Army and Navy tours were twelve—‘364 days and a wake-up.’" She now had "359 days left." Mary took the time to describe several patients who stuck in her brain all these years. She also remembered "running…smiles….olive drab fatigues….endless IVs….gecko lizards….the proud, smiling face of a young soldier as I pin on the Purple Heart medal he earned with his body." Stephanie was one of Mary’s hooch mates. She "had been at the 24th Evac for six months" working in the ER at that time when Mary arrived there. But when Stephanie first got to Vietnam she was assigned to the surgical intensive care unit (Ward 2). She quickly learned "that it took an average of only eighteen minutes for a soldier with a priority injury to go directly from the field to the 24th Evac’s Operating Room" and into Ward 2. Sometimes at least three surgeons would work on the same patient trying to take care of all the injuries at once. She described a few of the soldiers who were in her care. She talked about her "worst night, seven patients died." She "felt the patients glorified the nurses….We were their wives, mothers, sisters, girlfriends. We had to be everything." She had been seen writing down all the names of the soldiers who died on Ward 2 so she wouldn’t forget them. But all of this got to Stephanie and she requested a transfer to the ER. This way she didn’t have time to get to know the patients personally. As patients came in she "examined each patient fully, front and back, to find stray bullets and shrapnel….marked the site of every injury….started IVs….drew blood, and cleaned the guys." This seemed to make it easier for Stephanie to deal with the casualties. Chris was "the Army’s equivalent of a licensed practical nurse." He was at the 93rd Evac working in the ER. He talked about several soldiers who went through his care—each one worse then the one before—"we felt like we were ankle deep in blood." He spoke of burn victims, body bags, grenade victims, and so much more. He transferred to the 24th Evac in April 1971. When he arrived he began working "in the neurosurgical intensive care unit on Ward 5….After a month, Chris came to work with us in internal medicine." Mary wrote, "Despite the protests that he had little to say, he had forgotten nothing." John "had flown medical evacuation (dustoff) helicopters, ferrying wounded soldiers from combat to hospitals." As a warrant officer pilot his "sole job was to fly. ‘We were fast, balls to the walls, and proud of it!’" When he first got to Vietnam he "was assigned to the 45th Medical Company on Long Binh Post." However, "in April, he was reassigned to the 159th Dustoff Detachment at Cu Chi." He explained that the chopper "was limited by weight to four crew members plus eight additional people….crew members stacked three litters crosswise in the back….put a fourth on the floor when necessary, but that did not leave much room for the medic and crew chief to work. Four seats for ambulatory patients or passengers were tucked behind the stacked litters." He spoke of "the human spirit in me had seen so much horror mission after mission after mission for the entire year I was in Vietnam. The caring soul within me was beaten and abused." Terry was an Infantry officer who was happy to be going to Vietnam. He flew over with Mary. But just two months later he knocked on her door at the 24th. "There stood before me a man who bore little resemblance….his bravado was gone….and his eyes had aged." He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion (airmobile) 5th Cavalry Regiment 1st Cavalry Division. He told Mary about some of the things his platoon went through. He was quite graphic in explaining them too. However it gives the reader a true sense of being there. Career medical officer Frank Chamberlin surprised many soldiers when he sat, talked and listened to them. He explained the officer’s "ticket punching" and how it infuriated him. "The number of GIs requiring hospitalization for serious drug abuse problems" upset him. He shared a lot more for this book even though "It hurt him to talk about it." Son was a Vietnamese orderly who worked at the 24th. "Since the rest of us went home after a year, he was the one person who gave the ward continuity." He had been "A sergeant in an ARVN Ranger unit" until he was severely wounded. He trained as "an aide…joined the staff of Wards 7 & 8….became the ward interpreter." He shares with the reader his personal struggles with the war, his accident, his survival, and how he came to be reunited with his family after many years. Doug was assigned to the preventive medicine unit. He would go on Med-Caps to villages outside the Long Binh area. But he also checked on things around the post. One of his duties was to certify that food workers were healthy. He "monitored the rates of hepatitis and infectious diarrhea" but "was not required to keep track of venereal disease." He tried to give a new perspective on rat control when "he reached into a large brown paper bag in front of him and pulled out a trap holding a live rat the size of a small dog." He chased cockroaches, mosquitoes, and had other adventures while in Vietnam. But one of the best things he really did was to help the nurses get over vaginitis once he realized their hooch maid was cleaning their clothing in the shower stalls among all the algae laying there. These individuals shared a lot with Mary who has now shared it with her readers. Their stories will amaze you as they all came from different lives as well as parts of the country. They all had feelings about the war before and after they served their country. Mary’s wrote "As a nation, it is time for us to take the burden from the kids who fought our war. All of us were part of the lie that wasted an American generation and devastated an ancient culture half a world away. Until we acknowledge the wrong that we did in arrogance, we will not have learned. And if we have not learned, we will do it again." And sadly I see that happening as I write this with our invasion of Iraq. I only pray our troops will come home quicker than they did when they were sent to Vietnam a generation ago. This is a book well worth investing in. Mary’s interweaving of stories and memories from her friends make it special. It should get more attention than it does but then again it’s about an unpopular war and the people who served during it.
I have to say that every time I picked up the book I hated to "have" to stop reading it. The author is good and writing about the area she knows so well—downtown Albany was great. Being familiar with this area myself-I felt like I was right on Madison Avenue and witnessing the accident. The author takes you through an agonizing accident that nearly kills someone. The driver falls in love with the victim as she goes through her own family problems. The story interweaves personal feelings, romance, and intrigue throughout the book. This love between the two main characters grows but is not spoken about for some time. The author keeps you on the edge of your seat waiting for one of them to come out and say something to the other. The romance builds without really being put in the written word. I have to say this is one of the best lesbian novels I’ve read.
As the author of Memories of Maggie and Potpourri Of War I readily ordered this book to learn more about the women who served during the Civil War. All the Daring of the Soldier was excellent. It brought forth more women than I was even aware of who did so much for their country during the Civil War. Elizabeth D. Leonard should be proud of the work she put into her research and writing. This book should be a welcomed item to anyone’s collection but especially for students to learn more women’s history. I only have one complaint. There was no mention of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker who also served during the Civil War and was ultimately the only woman to date to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for her actions during the war. I hope this was just an oversight on the author’s part. BUT believe that the rest of this book is wonderful!
Okay I’ll admit it, I requested a copy of Almost Back: The Brenda Cavanaugh Story by Jami Janes because I thought it was about a woman Veteran. I was a little disappointed at first when I saw that it wasn’t but I’m so glad I read the book anyway. If reading a book can bring tears to my eyes several times throughout reading it—I know it’s a very good book—and this is an excellent book. Robert MacNeil wrote the Introduction. That’s when I realized that this book was "about one man who lost his life in Vietnam, Richard Genest, and his widow, Brenda Cavanaugh." Brenda’s "existence mandated his presence…whose life had been exiled, the moment he had to leave…was ripped out from underneath them just six months into their marriage." I soon realized that Jami Janes was at the time of writing this book dating Dick Genest Jr. whose parent’s story I was about to read. Jami took the time to introduce the reader to Edgar and Fleurette Genest, Dick’s parents, and his sister, Charlotte. Edgar "based all his decisions about family matters and the family business solely on the return of his son." Fleurette "greeted every morning with thoughts of her son…embraced every night as one less they would be without him." Charlotte "counted the days until she could finally share all the growing up she had done during his absence." Richard Edgar Genest’s family owned Genest Better Bread, the largest bakery in Manchester, New Hampshire at the time. He was born 7 August 1945 and graduated from Manchester Central High School in 1963. He was expected to take over the family business after college. Though his birth name was Richard everyone called him Dick. Jami also tells the reader about Brenda’s parents, Tom and Nancy Cavanaugh, as well as all her younger siblings: Tommy, Jill, Mike, Nancy and Jimmy. Brenda’s family was in the automobile business. Tom owned and ran Cavanaugh Brothers Motors which became one of the first Ford dealerships in New England. After coming to know all the family members Jami pieced together their lives to write this amazing story of love and devotion between two young people and the heartbreak that war brought to their entire families. She spoke with each member of the family and some of Dick’s friends. She read the many letters that went between Brenda and Dick as well as listened to their tape recordings. She brought everything together magnificently! In February 1965 Brenda first met Dick face-to-face in their hometown of Manchester when her girlfriends talked her into giving him a ride in her new car. He vowed "to find out who the breathtaking, blonde driver was that had baited his eye and snared his heart." Brenda knew he was older than she was and "too short for me" but "the only thing she could think about was Dick." From then on they were almost inseparable. Dick accompanied Brenda to her junior prom in May. She had a summer job and Dick worked at the bakery but they managed to see each other everyday. Brenda remembered "walking along the beach, eating lobster and steamed clams, gazing at stars and talking to the moon." They went skiing together in the winter. She believed "they belonged together." Dick had said "she sparked a fire in his soul." Brenda graduated from high school in 1966. Dick gave her a gold charm bracelet and the first of many charms for it. She was accepted at the University of New Hampshire and would start that fall. Dick had decided to go to Oklahoma State University for their baking and business school so he could return to Manchester with enough education to help his father run the bakery. "The summer of 1966 was to be the last care free time of their lives." Dick made his way into her life and her family’s. He played with the younger children and took the older ones places with him. He would "have lobster and steamed clams waiting for her when she got home from work." They spent a lot of time at the beach and "felt as if the ocean and beach spoke specifically to them." The two families had become one. He left for Oklahoma in October. He wrote a letter nearly every day to Brenda. In December he notified her that he "had been classified 1A [high priority draft ranking]." In January 1967 Dick was kicked out of college because a can of beer was found in his closet. He returned to Manchester and began working at the bakery. He continued to write to Brenda everyday while she was in college. Brenda and Dick knew that the "conflict" in Vietnam was heating up. They knew his chances of being drafted increased now that he was no longer in college. Neither of them believed in this undeclared war. They knew "If you joined the National Guard you would be safe from the draft, jail and Vietnam." So Dick decided to enlist knowing he would have to commit six years to the National Guard. He felt safe because the Guard wouldn’t be activated for Vietnam. He joined the 197th Field Artillery whose main Armory was located in Manchester. He left for his basic training at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in May 1967. Once again he wrote letters daily to Brenda. He told her his daily activities and how much he disliked the Army. In July he was transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma for his advanced training as a driver. At the end of August he returned to Brenda’s arms. She had completed her first year of college. They spent time at the beach and for the first time they brought sex into their relationship. It wasn’t long before they were planning their wedding, as Brenda was pregnant. She dropped out of college and they were married on 2 November 1967. They went to Acapulco, Mexico for two weeks. They got an apartment, Dick worked and they were very happy planning for the birth of their child. But in April 1968 the radio announced that the 197th Artillery was being activated. They were devastated. They never thought the Guard would be called up. They thought they were safe. Dick’s unit was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in May for field training. He thought that was where they would stay. There was no way the Guard would be sent overseas. A month later Brenda went to their senator’s office. "She was nineteen, five days overdue in her pregnancy and her husband was hundreds of miles away." She found the nerve to ask the senator if Dick’s unit was going to Vietnam. All he said was "I don’t know. I really don’t know." Again Dick was writing home daily. On 24 June 1968 Richard Edgar Genest, Junior was born. Somehow Dick managed to get back home the next night. He was really "fraught with concern for his wife’s and baby’s well-being." He now knew for sure that the unit was going to Vietnam. He was home for a week. Edgar couldn’t believe his only son would become a "target for death." He went to his congressman and the general telling them that "Dick was both a husband and a father…an only son." No one listened. Dick had made friends with the man in charge of the kitchen where he now was assigned to work. So he managed to get home almost every weekend. "He spent countless hours holding and cradling his namesake." One day Brenda received a phone call from Dick and he said, "We got our orders. We are going." He was home for "two weeks in August and then he was gone." By mid-September Dick was in Vietnam. His plane had landed at BienHoa and they were transported to PhuLoi. Once again he wrote letters to Brenda and made tape recordings for her and their son. He told her how he felt about the National Guard, the Army, and Vietnam. He didn’t seem to hold anything back. Brenda was home alone with little Dickie. She "had all the responsibilities that went with being a wife and a mother, but few of the benefits….She was nineteen and her husband was at a war, that this country so far had done its best to ignore and despise." Her friends didn’t understand what she was going through. Jill Cavanaugh joined her sister at meetings in downtown Manchester against the war. Through Dick’s letters home "Brenda became painfully aware of the horror her country was knowingly sanctioning." He told her of the living conditions of his unit, their location, the things they did everyday, the mortar attacks nightly, etc. "This is a very corrupt war and I just get disgusted thinking about it." He told Brenda over and over that "We know where the VietCong are located, which villages, etc., but we just do nothing about it." Dick said he didn’t like traveling over the road between Thunder II and a village called Laikee because "the road is full of mines." Somehow he managed to have flowers delivered to Brenda for their anniversary. In a note he wrote "another very important date in our lives and we are separated. I promise you that this will be the last anniversary that we will be away from each other." Dick sent very poignant letters to both Brenda and Dickie for Christmas Day. "She could not avoid the pain, loss and anger that pierced and crippled her spirit." She was lost without him by her side. He arranged for her to receive flowers for News Years Day but they would soon be together. At the end of January 1969 Brenda joined Dick in Hawaii. It had been almost five months since they were last together. She had decided to leave Dickie home with Edgar and Fleurette. Dick was released for seven days of R&R and his beautiful wife would be with him. "He was at last holding on to and connecting with his reason and purpose for living." His buddy’s had tried to talk him out of taking his R&R so early into their tour but Dick kept saying, "I know I’m going to get killed. I know I am going to get zapped. I KNOW IT." He wanted every chance he could to be with the woman he loved so deeply. They spent time on the beach, in the pool, shopping and in their room. "Their conversations always began with and reverted to their son and the bright future they were going to experience together." When it came time for him to leave "they kissed" and he went out the door. Seconds later he came back and he said, "I just can’t do this. I can’t leave you again Bren. I can’t do it." This happened several more times before he left and she was alone. Upon his return to Vietnam Dick continued to write daily letters home to his wife and son. He considered volunteering for infusion to another unit but decided against it. Still he felt an impending doom. By July Dick had heard the National Guard units would be returning stateside although no dates were given. He began planning on his reunion with Brenda, Dickie and their families. He also wrote, "I just cannot wait to make a big bon fire out of all the army clothes I have." He began counting down his days but he would still spend his 24th birthday away from his family. In August he was sent to the E-6 promotion board. "I want no part of it. All I want to do is get out of this rotten army." On 25 August he wrote his last letter home "I cannot wait to wrap my arms around you….You are my life." His unit was pulling out the next morning. Dick was going home. But it was not to be. When his remains arrived in Manchester Brenda found the strength to tell someone to remove the flag from his casket. She wanted the casket opened. Then she saw the glass enclosure covering his body. He had been cleaned up, put in a dress uniform and hair slicked back. She insisted that the glass be taken off, the uniform also, and that he be placed in civilian clothing with his hair loosened so he would look like himself. She wanted no part of the uniform or medals. She also sent the military honor guard on their way. "She was not about to have her husband spend an eternity in the uniform he despised. The uniform that he told her he could not wait to burn once he got home. There was no way he would be buried with token medals from a war he did not believe in." On 1 September 1969 Dick was buried. Brenda thought "if she could make it through this, that somehow she would be able to make it through anything….But much to her horror, she found herself weaker, sadder and more afraid than ever before." Brenda’s actions "gave many people the courage to speak out against the war that was taking a hefty toll on the soul of the country." Other Manchester citizens boycotted Genest Bakery and Cavanaugh Brothers Motors. "The thought of Dickie never knowing his father was a glaring gash on her soul….Her soul ached for what her son had lost—for the love he would never know." Dickie became the "single most important part" of Brenda’s life. "Brenda had given Dickie life and Dickie kept Brenda alive." The Genest and Cavanuagh family helped Jami Janes with this book as a tribute to Dick Genest and to help Dickie learn more about his late father. It was also in many ways a healing tool for Brenda. This was indeed her story as much as it was Dick’s. Dickie has grown now and has begun his own family. Shortly after their first meeting, Brenda asked Jami if she was "on the Pill" because "Dickie’s eyes are the shape of his father’s and your eyes are the color….Oh, what I would give to look into those eyes just one more time." She still missed Dick and although they weren’t her own Dick’s eyes, Brenda got that opportunity when Dickie and Jami gave birth to Callie Genest on 20 October 2001. Dick Genest will live on in his son, granddaughter, wife and families memories forever.
I loved Michael Landon's "Highway to Heaven" program. It gave a somewhat realistic look at angels and their deeds. Today's "Touched by an Angel" and "Promised Land" continue with God's work so we can understand what angels and good people do for everyone. Angel on Trial by Mary Ann Kerl and Jay d'Queue is a very light-hearted fictional look at the mishaps some angels have. From the moment Angela Four appears in Greg Matthews apartment till she gets her wings at the end of the book, the story line is funny and fast-moving. The concept of an angel traveling around the heavenly skies on a Harley Davidson is hilarious. The earthly characters she meets and the heavenly characters who try to guide her on the mission are all very believable. The authors did a great job of bringing these people to life. The book should not be taken seriously by church goers but rather enjoyed as a different way of looking at angels. In reading it, one can also learn new words and ways of looking at the world and heaven. I would recommend this book for readers of all ages.
It's not often that I read books that are primarily for young adults but I'm so glad I received a copy of Cayman Gold: Lost Treasure of Devils Grotto by Richard Trout. This is the first book of a series that Richard is doing for LangMarc Publishing in San Antonio, Texas. He started the book with historical information about lost treasure ships from 1622. Then delves into this family visiting the Cayman Islands. I had heard about these islands before but had no idea where they were. Now I know. I'm not a skin-diver but this book really caught my interest. Richard took three young people and put them right in the middle of a mystery underwater. As he wrote and as I read I could feel myself swimming with scuba gear right along with the kids. He described their adventure to a tee and kept me on the edge of my seat. From his description of the reef, diving equipment, mini-subs, and hurricanes-it's obvious that Richard knows what he's talking about. AND he even threw in a little romance. This is a must read book! Its not only a good story but also has a glossary of new words for young adults as well as a suggested activities list. I highly recommend Cayman Gold and look forward to reading Richard's second book Elephant Tears: Mask of the Elephant.
John Burnam’s Dog Tags of Courage is a must read book! It not only chronicles his service to our country but also shows just how these dogs impacted his life and the "approximately 10,000 war dog handlers and 4,000 war dogs" that served during the Vietnam War. He described the different types of K-9 units used by all branches of the military. John wrote it in simple language that children could read and understand what he was saying. AND yet this book was intense at times. John wrote that when dog handlers were wounded, killed or returned stateside that the dogs were turned over to new handlers. He explained also that the dogs were left behind when the war ended. Our government felt they were military surplus and expendable just like our men and women in uniform. John wrote this so children could also read it and learn. One of the nice things I noticed was that he took the time to explain some of the equipment he carried or had to use while in the Army. Although you may see these things in the movies they are never really explained the way John did in his book. For example he explained what came in a box of C-rations as well as the "dark brown plastic bag full of goodies." He wrote of his own encounters with the enemy and explained various aspects of a battle. John explained how it felt while bombs were being dropped all around his unit. "The aircraft was so close, that we could see the pilot in the cockpit." His writing made you feel like you were there with him. After he was wounded John was sent to Okinawa where he operated forklifts and trucks until he noticed a "possible opportunity" working with sentry dogs. He was soon assigned to handle Hans. John explained their extensive training for this position. "Sentry dogs were trained that their primary functions were to guard and attack on command." And they were guarding "a stockpile of chemical warfare weapons." John wasn’t completely satisfied. He had something calling him back to Vietnam. He was headed for another infantry position but jumped at the opportunity to work with the dogs and soon was assigned to the 44th Infantry Platoon Scout Dogs. More training was in store for John. Scout "dogs alerted on things like booby traps, VC in foxholes, and even other animals." He was first paired up with Timber who was "high strung, had a mean streak, and didn’t like to be disciplined." John and Timber trained on the obstacle course built for the dogs. "Dog training was all about repetition and consistency." John learned "to keep your eyes on the dog at all times. A dog’s natural instinct will tell you what he smells, sees, and hears, and when danger is near." John would have to learn to "translate his dog language into English." When he and Timber were wounded though John recovered quickly "Timber didn’t respond to commands….Timber wasn’t going to be ready for any missions in the near future….Although he recovered physically, he never fully recovered mentally." John had to select another dog to work with. "I felt excited the first time I saw this dog, and he took to me as if we’d worked together before….Clipper responded to me as no other dog had." He and Clipper became a team and began training together. Clipper could alert John at least "one hundred yards" from a decoy. John could only imagine how well he would do if the enemy were out there in the bush. "Clipper was like a walking radar beam. I learned to trust him more than my rifle." John and Clipper were soon out on patrols. Once again there was enemy contact. "Clipper raised his head and alerted up into the trees. I didn’t give it a second thought, because there was too much activity all around us." Later when John saw a dead VC "hanging from the tree….I remembered that…this was the tree that Clipper had alerted on….Clipper had sensed danger in that tree and he’d been right." John "found the scout dog business to be a never-ending learning experience." On yet another patrol Clipper gave several alerts and began a zigzagging motion. Later John would learn that he was deliberately going around tripwires and booby traps. The lieutenant that John and Clipper were leading "knelt and gave Clipper a hug and told him what a great dog he was." As I read each and every page of this amazing book I could feel the love John had developed for his fellow soldiers and the dogs they each worked with. John knew that his time in Vietnam was coming to a close. By March of 1968 he would be going home. BUT he also knew that Clipper wouldn’t be allowed to go with him. His heart began breaking when doctors told him that his knee would have to be operated on again, that he wouldn’t be able to see Clipper or work with him any longer. John’s struggle to get back to Clipper became evident. "When Clipper recognized me, he went crazy….Words can’t begin to describe the emotions that poured out of me for this dog. He was my best friend." Clipper "was a real American hero, but he’d never get to go home and receive the hero’s welcome he deserved." Clipper and other scout dogs weren’t allowed back in the US. I’ve only scratched the surface of this wonderful book. You need to read it from cover to cover as I did. Be prepared to cry as you read it because it is written that well. My heart goes out to John, the dogs and all the other dog handlers that John introduced in this book. They all did an amazing job.
I met author Susan O’Neill online one day. I can’t recall how we came to correspond but I’m glad we did. She told me that she too had written a book. She was a nurse in Vietnam and decided to write about her experiences. I enjoyed her emails so much that I asked her to send me a copy of her book and I would read it and write a review about it. When Don’t Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam (ISBN 0-345-44608-9 from Ballantine Books, 2001, $22.00 in the US and $33.00 in Canada) arrived in the mail I was backlogged with other books to read so I had to put it aside for awhile. And I’m so sorry that I did. But perhaps in the long run it is just as well that I had a clear mind when I finally opened the cover to read this fascinating book. Susan separated her book into three parts. The first is tales about the 22nd Surgical Hospital located in Phu Bai. The second is in Chu Lai with the 27th Surgical Hospital. The final part is about the 12th Evacuation Hospital in Cu Chi. The first two parts had five chapters each while the last part had seven. Each chapter was another short story about things that happened in that vicinity. With the book broken up that way it made it easier for me to put down and yet not lose track of what I was reading about. In her Introduction Susan wrote about her arrival in Vietnam in 1969 as an FNG (Fucking New Guy), counting down to DEROS (Date Effective for Return from Overseas) and going home to The World a year later. She explained some of the other often used terms such as "Don’t Mean Nothing" and FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition) used by the men and women who were serving our country at the time. She wrote of the differences she saw between the hospital personnel, females in particular, and the soldiers in the jungle. She explained what each hospital was like (the MUST [Mobile Units Self-Transporting], semi-mobile and EVACs) as well as their locations. She had been assigned to each of them so she knew. She wrote about the surrounding areas as well so I learned even more about the locales of her facilities. Then she stated "the settings were real. What I wrote about them, however, is pure fiction. As are my characters, every one of them…" Sue’s short stories may be fictional but they sure seemed real as I read them. As I read her first short story about "The Boy from Montana" I could visualize it happening right in front of me. I had been a FireFighter/Emergency Medical Technician (FF/EMT). I’ve seen all kinds of injuries and corpses. Having been in the military myself I knew where this story was going from the start but Sue brought this young man virtually to life in a way most people can’t imagine until you read the chapter itself. "There was this little round bullet hole on his chest….I was such a rookie. I hadn’t checked his back….where all the damage was." As I finished reading this chapter I thought "My God what is the rest of the book going to be like." But I read on. In "Three Minor Love Stories" one of them grabbed me. A nurse was trying to catch a ride. As she waited she saw pictures on the wall. One of them was "a woman standing in the surf." It was a photo of her. The soldier she had been talking with explained how the picture came to his possession. "I figured it was some USO type." He asked the nurse to sign the photo "To Stanley." She did "with a flourish." Each chapter of each part was thought provoking. In the final chapter called "Commendation" she was writing about a nurse who was about to leave Vietnam. She was chatting with another female who said, "It’s like you take this war personally." The nurse replied, "It’s sucked up a year of my life; I consider that pretty personal." Susan made you feel that each person was real. As she wrote it she brought her fictional characters to life. She made me feel like all these events really did happen. That’s the mark of a good writer! I’m glad Sue gave me the opportunity to read this exceptional book. It is well worth the cost of the book as well as the time to read it. I truly look forward to her next book. AND since I’ve read Don’t Mean Nothing I’ve met Susan O’Neill in person. I hope our paths cross again one of these days.
Elephant Tears: Mask of the Elephant by Richard Trout released by LangMarc Publishing is the second book by this author. It is better than his first—if that it possible. This book will have the Young Adult audience begging to read more. The author’s description of the African wilderness and wildlife is wonderful. The suspense he has added to it throughout the book made it a marvelous read. The MacGregor family adventures continued in this action book. I wondered how long it would take the three teenagers to get to safety. The intrigue of animal poachers, high tech equipment, and helicopters galore keep me on the edge of my seat. I can’t wait to see where the next book takes this family of adventurers.
Fields of Fire is a difficult book to read. This 167 page book will leave you shaking your head at times, bring you to tears at other times and make you angry more times than you can count. The book follows the life of a young girl through her childhood into adulthood. Each chapter seemed to deal with a piece of her life. Warning—the first chapter is quite upsetting as is the eleventh. Rapes, college, military career, loves and losses were all included within these pages. The majority of the book covers her time in the Army. She briefly introduces the reader to people in her life then and takes you to the different forts she was assigned. But being the type of person I am I was hoping she would go more in depth about her career itself and the places she went. However this was mostly passed over as being merely mentioned. Was this Carol Ogg’s auto-biography using alternative names throughout the book? Or was it simply a novel about Gail Westbrook? Most readers will never know for sure. Having corresponded with Carol I won’t tell others what I know about her or this book. It is an interesting read published by Xlibris. Pick up a copy and make up your own mind.
Mary (Kiddie) Ruggieri’s memoir From Japan With Love is about her tour of duty to war-torn impoverished Japan. Starting with her departure from Camp Stoneman in Pittsburg, California she takes the reader on a journey across the ocean to Japan shortly after World War II and back home again. She wrote about her onboard quarters and activities on her ocean voyage as well as the family she left behind. As a member of the 8000th WAC Detachment that arrived in Japan in October 1946, Mary saw a whole new world open to her eyes. Having a penchant for photography she certainly used her hobby to intertwine her storyline in this book. She wrote of her first sight of the Japanese people and the land that would be her home for the following months. She provided descriptions of the women’s quarters compared to where the men were living and to where other WACs were living within the country itself. I actually learned more about the geographical layout of Japan along with its cities and islands by reading this book. From a non-travelers point of view this was a very interesting book. It included more than 485 photos and facts that accompanied each segment of the author’s journals, letters and memories. To me Mary brought to life her photos with her entries. She wrote about the soldier she met and fell in love with along with the things they did for fun. But I was still amazed at how much sight-seeing time she seemed to have while in Japan both while Frank was there as well as after he returned to the US. I wondered if other soldiers had as much free time as she did. I was also surprised to read about and see photos of Nagasaki since Mary was there just a couple of years after the USA had dropped an atomic bomb on it. Throughout this book Mary takes the reader to places most of us have only read about or never heard of before this. She introduces the reader to the sights, sounds and smells of Japan following the war. When her time was finally up Mary returned to the USA aboard another ship. Again she wrote of the activities aboard the ship. She was a very happy woman once she stepped foot on US soil in May 1948. I do however have two small complaints about the book. First that is wasn’t a hard cover as I found the 10 x 8 glossy covered book hard to hold while sitting in doctor’s offices or elsewhere. Second is that I would have liked to read more about her actual job itself at the Yokohama American School and her thoughts about the Army life. Many soldiers don’t talk about their military job and yet that is a part of their history that needs to be shared more. Near the end of the book though Mary had commented about the US heading towards another war—this time with Korea—and how she didn’t want to be in the Army if we went to war again. I would recommend this book though for anyone interested in learning about Japan following WW II and the sight-seeing features one might expect to still see there now. Mary’s photos and facts certainly helped bring this book to life.
In November 2002 I had the pleasure of meeting two special women while I was in Washington, DC—Pauline Laurent and Mary Reynolds Powell. Both of these women have become authors about their experiences during the Vietnam War but from different aspects of the war. Pauline Laurent wrote Grief Denied: A Vietnam Widow’s Story. I’m glad I had the opportunity to actually meet Pauline before I read her story. It’s hard to believe she has had so much sorrow in her life and yet she keeps an upbeat attitude. This excellent book shows Pauline’s struggle to deal with the loss of her husband, the birth of her child, her pain for more than 20 years and how she coped. Pauline began her book by telling everyone that she was pregnant and living home with her parents counting the days for her husband to return. He had been in-country since March 1968. Then came a knock on her door and a soldier saying her "husband, Sergeant Howard E. Querry, was fatally wounded on the afternoon of May 10." Her world fell apart that day. Pauline and Howard had met during the summer of 1965. They worked together at a bank and started dating. Then in August 1966 Howard received his draft notice. He went through Basic Training and Advanced Infantry Training then onto Officer Candidate School which postponed his departure for Vietnam for a little while. When he was dismissed from OCS because he "lacked organization and was indecisive" he asked Pauline if she would still marry him. Howard was then sent to the NCOC Academy to train to be a sergeant. As Pauline put it:
Pauline and Howard were married on 27 September 1967. They left that same night headed for Fort Benning in Georgia. Because they arrived there late "the Army made Howard stay on base during the entire first week of our marriage as punishment. Thus began my initiation into being an Army wife." She wrote of how Howard changed during this period. How they were "afraid to be alone together." And how they "couldn’t muster up the courage to talk about the possibility of his death." Howard was headed for Vietnam and Pauline was about to "have our baby—alone." They "planned to meet in Hawaii on his first R&R." Pauline was going to bring the baby there so Howard could see her. That never happened. "It took the Army five days to find me." Pauline couldn’t believe Howard hadn’t provided the proper location of his wife to them. Had the Army screwed up once again? When his remains arrived Pauline, like so many other widows and mothers, was told he was "Non-viewable." Her mother-in-law shrieked. Pauline somehow held herself together. "The only thing that kept me going during that time was the life I had growing inside me." Pauline also admits that she "didn’t have a name for it then, but denial was pretending that he’d come back someday….But pretending didn’t make my grief go away." When their daughter was born Pauline felt she "was in the presence of a miracle." Michelle "looked exactly like Howard." Pauline wrote of Michelle’s growing up years. How no matter where they moved she always carried the box of Howard’s personal effects that had been shipped to her from Vietnam but never opened. Pauline was lost for many years. She held several jobs to get by but she never really dealt with her grief. She finally was diagnosed as having a "major depressive episode." She had "lost hope and wanted to die." Michelle was the connection she had with reality. Pauline wrote:
But Pauline knew she couldn’t hurt Michelle by taking her own life. "I loved her too much." So she did everything she could to make Michelle’s life a happy one including walking her down the aisle the day she got married. Pauline wrote about finding a book The Courage To Grieve. She felt that "opening that book was like opening Howard’s coffin." She soon realized that she "hadn’t even begun to touch the deep-seated grief" she still carried. She came upon "Chapter #223 of Vietnam Veterans of America" booth at a festival one day. She found "the courage to approach the booth and identify myself as a Vietnam widow." It had taken Pauline 25 years to get to that point and she made a big leap of faith. She went to the chapter’s Directors and then to the chapter’s general meeting. She opened up for the first time. It wasn’t long before she became involved with Sons and Daughters In Touch. "Many of them spoke of the identity crisis they suffer when they approach the age at which their fathers died." Pauline found that "Coming out of isolation was good for me…I learned to finally honor the voice of the young widow inside me." Pauline also began writing during those years. She would often write letters to Howard. It was like a healthy thing to do. She realized that "My own personal denial of Howard’s death was compounded by my country’s denial. We all pretended that Vietnam was behind us. But in our silence the war’s impact continued to deepen." To help Pauline heal herself she began a quest. She tracked down members of Howard’s unit. She wanted to know exactly what happened to her husband. It took her awhile but she found some of the guys he served with. AND she and Michelle finally made a journey to Washington, DC to visit The Wall. They went to touch Howard’s name upon it. This book showed what this one woman went through and I’m sure so many others did too. BUT Pauline has had the courage to write about how Howard’s life and death affected her and her child. It is a well-done book and should be read by everyone. I sincerely hope that it helps other widows heal also especially now that we have another generation of young widows among our population. Pauline should be proud of this book. Visit Grief Denied: A Vietnam Widow's Story to learn more about this book.
There are so many books published about what cancer is but very few about how it really affects a family. Marvyl's way of telling about her experience is exceptional. The day to day ways she and her family coped with her illness was remarkable. I could compare this book to First You Cry by Betty Rollins but Marvyl's is so much better. I wish I had this book when my own family was coping with my aunt's cancer. This is a book I will pass on to my family members so they may all learn about Marvyl's love, compassion, and fortitude in the eyes of death. Marvyl wrote about her life threatening complications of cancer in a manner which makes it an enjoyable read. Her personal thoughts and feelings are shared throughout the 236 pages. When most of us would falter and turn away from God, Marvyl shows how she became stronger and more in tune with her religion, her family, and herself. Marvyl helped start "I Can Cope" groups, as well as hospice services, especially in Minnesota. This amazing woman continues to speak out about her illness wherever and whenever she is requested. I thoroughly agree with Minneapolis oncologist Barbara J Bowers, MD when she said, "All cancer patients should have the opportunity to see cancer through Marvyl's eyes." Guide-Lines and God-Lines for Facing Cancer was also reviewed by Midwest Book Review. This book is a must read for all cancer patients, their families, support groups, hospice centers, and libraries.
As I began reading In The Men's House I wondered how
in depth Carol Barkalow would go with the things I wanted to learn. I soon found
that she kept more of a diary during her four years at West Point. It was this
diary that she based her book around.
In writing Jacob Evans, Steven Manchester has found an amazing way to chronicle an individual's life. This novel is primarily about Jacob but includes his wife, sons and daughter. Some of the chapters were very thought provoking. Some were comical. Some made me cry. In many respects the author has truly brought this man back to life and has you waiting with baited breath to read each portion of Jacob's life. While many of us look at life on a chronological timetable, the author has taken tidbits of the primary character's life and intermixed them to create this wonderful story line. Steven Manchester's book Jacob Evans works!
Last Man Out: A Personal Account of the Vietnam War by James E. Parker, Jr. is the best book I’ve read in a long time. If this author didn’t have a tape recorder or a diary that he wrote in everyday then I have to say he has a most remarkable memory. James takes the reader back to his home in North Carolina and introduces his family and friends. He continues as he makes the decision to enlist in the Army at a time when others were already doing everything they could to avoid serving their country. The reader goes through Basic Training with James and his buddies at Fort Gordon, Georgia in February 1964. Two months later after being named "Outstanding Trainee" James reiterates some of his time while at his Advanced Infantry Training. You are there when he signs up for Officer Candidate School and while he waited to be selected. You go through that six-month course with him too beginning in November at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduation James goes to Jump School. From there the book gets even better. James first Permanent Party duty station was at Fort Riley, Kansas with the 1st Infantry Division. He was put in charge of a group of virtual misfits that he said "couldn’t fight a cold." He turned his platoon into a well-tuned and trained group of soldiers. They were soon preparing to go to Vietnam and he did everything he could to make them the best. In September 1965 the entire division was enroute to Vietnam. He takes us on the train across the country and onto the USNS Mann for the voyage to Southeast Asia. James tells of the division’s first days in-country, his first firefight and how he got tangled in his mosquito netting. He remembered vividly losing his first soldier. As he looked at each remaining soldier’s face James thought to himself "It certainly wasn’t their fault, nor was it [PFC J.V.] Patrick’s. I felt a mindless rage, like I wanted to cry and scream at the same time." Later when he picked up Patrick’s effects he jogged to get away from the place. He recalled thinking, "What a godless, deadly place. The gateway to hell." Later when another soldier [George McCoy] died checking a mine field James thought about "George’s contention that if we die in combat, we’re at peace. If others get upset, it’s their problem." James’ attitude towards everyone and everything changed that day. "I did not make friends with the replacements but kept to myself." James told about an encounter with General William Westmoreland following a mission. The general flew in to review the troops, present medals and then was gone. It was a mere media event. When the general departed, another officer walked the line and took back the medals. His year was up and James headed stateside to The World. He had leave so he went home and tried looking up old friends. He was disappointed, as his friends didn’t know what to say or do around him. "There was little understanding about what was going on in the jungle of Indochina. American soldiers were not the war’s heroes." James next assignment took him to Fort Ord in Monterey, California. He became the Officer-in-Charge of the 6th Army Area Drill Sergeant School. It was a great assignment. BUT James was thinking about leaving the Army but he "felt guilty about forsaking my duty, abandoning my obligation to country at a time of war." In the meantime he met Brenda and they were married. He decided to return to college to complete his education. He soon found himself embroiled in a debate over the war after "a pimple-faced youngster was dragging the American flag behind him at the rear of a demonstration." Unable to find a job that suited him he applied for and was accepted as a member of the Central Intelligence Agency. By September 1971 James was headed back to Southeast Asia "as a case officer in the Lao program, the CIA’s largest covert operation." Stationed in Thailand Brenda was able to go with him. While there they adopted two children. James was involved with several operations before heading stateside in 1973. He spoke openly about them. There were times when he quietly recalled the loss of his fallen compatriots. They "stayed fresh in those baskets at the back of my soul, where I put them so I could get on with my life." BUT he didn’t stay away long. In March 1974 James went back to Vietnam for the CIA while his family stayed in Taiwan. By January 1975 James was the only American left in Vi Thanh province. At that point he secured himself a "bodyguard." James wrote of the fall of Ban Me Thout, Hue, Da Nang, and Saigon. He took part in the evacuation of the Vietnamese who worked as agents for the CIA. He spoke of the problems encountered onboard the USS Vancouver and the transfer to the USNS Pioneer Contender. James Parker Jr. wrote an incredible account of his military and civilian service to our country and the people of South Vietnam. It is a book well worth reading. I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet the author in person in 1998. AND I’m glad I took the time to read his book. You will be also.
Lipstick and a Smile: One Nam Nurse Story by Helen White is a
small hard cover tabletop type book. By small I mean its only 56 pages long. The
pages are just about the size of a regular sheet of paper: about 8” x 11”. AND
by tabletop I’m talking about a picture book, a book with writing on some pages
and pictures on the other.
Kayla Williams and Michael E Staub put together Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the US Army which is a raw and intense book. Kayla was an Arabic Linguist with the Army’s 311th Military Intelligence Battalion attached to the 101st Airborne Division. She deployed February 2003 for the initial push into Iraq and remained there until February 2004. Being retired from the military myself I was looking forward to and expecting the author to discuss her wartime experience while in-country. I know how things are done both on the active duty side as well as in the Reserve and National Guard. I know that the men and women swear a lot, I learned my language while working with truckers before I enlisted, however I was somewhat upset by the amount of foul language throughout her book. Putting the language aside most of the content of the book seemed to be more about the sexual harassment that went on while Kayla was in-country. I’m familiar with this aspect of life both in the military and civilian world but wondered why she didn’t expect it as well. It’s one thing to talk about harassment and the problems that go with it; it’s another to be crude while doing it. There were times when I thought that she should have expected some of the harassment but then there were other times when I began to feel her pain. As I got deeper into the book the author did begin to bring out more about her wartime experiences. So while at first I was not impressed with the book it did improve as it went along. When I first heard the title of this book I wondered where it came from. Kayla pointed out that her book’s title was part of one of the many Army marching cadence songs. She was also smart in stating that while the book was nonfiction she changed the names of the people throughout it but I was able to identify one of the women she mentioned who died even though Kayla used a fictitious name. She began describing what women were thought to be in the Army: sluts or bitches. She went on to explain these two categories. She wrote this book so she could tell people what it was really like being a woman in the military and how she was treated. She pointed out the various tasks she did including supporting the infantry in almost every way, kicking down doors, carrying and using weapons, crowd control, negotiating with the locals and more. Kayla explained what "Queen for a Year" was and how she felt just walking through the chow hall. She was alone with the guys for weeks and may have been the most forward-deployed female soldier. She went on to describe the verbal and physical harassment from the guys she worked so closely with. She wrote of her upbringing. She finished school and went onto college. She had relationships along the way with at least one of them being abusive. She had a great job, became involved with someone from Saudi Arabia and learned about his culture. The author had enlisted so she could be an interpreter. She wrote about her training and the different women that she met along the way. She went to the Defense Language Institute. She married and shortly thereafter divorced. Then she was off to war. Kayla said that sexual comments, gestures and content were everywhere. She said that it wasn’t just the men who went without showering; the women had to also. She wrote about the soldiers in her company and how they did or didn’t get along up and down her chain of command. Many people were under stress but that didn’t seem to be brought out in this book. She wrote about an incident involving an explosion. The unit cleared a community and marked an area that had unexploded ordinance in it. But that didn’t stop people from going near the area. Her group called in the grid coordinates but no one ever came to get rid of the explosives. They had to leave that area to check somewhere else. A few days later they were back in the same area due to an explosion. They found three locals bleeding. One guy was much worse off. She tried to reassure him in Arabic while holding his legs and covered in drying blood. Kayla talked about the shifts and hours the soldiers worked. Her team worked even longer hours because they not only pulled their normal duties but also guard duty. The soldiers had some free time—sometimes too much. They met the locals in the various communities and made friends with some. But then the soldiers were told to treat the locals differently. One day she had to assist with an interrogation and didn’t like it. She did what she was told to do but she didn’t like it. Although she knew what took place was wrong she didn’t speak up about it until after the incident at Abu Ghraib. According to Kayla she wasn’t just on one hilltop during her year in-country but throughout Baghdad, Mosul, Tal Afar, Forward Operating Base Q-West and a few other places. She also stated that although Military Intelligence is largely female—she was mostly off alone working with the Infantry. This told me more of what it was like in this combat zone. Kayla has since returned stateside but still feels weird not carrying her weapon all the time. When driving she swerves to avoid trash in the road thinking it could be an IED. She has trouble sleeping. Her first Fourth of July home was horrible. She feels frustrated and wants these feelings to go away. She is already exhibiting signs of PTSD and I hope she is getting help. I wanted to read about daily life in Iraq for a young enlisted female soldier and while some of that was included, this book was mostly about being harassed by all the guys. I don’t recall a lot of sexual harassment while I was serving however there were men who didn’t want women in the military. This was the first book I’ve read by an enlisted woman who went to Iraq so I was hoping it would be better and though she managed to explain some things others were left to wonder about. I disliked the language throughout the book and how Kayla made it sound like most of her NCOs and officers were screw-ups. BUT the book did have its good points. It showed how sexist attitudes have not changed over the years. It showed how far women have come in their fields of expertise. It showed how strong the women are today and that they can be on the forward lines. And it also showed how screwed up this war has been. Would I recommend this book? Yes! I think its worth reading by everyone. It can be used to show how attitudes still need to change within the military. I have a feeling some women would rather that I praise a book explaining what some of them may have gone through but while this author talked about it she didn’t even attempt to do anything about it. I was glad to see that Kayla expressed her feelings about the war itself. However I think her story could have been written just as well without the foul language used throughout it and it still could have been better. I just think there are better ways to explain some things and this book didn't do it for me.
I received this book as a gift while at Freedom Fest 2004 and I look forward to reviewing it!
When I first read the title Mildred Harrison: First Black American Imprisoned in Vietnam I thought perhaps I had overlooked a woman who was listed as a Prisoner Of War in Vietnam. I thought I knew them all. Well, I was wrong! This woman was taken as a prisoner. But should we consider someone placed in jail as a POW? This is a small book, which could be read in about an hour. The author states "This is not an autobiography…but an account of an incident that should not have happened to anyone." And for that I have to agree. Ms. Harrison was and still is an attractive black woman who just happened to be an entertainer. In 1966 she asked to go to Vietnam to sing for our troops after her nephew informed her that his Marine unit was being deployed there. After being booked by an agent in Vietnam she was on her way westward, with her husband’s blessing "but please be careful." After singing in Japan and Hong Kong Mildred was headed for Saigon. Her booking agent told her all the "Do’s and What Not to Do" of going in-country. She followed his instructions carefully. The author described her first night in Vietnam comparing it to the 7.0 earthquake that hit the Los Angeles area in January 1994. She wrote about her journey with a driver and five soldiers "riding shotgun" out of Saigon the next day to entertain soldiers. "In the distance in the low bush and trees, you could hear the snipers firing." She mentioned the soldiers waiting for her to come out on stage and how well behaved they were. "They had been warned…not to touch me or be vulgar." But she wanted to touch them. "I walked into the audience and shook hands with some of them. I’ll never forget the look on some of the men’s faces." On the return trip her driver spotted a stage along the road and wanted her to do a show there. She refused not knowing "who was in charge." She was smart too because they were no sooner going down the road when "there was gunfire all around us." She was glad to safely return to Saigon. In Saigon she stayed in a villa operated by George Albrecht, of the World Wide Talent Agency, with other entertainers. At that time there were ten of them altogether: jugglers, acrobats, dancers, comedians and singers. They were well taken care of and fed well while in the villa. One night an officer visited the villa looking for an entertainer for his troops. He offered Mildred "ten thousand dollars to cancel my contract with George, and sign with him." She was glad she did not accept his offer as he "was caught up in some real big ‘shady stuff’." She did shows for the 3rd Field and 17th Field Hospitals. She felt real good about walking through the wards saying hello to the young men. She also went to DaNang. She had six more days left in Vietnam before going there. While in the DaNang area she was requested to do a show for a group of men who "had been in the boonies for nearly ten months." She went on stage, spoke with them and then performed. After the show they "wanted autographs" and she obliged as many as possible. That was followed by two more shows for other groups then she headed back to Saigon to finish her contract. Her final show was to be for a group of officers. They "were not as nice and polite as the enlisted men…rude, yelling, ‘Take it off." Mildred "stopped the music and told them if they wanted a ‘stripper’, they should have hired one." She returned to the villa to prepare for her journey stateside. That night the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Army visited George’s office and confiscated Mildred’s "passport, plane ticket and health card" with no explanation. Her papers were returned to George the next morning. George gave her two checks to take back to Hong Kong as her payment for the time she spent entertaining the troops. She had no cash or piasters—only these two checks and the Traveler’s check she had entered the country with. This was one of the rules that she had to follow—American’s were not to have American cash on them. On 26 December as Mildred began going through Customs she "was stopped and searched—everything, including all of my sheet music." They took her passport. She demanded to know why. She could see a note on the Customs agent pad "that said to hold Mildred Harrison ‘as long as necessary’." Her flight left with her luggage but not her. The Military Police wanted to know what was going on. They told Mildred "every so often the Vietnamese Customs would ‘harass’ some entertainer...when they were leaving the country." The Customs agent kept asking her "where was all the ‘green money?’ I was carrying." She was detained and all she was told was "they had orders from higher up, meaning the CID, even though they had no jurisdiction over any civilian." The Customs agent took her envelope with the checks in it. "We got something! She had money on her." Mildred asked to have the American Embassy contacted. She "was interrogated for two more days and then the CID pulled out." She was allowed to return to the villa but she had no clothing. George helped her find an attorney who said, "Oh, no, no, not another American in trouble over your money." She soon learned "Once you were arrested and the prosecutor got hold of your case, they just put you in prison ‘without a trial, a hearing, or arraignment.’ And you could be there for up to five years, before your case even came up." "On the third day the attorney had taken me every place that he possibly could, but he could not get it settled. The prosecutor’s office was last." She soon found herself headed to the ‘Women’s prison at TuDuc’ until I went to trial." The author described the conditions at TuDuc. "They had put me into one very large room that had about two hundred women and some children! About one-third of them ‘were sick.’ They gave me a straw mat." Mildred described the restroom area, the "very large RATS," the food, and some of the women interned there. Many of those sick inmates had tuberculosis and they were all around her. She only had the clothes on her back. She didn’t trust anyone there although two of the women tried to help her. Meanwhile personnel from the Embassy worked feverishly to get her released. Her story hit the news stateside—that’s how her husband learned about it! He too was contacting people in Washington, DC to help get his wife released. She was imprisoned at TuDuc for three days. After a lot of controversy she was released but she still couldn’t leave the country. She returned to George’s villa and good cooking. She soon found herself being interviewed by the news media. Following one interview she felt sick and had severe stomach pains. She was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Three weeks later she was still reeling from the surgery, wanting to return home but still confined to the country without her papers. "After the fifth day of February, the Customs agent came to the villa and brought my passport, with news the ‘charges and fines had been reduced’." George took care of everything and finally she was on her way stateside. Mildred Harrison received a lot of publicity about this event when it happened although I don’t recall any of it. BUT due to that publicity other American’s, being held in Vietnamese prisons, were also released. And yet she couldn’t get booked on any shows upon her return to the USA. Several people attempted to investigate how this situation occurred but one by one they either died mysteriously or suddenly dropped their investigation. Many questions arose. Why was she stopped and searched? What about that group of officers who were rude? Did they have something to do with it? Did the CID have anything to do with it? Why was she imprisoned? There has to be more to this story than Mildred shared in this book. I can only hope that she writes more or that someone else addresses this issue. Although she was not a POW in the strict sense of the word she was indeed imprisoned wrongfully in a country we were there helping to defend!
During this past year I looked forward to Freedom Fest 2004
for many reasons. One of them was that I wanted to meet Dorinda Makanaonalani
Nicholson. She has written two books, the first of which is Pearl Harbor Child:
A Child’s View of Pearl Harbor from Attack to Peace and I had heard it was
good. Mind you—it was a child who told me about the book being good. So I
eagerly awaited meeting Dorinda and getting her books.
Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson not only wrote Pearl
Harbor Child but also Pearl Harbor Warriors—The Bugler, The Pilot, The
Friendship: The story of SGT Richard Fiske and LT Zenji Abe. AND this
hardcover book was just as good as her first book!
I’ve read many books in the past few years. Among those are Almost Back: The Brenda Cavanaugh Story by Jami Janes and Grief Denied: A Vietnam Widow’s Story by Pauline Laurent. These books were written about or by widows of men who died in Vietnam. Then recently I received a note from a woman I had never corresponded with before—another Vietnam War widow. She asked if I would be interested in reading her book. Of course I would. And I’m glad I did. Sacred Shadow, Sacred Ground: A Vietnam War Widow’s Journey Through Unresolved Grief by Glenda Carter arrived in my mailbox several days later. Released by Two Rainbows Publishing from Oregon this 188 page book with ISBN 0-9762289-0-4 sells for $18.95. I opened it with trepidation because her husband Bruce had been a Marine with Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and I had three close friends who died in Vietnam, two of whom were in the Marines. Something else that grabbed me was that her husband was killed on 11 September 1968, three months after they were married and thirty-three years before the worst incident to hit the USA when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. Glenda began writing her book about a box that she had held onto all these years. The box still contained Bruce’s belongings that were shipped to her from Vietnam following his death. It was finally time for her "to deal with the loss of Bruce." Her therapist suggested that she search the Internet for widow groups to get involved with to help her along this path. She did and it has helped her. She not only met other widows but also some Marines who knew Bruce. She wrote about finding Pauline Laurent’s book and how it made her feel. She soon realized that she had PTSD as did some of her friends whose husbands had returned home from the war. She finally began to heal herself. Glenda showed how she reached out to Veterans groups and began meeting some of the men who served with Bruce. She began to piece together that part of his life while healing herself. She tracked down some of the surviving men from Bruce’s unit. Eugene Caster described for her the scene where Bruce and six other Marines were ambushed. As Glenda wrote about the ambush in which Bruce was killed I began recognizing locations, dates, etc. Oh my, one of my friends had been there too about the same time. Raymond Tymeson, Jr. died 2 December 1968 while serving with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division in Quang Nam Province. Ray had also been to Phu Loc 6 where Bruce had been and one of Ray’s friends had sent me his picture that was taken while there. I wonder if Ray had met Bruce before they both died. As I read the sections about each of the men who died along with Bruce that day I noticed that two of the men were also from New York State. Though I didn’t know them or Bruce I could still feel the connection to my friend Ray! We were both native New Yorker’s. Although Glenda had selected the title for this book long before connecting with Eugene—she soon realized her title was due to the "sacred ground" on which those men died without knowing it at the time. Likewise, the "sacred shadow" was the part of her that had covered her pain. She soon began to see that she was a messenger to help others! This book was one woman’s way to deal with her loss and I’m glad Glenda wrote it. She has been able to pick up the pieces of her life and go forward. She still feels Bruce’s spirit with her but she is no longer sad. This is a well-written enlightening book. Glenda shared a lot throughout her book and now she is helping others who read it to heal. Well Done Glenda!
Scarlett Ryan Foster surprised me with her historical knowledge and expertise in writing. This book can and should be read by children of all ages as well as adults. The concept of two young Michigan children traveling back in time made me think of "Back to the Future" films only going in the opposite direction. To suddenly find yourself in a foreign country, not know the language or customs, and be able to deal with the problems because you already learned about it in school or from your parents was a great concept. The book not only travels through time but also places that are no longer on the maps of today's world. It teaches grammar in a most delightful way. It also teaches history in a way that makes it enjoyable to read. In so doing children can learn from it and not realize they are doing so. The book may be fiction but it is based on history and the Viking way of life. The author has placed a Glossary in the Appendix, along with a listing of additional sources to help children learn more, and went so far as to list suggested activities for children, students, teachers, parents, and families to do to further educate everyone. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learned from it as well and I have been out of school several decades. I recommend this book for any school, library, and family.
Shadows of a Vietnam Veteran: Silent Victims by Alicia J. Boyd is an amazing yet heart-wrenching book. It chronicles the life of a family and their trials and tribulations of dealing with the after effects of the Vietnam War. The author began up front saying she didn’t use her real name or one of her children’s but that everything else in the book was "true as I remember." Having been previously married and with three children the author was surprised later on when she met her "true love" soldier. Once married they had three more children and the family blended well together. The book begins with her new husband departing for Vietnam but then back tracks showing how Jack and Alicia met. Their first couple of duty stations together including a tour overseas. Then it was Jack’s training for helicopters to get his wings and warrant officer bars. Shortly thereafter he received his orders "to report to the 1st Air Cavalry in Vietnam" in May 1966. "The year seemed like an eternity." The family waited daily for his letters. When they arrived they were light and airy not delving into what was really happening. Likewise Alicia didn’t report everything happening at home to Jack either. The family watched the news every night and worried about his safety knowing his unit was flying in very dangerous conditions. When Jack arrived back in The World was when their problems began. The man they knew before his tour of duty in Vietnam was not the same man who returned to them. "Alcohol became his protector from the awful memories." At that time according to the author she "was aware of no counseling nor classes that the army offered to these returning soldiers or their families." Although he was now assigned as an instructor pilot he drank more and more. He finally turned to civilian life instead of chancing having to return to Vietnam. Thus Alicia, Jack and their family began their journey of moving from place to place. They both held various jobs in different places. While there were good times, there seemed to be more bad ones. There were times when they "had no money, no jobs and no work prospects." Jack would go in and out of treatment programs. The children were affected, as was the marriage. When really important things happened such as when one of their daughters was burned Jack was able to control himself and deal with the situations at hand. He finally got involved with the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Clinic and that seemed to help—when he attended their sessions. Throughout the book I kept waiting to read where Alicia and/or the children sought help for their own anguish. Unless I missed it, none of them ever went to an AL-ANON meeting. And while they weren’t providing Jack with his alcohol they also didn’t seem to be doing anything to make him stop other than take him to the VA (Veterans Affairs) Hospital occasionally. This is a book that must be read. I know that many Veterans and their families have gone through similar events. AND sadly most everyone is too proud or afraid to ask for help. This family needed it. Had they gotten it right away perhaps their relationships wouldn’t have fallen apart the way they did. I kept wishing that the author used her real name just because I know folks that might be able to help her and her family even now—years after the Vietnam War ended.
As the author of Memories of Maggie I know about many of the places Martha "Colonel Maggie" Raye went where others refused to go. However I was quite surprised to read that she had been smuggled into Leghorn (a very special outpost) in 1970. The rest of this book was just as amazing and I was surprised to read about some of the people whom I’ve had the pleasure to meet in the past few years. This is a book which every student and adult should read. This is the best book I’ve read about the Special Operations personnel and what they did.
Ron Birk’s book St. Murphy’s Commandments is one of those books you laugh at while reading it. Murphy’s Law says "If anything can go wrong—it will" and we know there are no saints called Murphy. Minister, writer, and speaker the author pokes fun at the church, ministers, lay people, and parishioners. The "commandments" are anecdotes about every aspect of the church accompanied by illustrations by David Espurvoa. An example is "Eve’s Tenet of Temptation: Each of us has our forbidden fruit." This is shown with a drawing of a woman ready to dig into a large ice cream sundae. Another is "The Don’t-Print-Them—and-They-Will-Come Code: The fewer bulletins printed, the more people will attend worship that Sunday." This is a cute book for any church going individual or minister. The author and publisher have given permission to reproduce the cartoons for church publications provided proper credit is given on each cartoon or "commandment."
Aileen Kilgore Henderson, author of Stateside Soldier: Life in the Women’s Army Corps 1944-1945, published by University of South Carolina Press in 2001. Between her family members, friends and herself Aileen had acquired many documents to put together this book. Some of it was excerpts from her daily diary. Some were letters that went back and forth between family and friends. But Aileen was able to weave them all together to make an interesting story of what it was like being in the WACs during WW II. She starts with a look at her birth home, family, jobs, and a desire to serve our country while in her early twenties. The Army almost didn’t take her because she was underweight but on 3 February 1944 PVT Aileen Kilgore was on her way from Palos, AL to Fort Oglethorpe, GA for Basic Training. Aileen made entries to her diary almost every day for the next month. She also found time to write letters home and to her friends. I wondered when she found time to write so much having been in the Army myself but perhaps it was our generation’s differences. Her Basic graduation took place on 19 March and by 24 March she arrived at Ellington Field near Houston, TX. This was to be her duty station. Up to this point she wrote of her daily activities and training which naturally was repetitious in parts. You can only write so much about marching everyday. But as I read each letter it brought back memories of my own days in Basic—and I don’t think I ever wrote down what my training was like back then. On 26 March Aileen wrote that some of the women had already been assigned to their jobs. She pointed out that since six of the women including herself had experience as mechanics it was arranged for them to work as airplane engine mechanics. They became the first WACs to work on airplanes in that Service Command. I found that interesting because they received no formal military training for this line of work. Aileen wrote of the different airplanes they worked on. She mentioned each with great admiration. She was even given the opportunity to fly in some of them. For the next five months she and her sister WACs went back and forth from their barracks on one end of the base to the other end where the hangers and flight line were located. Then she was transferred to the Photo Section where she was to work as a clerk-typist. Thankfully the captain in charge assigned her to the Finishing Room and Dark Room. That pleased her, as she wanted to learn about photography. The following month she had her first furlough and returned home to AL. By mid-October she was writing that she wasn’t receiving any on-the-job training and that upset her. And still she had no formal military training other than Basic. Aileen remained at Ellington while many of her friends were sent elsewhere; some of them even went overseas. She included some of their letters to show their austere living conditions and problems they faced especially one woman who was sent to Manila. But being on Ellington had its pros and cons also. Frequently Aileen mentioned the size of the huge Texas roaches that roamed the barracks and other buildings. She even had an encounter with a snake in the WACs latrine area. She experienced the heat of living in Texas. She was there for some of the storms that came in off the Gulf of Mexico. What amazed me even more was that almost the entire time she was at Ellington she had a stray pet cat she named Jasper that often shared the barracks with the WACs. Being a cat lover myself I clearly understood where she was coming from though--wanting to take care of him and the other critters around Ellington except of course those roaches and snakes. On base she met "the hero of the day, LT McConnell" and saw COL Oveta Hobby and LT Audie Murphy. She went to shows on and off base. She had time to go to Galveston and Houston. And by the end of 1944 she had a part-time job taking tickets at the base theater. In January 1945 she found out that she hadn’t received a classification—thus there was no promotion either. She was a bit upset about that but at the beginning of March she was promoted to private first class. Working at the theater she met many folks. Those of us who have served our country know there are certain rules everyone must follow while on base. The theater is no different. Aileen wrote about the Post Commandant deciding that "only every other seat can be occupied" due to health hazards. It was funny when she wrote that one man stated "You mean I live with my wife 24 hours a day and can’t sit with her here?" The commandant changed his mind shortly thereafter. Aileen was on her second furlough back home in AL when she turned twenty-four years old. She had already been a WAC for a year. Upon return to Ellington many combat Veterans were funneling through the base. She experienced their disgust for women in the military and wrote about some of those instances. In July 1945 she wrote of the turmoil over COL Hobby quitting and what it would mean for the WACs. Rumors began that all WACs would be discharged by September. In August she received her promotion to corporal and finally a classification of 945 Skilled. In her 14 August note she mentioned how they all reacted when they heard on the radio the war was over. She went home again in October and soon after her return to Texas learned that she was to be discharged soon. Early December found her enroute to Fort Bragg, NC where she was officially discharged on 7 December 1945 which she would easily remember as it was none other than Pearl Harbor Day. I know that military life can be boring at times. It’s a job: boring sometimes and busy others. Aileen’s enthusiasm of working on the airplanes was evident though. She truly enjoyed it although it was hard work. She never had the opportunity to attend the Photography school she yearned for. I could feel her disappointment in not accomplishing what she set out to do and yet she really did enjoy her time as a WAC. Her interactions with fellow and sister Veterans helped to make the book very interesting. The letters from her friends who were sent overseas helped to show the differences of the training and day to day life between being stateside and overseas. She showed how friendships here and there made the difference to these women and kept them going when they were ready to give up at times. Aileen included twenty-four photographs in the book and an Epilogue where she pointed out what became of some of the folks she met so long ago. I would recommend this book for students and adults of all ages. It should be part of our women’s studies programs in colleges as well as our military history collections. And it should be included in gift shops of military/Veterans museum as well as on Army installations for all to see. Aileen Kilgore Henderson and the University of South Carolina Press should be proud of this book published in 2001.
Carey Spearman has added another great book to his name: 36 Years and a Wake-up: An American Returns to Vietnam. As a follow-up to his Vietnam Veterans’ Homecoming: Crossing the Line this new book shows how he faced his fears and returned to Vietnam in August 2000 after not having been there since 1968! His new book, written similarly to his first book, shows how Carey journalized his life since the war. I think this book is even better than the first! Carey’s vignettes are one of the ways he is helping himself heal. After Carey met a couple of special Vets he soon found himself enroute back to Vietnam. On the airplane’s approach to landing Carey fl |
A
Father's Love
A Time Remembered
A World of Hurt
Accidental Love
All the
Daring of the Soldier
Almost Back
Angel on
Trial
Cayman Gold
Dog Tags of Courage
Don’t Mean Nothing
Elephant Tears
Fields
of Fire
From
Japan with Love
Grief Denied
Guide-Lines
and God-Lines for Facing Cancer 
Last Man Out
Sacred
Shadow, Sacred Ground
Secret
of the Viking Dagger
Shadows of a Vietnam Veteran
SOG
Stateside Soldier