Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam

Rating:
Summary: The Realities of War.....
Review: "The land of my enemy has wide valleys, mountains that stretch along the far horizon, rushing brown rivers, and thick green forest. My squad of nine men are in the forest. Above me, birds twitter nervously in the treetops. Insects and small animals scurry through the underbrush, trying to avoid the crush of my combat boots. The squad leader raises his hand. We stop. The sound of my breath is soft in the morning air. Somewhere in the forest, hidden in the shadows, is the enemy. He knows I have come to kill him. He waits for me..." Walter Dean Myer's autobiographical picture book chronicles a day in the life of one soldier, on patrol, in the jungles of Viet Nam. His spare, poetic text comes alive on the page, and takes the glamor and excitement out of war as you trudge through the difficult, hot terrain, ever vigilant. "We move again. We are always moving. My legs ache. My shoulders sag. My thousand eyes look for death in the waving bamboo fields." You can feel the smooth wooden stock of the soldier's rifle, the cold sweat running down his back, the fear and trembling as shots are fired and bombs explode, and the rapid beating of his heart. "I think I see the enemy. I reload and shoot again. It is only a shadow, but I do not stop shooting. In war, shadows are enemies, too." But mostly, you feel the weariness and futility. "I am so tired. I am so very tired of this war." Ann Grifalconi's stunning, multi-media collages are evocative and gripping, and together word and art paint an eloquent and powerfully vivid portrait of the Viet Nam War. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, Patrol: An American Soldier In Vietnam is a haunting experience that shouldn't be missed, and definitely one of the best new books of 2002.

Rating:
Summary: Endpapers of camouflage
Review: All at once lush and frightening, Walter Dean Myers has penned a tale that seeks to remind us what war really is. There are "Enemies" that are old men and babies. "Enemies" that sit beneath trees and contemplate their loved ones. Never have the lessons of Vietnam been more poignant or needed than they are right now. In writing this book, Myers has sought to present war beyond gore and gloom, looking instead at the very essence of death itself. Helped in this attempt by the award winning collage artist Ann Grifalconi "Patrol" is a frightening story that may hit a little too close to home for some, and not close enough for others.

Told in picture book format (a format that I suspect will raise a few eyebrows right there) the story follows one man throughout his day in Vietnam. The man is frightened. He knows that his enemy is nearby and wants to hurt him, just as he (on some level) wants to hurt his enemy. The man's patrol burns down an innocent village that may house members of the enemy. He calls in bombs and dives into elephant grass for cover. There, he accidentally runs face to face with the enemy. "In a heartbeat, we have learned too much about each other". Both men escape and the patrolman goes back to base camp to write a letter to a loved one. He writes, "I am so very tired of this war".

Taken in total, the book is a mélange of beauty and fear. Grifalconi has deftly intertwined illustration and photograph in the pages of this book. There are extraordinary pictures in which men drawn only with the slightest of pen lines crouch beneath huge overblown tree leaves. When bombs burst in the distance, planes are both the actual cut-outs of airplanes and the hollows cut out of a misty sky. The men watching are bathed in the orange light of the distance. Myers' text is up to the challenge of confronting what war is. Though the author never goes so far as to condemn the idea of war itself, he finds other ways of showing how ludicrous some wars really are. When you're as good an author as Walter Dean Myers, all you have to do is write the truth and your message will appear for you.

The inside cover of this book proclaims that its age range is 8-12, which is patently ridiculous. I won't debate if it is appropriate or inappropriate for an eight year-old. That is left entirely up to the reader (though there is nothing gory or horrific enough to shock a kid of that age). What I take issue at is the age of 12 designated as the oldest age at which a person would want to read this book. First of all, this book is perfect for teens and even college age kids and adults in giving a good eye for eye glare at the horrors of being caught in a fighting situation. Second, this book has a myriad of different uses. Teachers and librarians are constantly on the look out for picture books that are mature enough for those adults learning to read. What better purpose could this book have?

When Walter Dean Myers joined the army at the age of seventeen, he had to come to grips with Vietnam and the fact that his brother died in combat. For this author, this book strikes close to home, revealing the stupidity of fighting. With our nation constantly in combat these days, it takes books like this one to remind us of the dangers of acting as a nation without thought or intelligence. "Patrol" gives us many lessons to learn.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful!
Review: If someone doesn't recommend Walter Dean Myer's book, Patrol for some type of award, let me be the first. In this time of contemplating war, this book is so appropriate, although I would not recommend it for use with students below 5th grade. This picture book made me feel what it must feel like to be a grunt on the field. Powerful!

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