Not My Father's War

Rating:
Summary: Telling it like it was
Review: Being a Vietnam veteran survivor, I was surprised at how many issues were addressed in this fine story about the divisiveness and often gut-wrenching events that happened to typical front line soldiers in the Vietnam War. One tends to forget the racial problems,the often screwy command structure and the downright incompetant officers that cost us so many casualties. The fatal decision made by an officer just getting his pass stamped by serving in Vietnam was repeated way too often during this monumental conflict. Unfortunately, I also witnessed similar events and saw first hand how just a simple errant directive got good men killed. It needs to be told over and over as this novel does, less we ever forget that brave men die for sometimes the most inane reasons and it never, ever will feel right as the years pass. The guilt never goes away and the author does a fine job of probing that sense of loss and trying to come to grips with the pain.
I read this book in two sittings and had to stop to compose myself twice during the battle sequences. Damn, it brought back so many memories, good and bad. I highly recommend this book to the fighting veteran who wonders if anyone truly understands what we went through. This author knows.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: David Martin is the only reason that I still watch the CBS Evening News. So, when I saw his recommendation for this book in USA Today I ordered a copy, and I'm glad that I did. I'd guess that I am about the same age as the main character in this story, (who I assume to be the author). I too grew up in the South, and the author's flashbacks to his youth growing up in still segregated Nashville in the 1950's are right on. Mercifully, I was 4-F at the time of the Vietnam War,(flat feet), but this story made me feel what it could have been like for me had I been sucked into it. The relationship that develops between the black sergeant and the white officer is well developed and believable. The love story with the anti-war girlfriend back in the States is tender, and I mean that as a very positive comment. The last 100 pages where it all ties together is really great. I was sorry that the story had to end, which is the ultimate compliment from me.

Rating:
Summary: Revisiting the Vietnam Conflict
Review: This excellent book takes us back to the Vietnam conflict, which has been forgotten by many due to the recent events in the Middle East, in a way which has not been done before. Its realistic view of the boredom, anxiety and horrors of that war, coupled with a unique spin on relationships among officers and enlisted men, black men and white men, Northerners and Southerners, the privileged and the not so privileged, gives the reader a feeling of really being there, seen through the eyes of someone who experienced it first hand. I highly recommend it.