Dispatches

While we’re on the subject of Vietnam, which is where I was yesterday. Here’s my favorite book on the subject, and not a favorite because it lays out some great theoretical story about why and how we got there, but a favorite because it’s full of great writing and tells stories about the little guys, because most histories are about the officers, and this one is about the grunts.

It’s Michael Herr’s Dispatches. When I first read it, I couldn’t put it down. And periodically, I still go back and read it just to help me remember how I felt when we were in that time and place. Because I went to war too, but never got to touch the elephant, and I cant say I’m sorry about that. But Herr’s book gives me a good picture of what it was like, and I knew guys that were in his book.

The corpsman who sat on his bunk and was given understanding space because he’d been at Khe Sahn. Or the corpsman, who was mildly crazy in a good way and had gotten his picture in Life Magazine. Or the Brothers who came back and just wanted to stay stoned. It was rock and roll war and this is a rock and roll book and you should read it even if you’re not old enough to remember.