Review by Jane White, Austin College, Professor

I graduated college in 1966, so my young adult years were definitely defined by the Vietnam War. When our friends came back, they were so very different than when they went. They didn’t talk about what had happened, the things they saw. My Boot review is personalized by my experiences and my reaction to the writing. The book captured the frantic activity, the fear, the love for buddies, the adaptation to the land, the brave faces that accomplished great feats, the uncertainty of life, the influence of comradeship. The language sounded raw, the details of fighting seemed authentic, the men we met were memorable. Laughter seemed to lighten the load for the men. For an author to generate the writing that highlights these aspects of the Vietnam War because he was there gave me an insight I never had before.