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This is my first novel; actually completed as an assignment while I was straining to get my baccalaureate degree in English Literature at the University of Maryland overseas campus on Okinawa. My scholastic advisor back in the late '70s was a former Marine Korea vet who had read some of my musings on the Vietnam battles in which I was heavily involved. The one such fight that haunted me at the time (and still does today) is the fight for the ancient Imperial capital of Hue during Tet 1968. I initially went into the city with the first reaction force out of Phu Bai, a cobbled together task force centered on Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. Shortly thereafter, when it became clear that the situation was not a limited uprising and would develop into a truly vicious fight, I joined up with Hotel Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines on the south side of the city and Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines on the north side of the city. It was a surreal experience and traumatic for everyone involved. To convey some of that I chose to use a sort of gonzo, first person voice while trying to avoid the first person pronoun. Fortunately, for my later literary endeavors, the book was critically celebrated as a reflection of the confusion and emotional turmoil frequently experienced by Marines and others fighting the war in Vietnam. |
Unfortunately, this book is out of print. You can usually find a copy here, however.
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