Jerry Harris is a young 23-year-old 1st lieutenant assigned as an advisor to the ARVN for a tour from 1969 to 1970. He has to put up with the incompetence of the troops he leads as well as incompetent American officers and an inflexible and rigid Army bureaucracy. He transforms from a scared man who stutters to a very competent soldier. In the last days of his tour is captured by the NVA. He kills his captors and escapes. Only to find himself arrested for being AWOL. Luckily, he is exonerated but has to write a letter apologizing for stealing a .45 from the enemy.
This book tells the story of a MACV advisor through the style of a journal. I will say this is the most cynical book about the Vietnam war I ever read. The author has clear disdain for the South Vietnamese troops. He is forced to eat their food which consists of rice, rancid pork and chicken cut up bones and all. The Army bureaucracy and command are incompetent except for some exceptions. If you want a book that shows why we lost that war, this is the one to read.
Now I think the writer was a genuine advisor in the war. There is a very authentic feel to it. Some was clearly a bit exaggerated. The ending where he killed six NVA with his bare hands and escapes, only to be arrested for being AWOL. The .45 he had was registered to the ARVN and so was assumed he stole it. I’m sure he had to kind of spice up the story. This was Zebra Men’s Adventure, and it would be expected to jazz up the story for the audience. There probably was a grain of truth to the inflexible bureaucracy and incompetence going on. I think this book is an excellent one to read if you want to get a feel for being an advisor during the war.
THE BOOKS THAT TIME FORGOT. 