Publisher's Weekly Review
Ordered by his parents to leave home after graduating from high school in 1966, Birdwella part-Cherokee honor student who was something of a teenage hellionjoined the Army and volunteered for Vietnam. He was assigned to a tank unit north of Saigon, and eventually was caught in the Tet Offensive of 1968. Now, 20 years later and with the help of Nolan (Battle for Hue, etc.), he presents an illuminating, intimately nuanced view of life as a common soldier in Vietnam. The battle scenes here are riveting. In one episode set during the Battle of Tan Son Nhut, a hysterical crewman gets hold of a battlefield intercom microphone and begins screaming orders that would further endanger the imperiled squadron. Frantic, Birdwell forces the man to silence by holding a pistol to his head. The lulls between the combat are no less interesting. In another startling scene, Birdwell overhears some cynical officers discussing how they will help one another's careers by recommending each other for prestigiousand undeserveddecorations. Elsewhere, Birdwell's unit is tracked down in the field by moped-riding prostitutes who set up shop in foxholes. Reflecting on his wartime experiences and their aftermath, Birdwell, who became a lawyer and, for a time, Chief Justice of the Cherokee Nation, says: "When I die, if there's anyone around who remembers me, the only thing I want them to say is that I was a soldier." With this fine work, he has guaranteed himself that honor, and more. Photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
The collaboration of a good soldier and a good writer produces a Vietnam memoir that is considerably better than good. Birdwell served with the armored cavalry and makes it plain that the mechanized trooper's experience of the war overlapped with but was not identical to that of the grunt--for instance, armored cavalry had more firepower but were higher priority targets. With Nolan's help, Birdwell sketches any number of memorable characters from among his fellow soldiers, some outstandingly good, others harder to describe. The gradual domination of the unit by less-than-good soldiers (including drug users) gave the last few months of Birdwell's service a bitter flavor and an extra element of danger. Like more than a few of his comrades, Birdwell will never be completely free of the ghosts of the war, but he is unashamedly proud of having been in it. Any Vietnam collection should include his memoir. --Roland Green
