Rating: 
Summary: Vietnam: a view from a reluctant draftee
Review: A few reviews here criticize Ketwig for being anti-war before, during, and after. But isn't that the point of the book? Ketwig makes it pretty clear early on. No, he wasn't a heroic grunt fighting in the rice paddies and central highlands... he was just a kid who loved muscle cars, motor racing, getting laid, and playing drums. Not college material, he was faced with enlisting and learning a trade, or waiting for the draft and surely being sent to Vietnam. As it was, he enlisted but wound up in Vietnam anyway, working on the motorpool as a welder and mechanic. But he was exposed to things most of us would consider traumatic. It left him scarred, and being a civilian myself, I do not feel entitled to judge him. If you want to read the story of a true hero, read "Brennan's War" by Matthew Brennan. If you want a firsthand account of a scared teenager who wanted to be anything BUT a soldier, read this book. The fact is, not everyone is cut out to be a soldier. Ketwig was not, and never claims otherwise. Being the mother of a soldier myself, my heart lies with the volunteer soldier, one willing to lay his or her life on the line to protect our freedom. But on the other hand, I sympathize with those draftees of the Vietnam era. It was a rough time to be young. And Ketwig's story is gritty and heartfelt. And tells one side of the story quite well.
Rating:
Summary: Vietnam: a view from a reluctant draftee
Review: A few reviews here criticize Ketwig for being anti-war before, during, and after. But isn't that the point of the book? Ketwig makes it pretty clear early on. No, he wasn't a heroic grunt fighting in the rice paddies and central highlands... he was just a kid who loved muscle cars, motor racing, getting laid, and playing drums. Not college material, he was faced with enlisting and learning a trade, or waiting for the draft and surely being sent to Vietnam. As it was, he enlisted but wound up in Vietnam anyway, working on the motorpool as a welder and mechanic. But he was exposed to things most of us would consider traumatic. It left him scarred, and being a civilian myself, I do not feel entitled to judge him. If you want to read the story of a true hero, read "Brennan's War" by Matthew Brennan. If you want a firsthand account of a scared teenager who wanted to be anything BUT a soldier, read this book. The fact is, not everyone is cut out to be a soldier. Ketwig was not, and never claims otherwise. Being the mother of a soldier myself, my heart lies with the volunteer soldier, one willing to lay his or her life on the line to protect our freedom. But on the other hand, I sympathize with those draftees of the Vietnam era. It was a rough time to be young. And Ketwig's story is gritty and heartfelt. And tells one side of the story quite well.
Rating: 
Summary: Been there, done that,
Review: I joined the Army in 1964. I was skinney hungry, and more interested in three meals a day than the $87.00 a month pay. I was with the 101 at Ft. Campbell when the war started heating up. I was in Viet Nam from Jan. 66 to Jan. 67. I was first assigned to C-2-7 cav. as a PFC grunt. I was there for about 6 and a half months. I than went to D Co. 227 AHB as a door gunner to the end of my tour. I went to Penang in Nov. 66 for my R&R. I was agenest the war before during and after. But I still did what I was sent over there to do. I say Three Cheers for John for having the balls to call it the way he see it. And I see it the same way. THANKS John for expressing the my thoughts exactly!
Rating:
Summary: gives a extreme look at what life was like in Vietnam
Review: I though that this was a great book for all those people who like reading about the Vietnam war and how it was. It gave me a very good understanding of the war and the life of a solider serving in war. I would recomend this book for sure. It is one the of my favorite books I've read in a long time. I want to thank John Ketwig for writing this book. Thank you Mr.Ketwig Jessica Smith
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary! Why isn't this book still in print?
Review: I was one of the lucky ones. I turned 26 in the fall of 1963, just before Vietnam got serious for Americans. That was the magic age - "they" didn't draft you after 26. John Ketwig was not so lucky. I stayed home and watched the growing horror as it unfolded in all its bizarre varieties - from napalmed kids to lying politicians and generals - Ketwig and millions of others (most of them Vietnamese) lived that horror every day. I've read many, many books about Vietnam; this is one of the two or three best. Had I not just retired from teaching in a college prep school, I would want to make it part of one of my courses. It's a shame - one almost wonders if it's a conspiracy - that it is no longer in print. Probably no one had to silence the book; it's just too real to be "marketable." Publishers don't promote such realism; they prefer the "Rambo" type absurdities. Besides conveying the reality of Vietnam from the ordinary soldiers point of view, Ketwig also devotes much of the book to the subsequent year he spent in Thailand. He was not an "ugly American;" he spent a great deal of time getting to know - and love - the people and their culture. This book moved me to tears for a lost generation of Americans and Vietnamese. Even those who survived bear the scars, both psychological and physical (e.g. Agent Orange) of that war. At the end, Ketwig quotes Vietnam veterans marching at the dedication of the Wall in Washington and chanting: HELL NO OUR KIDS WON'T GO. He's right, HELL NO.
Rating:
Summary: A Whiner Still
Review: John Ketwig has written a highly personal, intensely emotional, and essentially wrong-headed account of his experience as mechanic and body-man in Vietnam and then in Thailand. Ketwig makes takes his own inablility to handle the hardships of military training and service in wartime, and assumes that this is typical of every soldier who served and that it is self-evident that any sensitive person will see it the same way. Sherman said a long time ago, "War is hell," yet Ketwig seems to think he has seen this in Viet Nam, and not even as an infantry man, as no one else has. War is hell for the soldiers and often for the populace of the countries in which wars must be fought. But wars are sometimes necessary. The disgraceful thing about the sufferings of the American soldier in Viet Nam and the people of Viet Nam was the failure of will to see it through to a successful conclusion. Ketwigs book is moving. But in the end one finds himself agreeing with the charge Ketwig tries to defend himself against in the introduction. He is a whiner. Too bad. Better men have seen and edured much worse than Ketwig with much more honor and courage. It is understandable why this book finds a place of honor in college courses on Viet Nam, where the old leftists of the 60's and 70's hang on. But in the end the book is one in which the man brings dishonor upon his service, his nation, and himself. William H. Smith
Rating:
Summary: The most powerful book I have ever read
Review: John Ketwig writes "...and a hard rain fell" like no other book I've read. He dosen't use any cliches, metaphors, or any other jibber jabber. He gives you a first hand account of what it was really like.
I am in middle school, and i bought this book because i wanted to be more educated on the war in Vietnam. I am so happy that I bought this book. It has shown me the dark sides of the Vietnam war, and almost made want to stop reading...thats how powerful it is.
The only thing i can relate this book to would be the movies, "Hamburger Hill", and "Full Metal Jacket." This book is a must have for anybody that wants a REAL education of the war in Vietnam.
Rating:
Summary: The Best
Review: KETWIG'S BOOK "AND A HARD RAIN FELL" IS ONE OF TWO BOOKS THAT CAME OUT OF VIETNAM THAT ARE WORTH READING. I HOPE THAT WE ALL CAN LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS BOOK ABOUT THE HORRORS OF WAR AND WHAT IT DOES TO PEOPLE. I BELIEVE THAT KETWIG CAPTURES NOT ONLY THE FLAVOR OF THE WAR BUT THE FRUSTRATION THAT OUR G.I.'S FELT. WE AS A NATION SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HOW WE TREATED OUR RETURNING SOLDIERS. IT WAS NOT THERE WAR, BUT OUR GOVERMENTS. THIS IS MADE VERY CLEAR BY THE BOOK. I HOPE THAT THE NEXT TIME WE AS A NATION FEEL THAT WE SHOULD BECOME INVOLVED IN ANOTHER WAR THE DECISION MAKERS READ THIS BOOK. BETTER YET SEND IT TO THEIR WIVES AFTER ALL, THEY ARE THE TRUE DECISION MAKERS.
Rating: 
Summary: Good thing he never saw combat
Review: Not having read any reviews of this book prior to reading it, it was not what I expected. Instead of a first person account documenting what it is to be a soldier at war, Ketwig spends most of his time whining about the army and trying to make you feel sorry for him. He was a mechanic, granted in a forward area, that had to deal very little with what the war in Vietnam was actually like. Those soliders that manned the listening post, went on patrols and set up ambushes should feel slighted after reading this account. They had it rough, Ketwig mostly had to deal with inconveniences. Even when living a fairly cushy life in Thailand to finish his tour Ketwig continues to whine about all that is the army despite spending most of his time drunk and high.
War is a horrible thing that should not be glorified and this book does something to capture that feeling at times. However, from this account it seems like EMTs or police officers see and deal with more horror on a routine basis than Ketwig ever had to. He really needs to lighten up.
Rating: 
Summary: More like "Woe is Me"
Review: Save your money! The author was a draftee motor pool mechanic that accidentally got caught in a little action. Most of the book is a lot of whining about the Army and America. The author spent most of his time in Vietnam drinking, smoking dope, and pining over some Thai prostitute. When he got home, he burned his uniform. This book may interest Michael Moron (Moore) as the subject of his next documentary.
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