Year in Nam: A Native American Soldier's Story (North American Indian Prose Award Series)

Rating:
Summary: A Tour In Nam
Review: Having done a tour myself, I have seen the movies and read several books that have come out about the war in Viet Nam. Nothing, and no one, has been able to authenticate the reality of the day to day operations of search and destroy missions, the monotony, the high levels of alertness, the camaraderie, the tragedies, and the senseless pain and suffering that took place on both sides, until now. Leroy does a superlative job of describing the feelings of the GI and those of the Vietnamese. His description of events are factual yet without sensationalism, a manner that can only be told by a seasoned combat veteran who became immune to the catastrophic events that surrounded him, as a means of survival, both physically and mentally.

This is a must read for anyone who served in I Corp or the Americal. You will again feel yourself walking through the paddies, on the trails, smelling the odors of the villages, or hugging a rice paddy dike as the sniper rounds were in-coming. This book truly describes the reality of the life of a combat infantryman (grunt) during the war in Viet Nam.

Rating:
Summary: a wondeful piece of tragic realism
Review: In very straightforward, understandable prose, Mr. Tecube has captured the essence of the daily horrors and futility of America's presence in Vietnam. The real heroes of the book are the members of Leroy's platoon. They're a bunch of American kids that really didn't want to be where they were but tried to do make the best of a tragic situation. What's refreshing about Tecube's approach is that he's not out to condemn the soldiers, the politicians, or the enemy. Yet he's able to convey a sense of the absurdity of the situation and still maintain his dignity and objectivity.

I've read a number of books about Vietnam but none conveys the sense of what it was really like the way Tecube does.