MWSA Review

The author graphically illustrates his experience of “The taste of fear and the knowledge of mortality.”  The incidents portrayed in “The Two-Dollar Bill (the 200th Brigade),” a fictional Army group, are based upon actual experiences in the camp life and the front lines in Viet Nam.

Roger Soiset immerses the reader in the vibrant fire zone of the “grunts.”  As he exposes each soldier’s reactions to “his taste of fear and the knowledge of mortality,” the reader vicariously becomes part of the patrol deep in the hostile jungle environment.  We are immersed in the daily challenges the combatants must deal with, some successfully, others with variations due to personalities.

Each “grunt” in the “hot zones” can be described as “You look the same and sound the same, but you have undergone some serious changes you really cannot adequately explain even to yourself.”

The author offers the reader an excellent insight into the fear ridden tour of the American fighting men in the Viet Nam conflict “who came from the house next door to yours.”

Reviewed by: Joe Fabel (2004)

Author's Synopsis
 

Novel of the author's year in Viet Nam.