The Ghosts of Vietnam by Jim Stewart

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MWSA Review

In The Ghosts of Vietnam, author Jim Stewart reminisces back on his life, which included 4 years in-country.  It is not your normal combat action story but actually a warm and at times tender loving story of a young man seeking to find himself during the war and the years afterwards.  It is about a journey and not just a diary of where he has been and what he has done.  You get inside his heart, as well as his head.

There is a touching scene from his experience as an MP in the Saigon area when he witnesses a little girl on a bike get killed by a truck.  He never forgot that little girl, nor the image of her lying on the ground with half her skull missing.  It haunts him in the background of his heart; and in a strange twist of fate, that tragic scene gets played out again later in life when he seeks to find his own daughter whom he left behind in Vietnam.

This book is both funny and sad.  It is at times, spiritual as well as being very worldly but it is always entertaining.  It reads very easily and for people who do not like typical war books, this is the one to read.  This is not one of those blatant “I am a hero” with blood and gore stories.  This book shows a different side of the war—the kind where crime, black markets and life behind the battle lines in Saigon and the cities are the focus.  It is also about love and the loss of love.

This is a story of a man who never really got to enjoy being a father to his daughter; a man who lost his youth many years ago in a far-a-way place that still dreams inside him at night.  Yes, there are still ghosts of Vietnam within him but he is finally at peace.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis
In 1970, after four years in Vietnam, Jim Stewart left behind his daughter, Phuong. It is estimated that fifty thousand Amerasians were left behind when America pulled out of the country for good in 1973. Jim carried this with him for years after the war. Join him on his journey through personal tragedy as a young boy in Maryland, his often humorous adventures in the Army, and the serious events that took place during his years in Vietnam and afterwards. Often humorous, with a wide array of memorable characters in his life, this is a story that will bring a smile to your face, a tear to your eye, and leave you with a sense of spiritual healing. All from The Angel from Vietnam.

Thunder in the Night – A Sailor’s Perceptive on Vietnam by Raymond S. Kopp

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MWSA Review

A Sailor’s experiences in the Vietnam War on a heavy Cruiser. Author Raymond Kopp shares the story of his combat experiences as a crew member of the USS Newport News during the Vietnam War. In his wonderfully written and sensitive book “Thunder in the Night – A Sailor’s Perspective on Vietnam” he tells us about the little known Naval operations in 1972 when the over-all war was supposed to be winding down.

I had to laugh at the truth of what Kopp points out in the Preface of the book about how most veterans and the public seem to discount the combat experiences of those who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Most non-Naval Vietnam veterans have assumed that sitting off the coast with clean sheets, hot showers and no VC sneaking up on you, meant that the duty was carefree and safe. It was never really thought of as being “combat duty”; how wrong most of us were about that. Reading his story about his ship’s war operations off the coast of North Vietnam, it also becomes evident that these battles took a toll on sailors both emotionally and physically as well.

Raymond writes in the third person and tells his story as if it were a novel. It makes for very entertaining reading as the author uses a full pallet of colorful expressions and wording to paint his story. His emotions are not hidden nor are his many flaws and fears; he gives the reader a full uncensored vision of what is going on within him.

This book is a very honest attempt by the author to examine his life at time of the war and why he is who he is today. Although he does not expound away at it, this story is all about redemption and reflection as a way to find self-healing within. Although Raymond was not physically injured that night when an explosion killed a couple of dozen of his shipmates and wounded many more—that night still haunts the soul of this man! He survived physically but he is still dealing with the emotional and spiritual wounds from the experience.

I have read many books from Navy veterans but most have been about SEALS and the “Brown Water Navy” operations or about fighter pilots—this is the first book out there that gives an insider view on what life was like for the sailors who were on heavy cruisers. It is an eye-opener and a real education for veterans like me. This book is about history and people and about dying for your country but it is also about fear and courage and guilt and friendship. Years from now people will realize that this book is an important link to a piece of our history.

Reviewer Unknown

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Author's Synopsis
A personal account of one sailor's experiences in the last days of America's most unpopular war

A Long Hard Ride by Richard R. Simmons

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MWSA Review

Author Richard R. Simmons has exposed his life through his easy to read but emotional autobiography, “A Long Hard Ride.”  This book examines the transformation of a horse jockey turned Air Force career man, turned postal manager and drunk, into a man in search of himself and the meaning of life.  It is all about redemption and spiritual rebirth.

The story takes you from Richard's early childhood when his father’s death changes the direction of his life and sets him off on a collision course with self-destructive behaviors including his life long battle with alcoholism.

His time spent at the race track and not in school makes for very unique experiences to read about.  He raced against some of the best jockey and horses of his day but never found the kind of satisfaction or success that he needed.  His quest for understanding and love follow him throughout the pages of his book from one life adventure to the next seeking to find that inner peace that eludes him for so long.

This is an exceptionally well told story and makes for some interesting, yet at times emotional, reading.  This book will force you to look and reflect on your own life experiences.  In the end, this book will be an enjoyable adventure but keep a box of Kleenex handy.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis
This is an inspirational story that shows how the author overcame poverty, the lack of education, low self-esteem and alcoholism. These stories come from the life experiences of a man fighting the demons within as he rode the racetracks of America in search of his soul. The book follows his life as he gives up his career as a jockey and joins the U.S. Air Force, eventually taking up a third career in management at the USPS. Hope and inspirations come from many unexpected places as the miracle of recovery and rediscovery of love - for himself and life - change him in ways he never thought possible. He knows that he was fortunate to survive

Full Circle - Escape From Baghdad and the Return by Saul Silas Fathi

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MWSA Review

One of a Kind Autobiography! You will never in your life read another book quite like this one, by Jewish author and US Army veteran, Saul Silas Fathi.  His autobiography, “Full Circle – Escape from Baghdad and the Return” takes the reader to places and events that one may only get to know about from small glimpses on The History Channel or in some old National Geographic Magazines.  This guy has lived a life that would make a great movie.

He was born into a well to do Jewish family in Baghdad in 1938, which in that part of the world presented some very real dangers.  The book shares with us his early years and how he was smuggled out of Iraq at 10 years of age and eventually ended up in Israel.  He studied at the Israel Air Force Academy of Aeronautics and then worked his way to South America.  This long out of the way journey eventually takes the author to New York to study where he ends up joining the US Army and was shipped off to Korea to join up with the First Cavalry Division.  The book goes on to chronicle his exploits and personal adventures including becoming a top level executive for several large high-tech companies.

His book deals with having his family being falsely accused of treason against the Iraqi government and of being labeled a Zionist and Communist.  Those labels alone were more than enough to cause them to be concerned for their safety, in addition to just being a Jew in a Muslim country.

This book deals with the hardships and persecution that this Jewish man faced in his lifetime.  In the face of all that the author lived through and what he learned about life, his personal outlook and drive to succeed are a real tribute to his inner strength and character.  Reading this book will inspire you and entertain you as well.  The author has lived a full life and his book allows you to experience it through his memories.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis
Full Circle... Chronicles a prominent Iraqi Jewish family's escape from persecution through the journey of one family member: A 10-years old boy who witnesses public hangings and the 1941 Krystalnacht (Farhood) in Baghdad. After a harrowing escape from Iraq through Iran, this boy begins a life-long search for meaning and his place in the world. His journey takes him to the newly-formed State of Israel, then to Brazil and finally to the United States. He joins the U.S. Army and serves in Korea and returns to a fascinating career in three Fortune-500 companies. Following September 11, 2001, he volunteers to work for the F.B.I. Genre: Youth and adult, anyone interested in the history of the Middle-East, the Jewish people, and Sephardic life under Islam.

China With Love - Letters from An American GI in World War II China and India by Lou Glist

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MWSA Review

Karl Boyd has done it again.  He has written a fiction that takes the reader on a journey down many roads, introducing many characters and opening many doors. The story unveils a plot that is world-wide, patient, and unique.  His characters are like all of us--both good and bad. The central figures grow and teach us a life lesson, but we have to wait until the very end to learn what it is.  From China with Love is a war of cultures fought with technology, but it is not bloodless. I recommend it, but it is not for the faint of heart.

Reviewed by: Mike Mullins (2009)

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Author's Synopsis
If China is to survive, it must have more land for its millions of citizens. The Chairmen of the Chinese Republic tasks his ministers to formulate a ten-year plan to conquer all of Mexico, the U. S. A., and Canada, thereby turning the territory into "New China" while avoiding a horrific third world war.

Within twelve months, the strategy is finalized and the multi-pronged invasion of North America begins quietly. The devilishly clever operation is totally unobserved by the American public, their military and/or politicians, and their neighbors to the north and south.

The diversified main characters are two new mothers from Los Angeles, and their babies attempting to reach safety inland; a college student from Utah whose family has been wiped out; a police lieutenant from Sulfur Springs, Colorado, the only survivor on his shift and tasked with trying to save as many citizens as possible while awaiting the conquering forces; plus a young FBI agent whose father was killed in the attack.

As the few lucky survivors struggle with their new situations in life and deal with the invaders, along the way there is mystery, suspense, danger and romance, together with a terrible realization that perhaps the United States is soon to be a thing of the past.

As with all of Karl Boyd's novels, the ending is unexpected and decidedly disarming. You'll be tempted to turn to that last page, but please don't until you arrive there naturally. Why spoil a wonderful novel?

CID – Army Detectives in Peace and War by Hubert Herb Marlow

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MWSA Review

Most people knew little or nothing about the law enforcement teams that the military has until the popular TV series NCIS (about Navy and USMC law enforcement) was aired.  The book “CID: Army Detectives In Peace And War” by Hubert Marlow captures that essence of the Army’s own investigative organization better than any TV show could.

The book deals with everything from petty crimes to the murder of the author’s fellow agents in Vietnam.  This is an insider view on an organization that has little or no public profile.  People in the military still do not fully understand the role of the CID or what it is; however, it has a reputation as an organization that you do not want to be investigated by.  They continue to be some of the top detectives and investigators in the world.

The author covers cases from the modern history of the CID, but it is some of his own personal reflections back on his childhood in Hamburg, Germany (the author was born in 1935) that I found to be as interesting as the rest of the book.  He saw the horrors of war first hand as a youth in war ravaged, Germany.  Perhaps, this is what shaped his outlook on the rest of his adult life.  In any case, the book is well written and flows along with story after story about the cases that the CID worked on.

For readers who enjoy a good who-done-it genre of book – this will offer up something of interest.  It is well worth reading and it will give a greater insight into what the CID is; until this book, it was always a mystery to me what the CID was all about.  I found this book to both educational as well as entertaining.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis
CID: Army Detectives in Peace and War focuses on criminal investigations, both funny and serious, conducted by the author and his fellow special agents. The cases range from thefts to murder, including the murders of two special agents in Vietnam, one of whom was a member of the author’s CID detachment. The book contains cases from WWII through Vietnam.

Bacalao by J. T. McDaniel

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MWSA Review

A Fictional WWII Submarine Techno-thriller! There have been many excellent books written about WWII submarine warfare over the decades. One would think that this genre was over done and that nothing new or better could done with this theme—and you would be wrong! J. T. McDaniel has a great tale to tell through a fictional sub and its crew in his novel called “Bacalao.” This one will eventually join the ranks of old naval classic submarine stories like “Run Silent, Run Deep” and a very short list of others that are considered classic war stories.

McDaniel has captured the emotions of the sub crews and what seems to me, as a technically accurate portrayal of what these subs were really like. He paints with his words visual images that are mixed into real historic back drops of time and place to create a feeling that this all could have happened. I believed in the story line and the people and the sub itself.

The writing is brilliant and the reader will have little trouble following the plot. The book takes you from the construction of the submarine in Connecticut, through Pearl Harbor and onto patrol in the Pacific. The author allows the story to unfold from the view point of Laurence Miller who rose from junior officer to the commanding officer of the Bacalao. This works very well for telling this story.

The book is a good read and will keep you interested from the first couple of pages to the ending. 

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis
When Lieutenant Lawrence Miller first sees U.S.S. Bacalao in the builder's yard in late 1940, the submarine is little more than a pile of curved steel plates. During the next few months Miller watches the boat take shape, and the crew gather from throughout the fleet. By late 1941 Bacalao is in commission and assigned to the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Then, on a Sunday morning, everything changes as the Japanese sneak attack plunges the United States into World War II. The new submarine and her untried crew are immediately thrown into action against the Japanese. And Miller is there through it all, from the disastrous first patrol, when the boat is nearly lost and a pair of surprising heroes emerge, to the deployment to Australia, where a chance encounter ashore will change his life forever. Then, after spending a year in command of an antiquated S-boat in the frozen hell of the Aleutians, Miller returns to Bacalao as her last wartime commander. Written in a simple, straightforward style, Bacalao is destined to become an instant classic of submarine fiction.

Code of Conduct by Karen Black

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MWSA Review

MORE THAN A NOVEL ABOUT A POW’S Karen Black has done her homework and research on the POW experience and it shows.  Reading her book, Code of Conduct, leaves you feeling that you just got a realistic view of American POW’s life in captivity during the Vietnam War.  She has spent years listening to former POWS and her husband, talk and express themselves about their personal experiences; it is obvious that she was listening.  She not only heard the small details of their life experiences but she listened to their feelings and emotions.  She used all of that emotional and psychological energy to create a historical novel about the Vietnam War.

Karen adds a special touch that perhaps only a woman writer could—mixing relationship issues and sex tastefully into the story line and making it more sensitive and compassionate in the process.  The story line deals with not only the POW captivity experiences but hits directly or indirectly, on issues related to family, friends, marriage, love, fellowship, honor, fate, hate, anger, sex, forgiveness, separation and loneliness, healing, truth, justice and the American dream!

Code of Conduct raises many sensitive issues as it captures the essence of feelings that these POW’s and their families had upon their return home.  This is a comprehensive and compelling look through fiction at the whole scope of the POW experience.  You will not be able to put down the book once you start.  It is well written, well organized and has depth in its characters and it uses great word imagery to convey the action to the reader.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis

Matt Tillet, an F-8 Crusader pilot, is shot down over North Vietnam in 1966, just one week before his ship would be heading home after his second back-to-back six-month tour. Escaping from his spiraling out-of-control jet with only seconds to spare, and evading for all of three minutes, he becomes a Prisoner of War. Surviving torture, months of solitary confinement and the infamous Hanoi March, the dream of returning home to his wife and two children keeps him going. Repatriated in 1973, he returns to find his dream shattered.

Code of Conduct takes place in the middle of a war; however, it is not so much a blood and guts war novel as it is the emotional tale of a family torn apart by war, more than seven years of separation, and the long journey to reconstruct their lives.

While many POWs came home to broken marriages, the personal relationship portion of the book is purely fictional. The prison scenes are based on actual events that happened to the POWs in Vietnam. The story was inspired by many years of listening to the recollections of the author's husband and several of his Vietnam ex-POW buddies. Time does not seem to have faded their memories of what they went through (although they can now joke about it) and each reunion or get together provided a new tidbit.

The author's goal is to present the horrendous prisoner-of-war experience and the resulting shattered personal lives in the format of a novel.

Sniper Shot by Barry Ozeroff

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MWSA Review

A Police and Robber Story With A Major Twist! Author Barry Ozeroff in his debut novel Sniper Shot takes the reader for a real thrill ride filled with intrigue and a series of unexpected twists. His book has all the markings of becoming a best seller. It has an intelligent plot and great characters that the author has done a good job fleshing out for the reader. This book is not filled with lots of moral messages but it is full of pure exciting entertainment adventure. This is a man’s kind of book that can be read and enjoyed equally by a woman.

My son is a police officer, so I had some idea of what that job is like. However, I did not have a clue as to what it might be like for officers on a special response team such as a sniper. The author writes with much authority and seems to understand the emotional liabilities that occupation might have on men under stress. The dialog is done well and does not feel contrived. This is a good old fashion adventure thriller to read and kill an afternoon or a night. Great suspense novel! A must read book!

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis
Sniper Shot is the dramatic, suspense-filled debut novel about the ongoing and potentially deadly conflict between Ben Geller, primary sniper on the Stratton, Oregon Special Response Team and Bob Slater, the team's secondary sniper. Despite Slater's superior marksmanship, Geller is the primary sniper because Slater, a world-class long distance, high-powered rifle competitive shooter, lacks the patience and discipline needed to assume the position of primary sniper. Sniper Shot takes readers deep into the world of this special elite team, moving toward the kind of showdown nobody expects between Geller and Slater—one of them is a robber and murderer, and the game of cat and mouse between the two, sets up a taut, dramatic finale.

Nobody Comes Back, by Donn Pearce

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MWSA Review

MWSA – The Best Military Novel of the Year – 2005!

The public has waited over 30 years for author Donn Pearce (who wrote the successful book and the movie screen play “Cool Hand Luke”) to come out with another blockbuster novel—and now the wait is over! “Nobody Comes Back” is another masterpiece by a master novelist! What is evident is that this tale about World War II is destined to become another classic war novel. This story is told with all the emotions and intensity of a combat veteran. It is a book about courage, the coming of age, suffering and hope. It is so much more then just about life and death on the battlefields—you will never read another story like this about any war. You will not sleep until you finished it!

This is the most riveting and powerful novel about “The Battle of the Bulge” that has ever been written—and that is saying a lot.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

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Author's Synopsis

Donn Pearce, the author of Cool Hand Luke, again revisits the subject of men under tremendous pressure, living and dying according to oppressive circumstances. Now, he brings you another tragic hero, thrust out of the only world he knew and forced to create one on his own terms . . . or die trying.

Toby Parker was America's unwanted son. Only sixteen years old, he was too young to be enlisted in the army, but old enough to know that he didn't want to return to the life he knew: moving from new home to new home, neglected by his mother, ignored by his father, overlooked by everyone else. 

The war overseas promised exotic locations and adventure, but what it delivered was something else entirely. The Nazis were beginning to fall back, and the war was all but over. But the fighting still raged on in pockets of Europe. Out of the critical focus on France, only one last position needed to hold: the city of Bastogne. Thrown into battle almost immediately upon arrival, he soon found himself wounded and alone, struggling to survive and looked upon to lead. It was here that Toby was to learn what war really was, and what kind of man he was destined to become. 

Many American boys went into World War II, and each one lived their own nightmare, critically shaped by what they experienced. Out of the dead, even the survivors, Nobody Comes Back.

Told with gritty authenticity, Donn Pearce captures the very essence of what it means to be caught under the worst circumstances imaginable, while having the strength and humanity to rise above them.