Views of Vietnam

摘要

Fresh out of high school in 1966, Stanley Parker enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. The second of the Parker brothers to serve in the armed forces, Stanley wanted to go to Vietnam because "that's where the fighting was." On Decembei 27, 1967, he celebrated his 20th birthday in the midst of a fierce firefight. By the time he left Vietnam in 1968, his unit Echo Company (First Battalion Airborne) had engaged in 17 combat assaults. On January 30, 1968, the Viet Cong launched a massive counterattack, the Tet Offensive, leading Echo Company to be constantly under attack. In the first 34 days of the offensive, the unit lost three men; 31 more were wounded for a 75 percent casualty rate. Parker was injured three times, rejecting his third Purple Heart because accepting the award meant a mandatory return back to the United States. Stanton (In Harm's Way) is a sympathetic observer. By focusing on Parker's story, from high school through the war's long aftermath, the author gives shape (though not meaning) to a conflict that was more disillusioning than most. VERDICT We are finally ready to learn more about Vietnam, and no book tells the story better than this one.