Tour of Duty : John Kerry and the Vietnam War
by Douglas Brinkley (Author)
amazon.com
Experience of war, January 19, 2004
Reviewer: A reader from Bethesda, MD United States
How to deal with the actual, living experience of war, then and now, is the underlying topic of Douglas Brinkley's troubling book. Troubling because in John Kerry's experience of Vietnam as a young soldier, there were no easy answers or solutions, even when it was clear that the war was wrong. How to behave? What decisions to make? How to maintain loyalty to one's comrades and decency to one's enemy? How to think about the experience years later, and apply it to the radically different environment created by the interplay of George W. Bush's insistence on invading Iraq and Saddam Hussein's efforts to disguise his own weakness, in a period when the CIA was warning he had the ability to kill millions with biological and chemical weapons, and was still seeking nuclears. No simple answers here, only the guidance that one has to do one's level best with the struggle to do the right thing. A powerful book, but not a happy one. What it does suggest that John Kerry has been through a crucible that would make him more cautious and serious than the people who got us into Iraq, and the compassion and empathy for others that might make him more capable of helping us find solutions for where we are now with Iraq and with the world.
57 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
Revealing & Dramatic Account of War, January 9, 2004
Reviewer: A reader from Danbury, CT USA
I saw Doug Brinkley interviewed on the Today Show about this book and, although I don't know much about John Kerry, I thought "Tour of Duty" sounded interesting so I got a copy. Regardless of one's political views, this is an extraordinary book about the life and experiences of a young soldier in Vietnam grappling with what it's like to kill, survive emotionally and physically in a hellish environment (Kerry was wounded several times), and come to terms with a conflict he ultimately thought to be unwinnable--even thought he was right in the middle of it. This is not a Kerry campaign book, but a phenomenal, unbiased work of history on Professor Brinkley's part and, without question, one of the best and most riveting war books I've read. And I read a lot of them.
War and Politics, March 7, 2004
Reviewer: Ken Davey (see more about me) from Hopewell, Jct., New York United States
On D-Day, 6 June 1944, American soldiers were accidentally drowned in the English Channel because their inflatable life preservers were worn incorrectly. Nearly a quarter century later, during a helicopter evacuation on a hill near Khe Sanh, 8 April 1968, U.S. combatant Max Cleland picked up a grenade - thinking it was his own with the pin intact. The twenty-five-year-old Army captain had his right arm and both legs blown off. Decades after the war in Vietnam, Republican columnist Ann Coulter criticized triple-amputee Cleland for "allowing Democrats to portray him as a war hero," because his injuries were a result of an accident rather than enemy fire.
Growing up in the 1950s, it was not uncommon for children to be asked, "What did your daddy do during WWII?" Ike became President and most Americans took pride in their contribution to that war effort. Today's youth have a curiosity about the war in Southeast Asia, but veterans and citizens on either side of the peace issue seem understandably reluctant when talking about it. Children of veterans who want to learn more about war and politics in the late 1960s and 1970s should read Tour of Duty by Douglas Brinkley. Although a sad chapter in American history, the politics of the war in Vietnam is described through the eyes of one combat sailor who was there. Historian Brinkley claims that John Kerry "exerted no editorial control on the manuscript."
The politics of war is not unique to the Vietnam era. On Normandy D-Day, a glorious day for the Allies and FDR's administration, and a day of gratitude and thanksgiving throughout our nation, politicking continued in Washington, D.C. With the November 1944 election approaching, in an attempt to embarrass President Roosevelt, the House of Representatives directed the Secretary of War and the Navy to begin court-martial proceedings against Admiral Husband E. Kimmell and General Walter C. Short for negligence over the Pearl Harbor attack.
The naval service of Lieutenant Kerry and sacrifice of Captain Cleland should not be trivialized for political gain. As the son of a D-Day naval officer and grateful citizen of this nation, I honor and salute the sacrifice of all Vietnam combat veterans, both Republicans and Democrats on either side of the peace issue. One of every ten Americans who served in Vietnam became casualties with amputations and crippling wounds 300% higher than in WWII. Our nation owes a debt of gratitude and special care for the 75,000 Vietnam veterans who are severely disabled. This book is not about pity for Max Cleland, for he courageously plays the hand he was dealt in Vietnam. Tour of Duty gets five stars because the book is an exceptionally well-written biography of Captain Max Cleland's friend and hero. |
