One Young Soldier: A Novel by Gary Derigne
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: October 2007
- Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
- Format: Hardcover, 396pp
- ISBN-13: 9781432709426
- ISBN: 1432709429
Synopsis
Hell, If It Exists, Cant Be Much Worse Than This...
Forty-six days without a bath. Jungle rot sores up and down both arms, oozing pus, stinkin' like death. Livin' on bomb crater water, C-ration white bread, peanut butter, and cigarettes. Sweat all the time, clothes get so crusted with sweat, they stiffen up at night when you sleep. Haven't had clean jungle fatigues for almost a month now. Mosquitoes swarm you every night, and leeches climb on and suck your blood any time you get near water. No weekends, no holidays, never a day off. The nights are hardest. Can't smoke, can't talk. Just stare into the darkness, listen to the lizards and bugs, try to stay awake, and listen for gooks. An hour here at night is an eternity.
At some point, you stop believin' you're gonna' make it.
Former infantry rifleman and platoon sergeant Gary DeRigne has created a novel set during the Viet Nam War that is brutal, honest, heartrending, tragic, and hopeful in turns. Told as only one who experienced the war firsthand can relay, One Young Soldier is a thoughtful and enduring work of literature that is as engaging to read as it is disturbing. DeRigne does not spare the reader the brutalities of war in all its nightmarish horror. This sensitive and unforgettable first novel is a triumph of literary war fiction.
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One Young Soldier: A Novelby Anonymous
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May 27, 2008: This is a tremendous book which vividly captures life in the military, even if you never made it to combat. It is intensive reading and certainly not for the squeamish as Gary pulls no punches in describing what life was like. This book should be mandatory reading for any of our 'chickenhawk' leaders who never made it into battle, but have no qualms sending our your men and women into battle. War isn't glamorous like portrayed in many movies. Given that Gary is the nephew of my father-in-law, who is depicted in the book, and that I served in the Army from 1970-71, there was an even greater attraction for me.
One Young Soldier: A Novelby Anonymous
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March 09, 2008: This is the best I've read that takes a person from a civilian to soldier and back again, describing each step in riveting detail. I missed the draft literally by just a few months and heard bits and pieces of the details of the Vietnam war from the few that would open up about it. Older brothers and uncles would come back different than when they left. This book helps us understand what they must have gone through, too. The author shows how circumstances, character, and just plain luck can dictate the affect of the war on a soldier's life. This book gives a unique and detailed perspective from one young soldier. Job well done.
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