Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order [Paperback]

Dan Dane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 2002

Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order offers a glimpse of conditions around Bien Hoa during the last years of the war. Bill Blake encounters fragging, racism and heroin addiction while defending soldiers in court-martial trials as a young Army lawyer. Much like the soldiers he defends, Blake finds himself in conflict with his superior officers.The story of a drafted, civilian attorney serving as an Army lawyer in Vietnam gives this book a unique perspective. Captain Blake's experiences accentuate many of the troublesome aspects of the war, including the draft, authority of Commanding Generals, domestic demand for troop withdrawal and in the end, the delivery of heroin to the American troops.The historical fiction genre allows vets to recognize historically correct settings in Vietnam during 1971-1972 in this book. The fictitious characters and circumstances provide an entertaining read for those who lived through the era as well as those for whom Vietnam is only a curiosity out of the distant past.Other books by Dan Dane include Fireflies in the Delta and Bloodlines of Tyranny.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dane attended UNM in the 1960's during the turmoil of the civil rights movementreceived his law degree from U of Arkansas before entering the Army as a JAG officer. His experiences have taken him from the parched desert of NM to the jungles of Vietnam to the Mississippi River delta of Arkansas. He now serves as a judge in the federal system.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (December 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595258832
• ISBN-13: 978-0595258833
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,131,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why we lost the Vietnam War..., January 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order (Paperback)

Judge Dane writes a entralling story about the last years of the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a JAG officer. His courtroom scenes and depiction of military politics read as real as possible. All the distinctions - officers/grunts - career/draftee - white/black - combat/backup - add to the tension and conflict. He puts forth a convincing hypothesis about why we lost the war. Once realized, the hypothesis seems obvious and one further realizes that the same element echoes through American society today - still causing lost lives. The Judge is to be complimented on his rendition and understanding.

5.0 out of 5 stars A no-holds barred insight into the military maelstrom of Viet Nam., June 5, 2006

By 

W. H. McDonald Jr. "The American Author Assoc... (Elk Grove, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order (Paperback)

The author presents a JAG (Judge Advocate General) lawyer who represents soldiers accused of murder and drug offenses. And the censors are not allowed to lessen the brutal telling of the pitfalls.

This book brings the reader into the fray, allowing him to feel, taste, touch and react to military life in Viet Nam. Using the experiences of a non-career Army lawyer assigned during the last days of duty in Viet Nam, we discover that the justice served in the military is a fight in itself.

At times that legal battle is influenced by high command input not necessarily beneficial to the lawyer's role or to the meting out of justice to the defendant.

We follow the lawyer protagonist's fight his personal battle of bafflement and anger towards his immediate superior whose sole ambition is to promote himself. Thoughts of killing enter the lawyer's mind. This mind frame is grown out of the futility felt due to Generals doing the opposite of the facts published to the American public. "I fight to stop a moron poising as an Army officer from screwing up the life of a soldier."

This moving book guides us through the daily experiences faced by the "grunts" which, of necessity, become the foundation of the ordeal of the defense counsel. Fortunately, where he finds innocence of the purported crime, our lawyer battles through the layers of military law to bring about a "not guilty" decision.

This is a must read story of the little known area of the conflict in Viet Nam.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharply Honest, March 3, 2004

By 

Diana J. Dell (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order (Paperback)

I was a civilian working for USO in Vietnam during the same time that Dan Dane was there as a JAG officer. Dane's outstanding book is sharply honest, sharply funny, sharply sad, and entirely engrossing, acutely tuned to the way things really were. If readers are curious as to why Americans are still imprisoned, to one extent or another, by the Vietnam War, Dane's book will provide some valuable answers.
Diana J. Dell, author, A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories