Customer Reviews

Ghosts in the Wire

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This is the second book I've read by Mr. Rast and he seems to not have skipped a beat in his manner of bringing characters in the true-life situations that draw a reader into the story. It picks up where his first book Don's Nam ends. The flashbacks, highs and lows and really unpredictable (both comical and sad) plights of returning Vietnam vertrans make this an easy-reading, entertaining but yet truly informative narrative that is highly recommended.

Ghosts In The Wire is a poignant, comic walk down the memory lane of a man riding out the string of pain, grit, and love that formed 'his' Vietnam War. Lieutenant Don 'Wildman' Rast returns home to Louisiana, his family, the bucolic LSU Campus, familiar Baton Rouge streets and finds he doesn't know anyone anymore. Memories clash. Rast's first thought on touching down in 'the world' is who, today, is walking point in the boonies of Vietnam. Pieces no longer fit: people speak English but 'hear' Sanskrit. Like a Thomas Wolfe vignette, Rast tells a story of yearning and loss, journey and search, wonder and doubt.
Keeping his ghosts locked in the attic, Rast opts for continued military service. Assigned to garrison duty at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, newly promoted Captain Rast performs his duty in an exceptional manner, mystifying Regular Army brass who have squirreled the young officer into the oddly efficient basket.
Wildman calms his spirit in abstract painting and solitude. He traipses on the edges of experience with an assortment of local and loco Apache tribe people, haunted Nam Vets waiting to be discharged, and hippie travelers and mystics from back home in the Bayou.
Ghosts In The Wire is a magnificent memoir of a time that made no sense, of a time when a Nam brother had to gather his senses, pocket some memories, burn others, and figure out who he was, what he was, where he was coming from and where in hell he was heading.
The book is written in an exquisite, epic poetical cadence of love, human comedy, war, honor and duty that reads like a great novel and forms pictures of identity with the reader that will linger long after completion.
There is wisdom and mystery in this exceptional book. Franklin D. Rast asks the equivalent of the modern 'what's up'?--but gives the answer. i urge veterans and hippies, soldiers and civilians to read this book. Bob Lupo, author, A Buffalo's Revenge, and Extremities-4.

Don Rast's "Ghosts In The Wire" begins in March of 1970 as the Delta jet bringing him home from Vietnam is landing smoothly at the Shreveport airport. This decorated warrior then takes us on a one-year personal journey, clearly showing the reader what the returning soldier from the war experienced. He paints a vivid portrait of American life during that time, centered around garrison life of soldiers at Fort Sill who had been in the war zone and were waiting to get out of the Army. This book is an eye-opener for anyone not old enough to remember that time in United States history and for those who never served in the military. This talented author deserves a standing ovation for telling it like it was in a most refreshing and enjoyable way. --Diana J. Dell, author, "A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories."

I recommend this book because it explains better than others I have read about the Vietnam war veterans and what they went through when they returned from the war. It is sad in parts, but the humor and almost poetic cadence of Mr. Rast makes me feel that at least no matter how hard the obstacles---most of the soldiers still had a heart and sense of humor. It gives a good view for people my age on what the 60's and early 70's were all about---the Vietnam conflict, racial unrest, drugs, and an almost reverance for those that returned to tell their stories in a manner that is well-captured by Mr. Rast. The thoughts in the book seem to stay with me, and it is very different from other books about the war I have read.

Ghost in the wire is a fascinating account on the Vietnam war. I was riveted to the book, and didn't want to put it down, it was like a roller coaster. I difinately have mixed emotions of the Vietnam War, wondering if it's a just war or not, but this book took all of the politics out and it was just an awesome read. I believe it's a must read for anyone.