I rated this book five stars because of the author's willingness to tell so much about himself (good and bad) and his leadership against the military's DADT policy.
I need to say upfront that I am gay, was drafted into the Army in '67 and served in Vietnam (hated every minute) and grew up in the same conservative Massachusetts' community as Richen Lehmkulm. I have never meet Reichen and never watched the reality TV shows on which he has appeared. I am aware that Reichen is a controversial person in the gay
community.
The first half of "Here's What We'll Say" takes Reichen from childhood through high school. My life was very similar to Reichen's. He did a good job of describing what junior high and high school is like in rural, less liberal communities of Massachusetts. Reichen's big issue during the Mass. years was feeling inferior and angry because he lived with his mom and step father in a trailer park. Some anger is still there, because Reichen names the two people who were class bullies and picked on him in the 7th and 8th grades. He states that they must be gay, even though both men are married and have many children. Reichen provides no proof that either man is gay.
Reichen learned to love flying planes from his beloved grandmother and
secured a slot at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He did well in the various training programs and showed leadership potential before his freshmen year (equal to basic training and advanced infantry training). By his second year, it is obvious that Reichen has no respect for most of the rules and training underclassmen requirements of the Air Force Academy. Many of the rule and regulation may be ridiculous, but even I (a mere draftee) understood the underlining purpose behind the rules better than Reichen.
If it ever occurred to Reichen that his love of flying and nothing else were fairly slim reasons for attending the Air Force Academy, he never mentions it in the book.
Reichen was able to have a fairly active gay sex live at the Air Force Academy and helped others navigate around the horrible Don't ask, Don't tell policy. This is the best part of the book. Reichen is not afraid to show both his good qualities and his arrogance in full bloom.
Finally the author atributes his low history grades freshmen year to his poor skills at "understanding chains of events." Yet his book is full of detailed chains of events in his life. Understanding chains of events is my best skill. Yet, I couldn't come close to writing such a detailed book about my life. Reichen does acknowledge those who helped him with the book, but I believe that he received much more help than he is admitting.
Despite all these reservation, I still rate this book 5 stars. Based on the book, my guess is that Reichen will take strong exception to my critical comments, if he ever sees this review. But, I hope I am wrong on that.
