Highway One: A Vietnam War Story [Paperback]

James Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 23, 2001

When the light at the end of the tunnel in Vietnam was getting pretty dim in 1968, the Pentagon decided to "Vietnamize" the war. The United States' strategy was to turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese, supplying them with weapons, material, and advisors. However, the problem with this new policy was not so much the persistence of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers, but the American advisors and their advice. These Americans weren't necessarily incompetent, it was just that they were sent to Vietnam for only a one-year tour of duty and always felt like they had to do something.So when a young Army lieutenant who only wants out of the Army is sent to a small village to build a rifle range for the local self-defense force during his last fourteen days in-country, he becomes caught between the Army's gung ho philosophy and the villagers' traditional Aisian concept of the relationship between time and war. To further complicate things, he is drawn to a beautiful woman in the village who is mysteriously close to the local Viet Cong.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James E. Davidson spent 1968 in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader in the Central Highlands and as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Popular Forces. He is now a community college instructor in Indiana.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (August 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595196543
• ISBN-13: 978-0595196548
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,181,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book!, March 31, 2004

By 

"bivot" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highway One: A Vietnam War Story (Paperback)

Highway One was an incredible Vietnam War story. It was well-written and couldn't have been much better. It isn't too tough a read, yet it is descriptive and keeps the reader involved. It is a definate must-read if you are at all interested in this type of book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, complex, fascinating read from beginning to end, April 10, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highway One: A Vietnam War Story (Paperback)

Written by a Vietnam veteran who spent 1968 as an infantry platoon leader in the Central Highlands and as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Popular Forces, James E. Davison's Highway One: A Vietnam War Story is a revealing, sometimes disturbing, sometimes thrilling, always deeply personal novel. Set in the year that America tried to "Vietnamize" the war and turn the fighting over to the South Vietnamese, supplying them with weapons, material, and advisors, Highway One follows the path of one such Army lieutenant advisor and his last fourteen days in Vietnam. Caught in a complex tangle of conflicting opinions, deadly danger, and the affections of a beautiful local woman, his seemingly simple mission becomes all but lost in the jostle of powerful agendas about him. Highway One is gripping, complex, fascinating read from beginning to end.

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Description by the Author, September 28, 2001

By 

James E. Davidson (Richmond, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highway One: A Vietnam War Story (Paperback)

This story is not your typical Vietnam War story. It follows the last fourteen days of a young Army lieutenant's tour of duty in Vietnam as he struggles with the bureaucracy of the American military machine and his own self-doubts about the usefulness of the American effort. At another level, it is a satire of American military advisors in cultural conflict with the people they were sent to help. This "war story" about "Vietnamization" should hopefully serve as a cautionary reminder to U.S. policy-makers as we enter this "new war", and become slowly entangled in a long-term commitment of our young men and women in a culture so unlike our own.