Customer Reviews

How Audie Murphy died in Vietnam

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In this book-length, narrative poem, McAvoy Layne follows the life of a fictional American boy whose Vietnam experience transforms him into a hero. The Audie Murphy of the title is not the Audie Murphy of WWII and Hollywood, but is rather an ordinary young man, circa 1970, who finds himself in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. The reader vicariously experiences the frustrations and humiliations of bootcamp, the horrors of war and the loyalty, camraderie and, ultimately, love, which the collective experience engenders among the enlisted men. The protagonist foregoes opportunities to leave, first, the battlefront and, second, Viet Cong prison camp, in a futile, Quixotic effort to end the war and ensure that all his comrades return home safe.

Actor/poet McAvoy Layne re-worked the Vietnam experiences of his youth into a remarkably lucid and expressive poem. The poem consists of about 100 verses which create mental images of a U.S. soldier's life in Vietnam. Reading this poem is much like watching a slideshow. Within the first few pages, I felt an immense respect and affection for the young soldier of the title and found that respect and affection spreading to all of the characters in the poem. I could not put this beautiful and heartrending book down.

I bought this book in 73 and loved it. It IS the VietNam ---Marine Corps experience. The only thing I don't like about this book is the fact that I didn't write it. Thanks McVoy, and Semper Fi.