Incident at Muc Wa: A Novel of War in Southeast Asia [Paperback]

Daniel Ford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2000

This is the story that inspired the acclaimed Burt Lancaster movie, Go Tell the Spartans. It's 1964early days in South Vietnamand the U.S. Army Raiders garrison a town that the French abandoned ten years before. "Sad, bawdy, and compelling," wrote the Detroit Free Pressand prophetic, too, of how the larger war would end. "A fine novel"Library Journal "The greatest work to date on the Vietnam involvement"Cincinnati Enquirer

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fine novel. Recommended." -- Library Journal, March 15, 1967

"His hero is a likeable and dogged young man who believes that anything worth doing is worth doing well [and] a grim illustration of the consequences." -- New Statesman (Britain), February 17, 1968

"Sad, bawdy, and compelling." -- Detroit Free Press, June 11, 1967

"The corporal's involvement has built-in hazards, which Mr. Ford develops in a series of deftly stated ironies." -- New York Times Book Review, June 4, 1967

"The greatest work to date on the Vietnam involvement" -- Cincinnati Enquirer

Fantastic read --Smashwords, January 25, 2010

From the Author

In 1964 I took a few months' leave from my job as an editor in a university publications office, and I bought a ticket to Saigon, to see for myself what was going on there. (Oh, okay, and also to get material for a book if I could. I had visions of becoming the Ernie Pyle of Vietnam, not knowing that Mr. Pyle had been killed by a sniper on a jungle trail.) I hitchhiked all over the country on military aircraft, but the unforgettable event was the trek to a village called Tan Hoa, pronounced tan wa. We were supposed to evacuate the residents so the area could become a free-fire zone. But when we reached Tan Hoa after three days of minor league skirmishing and pillage, we found it empty except for a few fighting holes and some splendid French graves, relicts of the first Indochina War.

That operation continued to bug me after I was home in New Hampshire that fall. What would have happened, I wondered, if instead of merely evacuating the village, we'd been sent to garrison it? So I renamed the place Muc Wa (picture Jack Kennedy saying "muck war") and gave it a garrison of U.S. Army Raiders (a simplified version of Special Forces) and Montagnard tribesmen. What would happen? Well, obviously the Viet Cong would attack. Then what? The Americans would reinforce. And then? Well, obviously the Viet Cong would move a reinforced battalion into the area. And then....

Incident at Muc Wa was published in hardcover, in paperback, and in Dutch and British editions. Then it was made into a splendid movie with Burt Lancaster, Mark Singer, and Craig Wasson: Go Tell the Spartans. (When the young American corporal first sees the graves at Muc Wa, he thinks of Simonides's epitaph to the Spartans who died at Thermopylae: "Go, stranger, and tell the Spartans that we lie here in obedience to their laws.") I am delighted that the story continues to be available, thanks to print-on-demand and digital published. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 231 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595089275
• ISBN-13: 978-0595089277
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,448,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet; Prophetic, August 5, 2002

By 

Michael Tozer (San Antonio, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Incident at Muc Wa: A Novel of War in Southeast Asia (Paperback)

Daniel Ford's novel served as the basis for the excellent Vietnam war film, "Go Tell the Spartans". The movie was generally faithful to the novel, with just a bit of Hollywood added. The story follows draftee Stephen Courcey through special forces training and finally into the jungle of the Central Highlands of the Republic of South Vietnam. There, the experience of his military advisory team seems to be an allegory to the American involvement in Vietnam. One of the characters, a number crunching junior officer, allows that it will take 50,000 American combat deaths to "stabilize" the situation in Southeast Asia. This statement in this work of fiction written in 1967 is pretty amazing when you consider that the final American death count in Vietnam was 58,000 and change.

The novel moves quickly and flows nicely. The characters are strong. You find yourself somehow inside Corporal Courcey's head and laughing at Captain Olivetti's obsession with his CIB, his combat infantry badge. The role of Major Barker in the book is much less central than it is in the movie. But then, Burt Lancaster played the ... out of Major Barker in the film, so they may have made certain adjustments for the star.

There is a sadness and fatalism about the book that may bother some. However, the topic is not exactly uplifting. On the whole, a worthwhile and enjoyable read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best of the Vietnam books!, June 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Incident at Muc Wa: A Novel of War in Southeast Asia (Paperback)

I read this book in a college course. We started with the Quiet American and went right through. Muc Wa was one of my favorites. It puzzled me why Mr Ford called the Green Berets "Raiders" and the Viet Cong "Charlie Romeo" but I guess that's because the war was still going on when the book was published. If more people had read it in 1967, maybe we wouldn't have gotten into the quagmire we did.

The hero is a young draftee who volunteers for Nam. He gets sent to garrison a useless town and then falls in love with the place and the people. (However, it's the sergeant who gets the girl!) Then when the VC attack and the Americans are ordered to leave, he stays behind to lead his gang out.

In the movie, Burt Lancaster (the major from headquarters) stays with him. The major is killed, the corporal lives. I thought the book's ending was more real.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story behind the best Vietnam movie!, July 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Incident at Muc Wa: A Novel of War in Southeast Asia (Paperback)

If you know the Vietnam movies, you're familiar with the Burt Lancaster classic "Go Tell the Spartans". Well, here's the story it was based on.

It's 1964 and a team of U.S. Army "Raiders" (Special Forces) and local mercenaries are sent to put the old French garrison at Muc Wa back in business. Sergeant Ski falls in love with a refugee girl, and Corporal Courcey falls in love with the town he helps build. Not a good idea. The Viet Cong put the screws to Muc Wa and the Americans are ordered to "exfiltrate". Sounds like a metaphor for the Vietnam war, doesn't it? Sure, except that it was written and published years before the U.S. got out of Vietnam.

Dan Ford was a reporter in the Nam, writing for "The Nation" magazine. I like his stuff--it's masculine, gritty and funny. Check this one out. Then if you haven't already, rent or buy "Spartans" and see what Jonathan Goldsmith and Craig Wasson do with the roles, not to mention "Butterfly" and Burt Lancaster as the major from headquarters. -- Paddy O