Customer Reviews

Memphis, Nam, Sweden: The Story of a Black Deserter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Why was this thing resurrected? "Memphis, Nam , Sweden" was fraudulent when it was first published many years ago and it hasn't gotten any more true in the intervening decades. Terry Whitmore's assertion that he participated in a planned atrocity-the killing of upwards of 400 Vietnamese non-combatant villagers was and still is a total fabrication. Mr. Whitmore first peddled this bilge to Mark Lane for Lane's book "Conversations With Americans", published by Simon and Schuster in 1970. Neil Sheehan-of Pentagon Papers fame-shredded this tale for a review of Mr. Lane's book by interviewing men who had served with Mr. Whitmore and by examining Mr. Whitmore's service records, records which showed that Mr. Whitmore's battalion operated in an unpopulated area near the DMZ. Mr. Whitmore could not have helped kill 400 people who never existed; the next person who comes forward to corroborate Mr. Whitmore's fantasy will be the first.

Mr. Whitmore was wounded in combat and deserted rather than return to his unit after his recuperation in Japan. He was spirited from Japan by the Soviet Navy, and lived for a time in the Soviet Union before settling in Sweden. His tale not worth telling is told in a writing style that alternates between comic book adventure and low pornography. Crude racial and gender stereotypes abound; Mexicans and Puerto Ricans are "...hot-headed and always ready to fight"; women are "broads", and "...they're all alike". Mr. Whitmore also advocates the violent overthrow of the American government. This is a truly awful book.

I understand, I understand, this book at times put me back in vietnam. The way the brothers was talking, like "splibs". Thank you for writing this book. Know you can make a "move" from this.

This is a very well written and engrossing story of a man who was wounded in action in Vietnam and after recuperating in a hospital in Japan decided to opt out before he was sent back into combat. He found his way from Japan through Russia to Sweden where he received asylum. The story is about what it was like to be a black soldier from the south caught up in the war, and what it was like to end up in a country which was as passionately against the war as any place in the west. It is a worthy addition to the literature about the American experience in Vietnam.

I finished this book on one day I just couldn't stop read it, it's great, Terry Whitmore a tough marine goes to vietnam there hi do his duty for uncle Sam but in one hell of a fire fight hi gets hit and leaves Nam for hospital treatment, later he gets better and gets orders to go back to Nam but hi had it this time and desides to escape military life and moves to beutiful country of Sweden. Read it!

I found this book too expensive. How is it possible that average book could be worth so much? Any explanation?

I served with Mr. Whitmore in Viet Nam. He was only in the field a month and tried to "slide" and get out of duty. He is simply a coward and made up a fictious life to justify his desertion and collaboration with the enemy. You would be better served by donating the money you might spend on this book to your favorite charity.

That man is a traitor and should have been shot.