Customer Reviews

Out of the Night: The Spiritual Journey of Vietnam Vets

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I have only the uncorrected proofs of this book and I'm not sure how much changed between then and publication. However, the author makes some observations about American Christianity, or civil religion, with its tendency to confuse "God's will" and "the American way", that I think everyone in this country -- connected to the conflict in Vietnam or not -- should read, particularly at a time in our history when we seem determined to impose our way on the rest of the world. Highly recommended for anyone who desires to better understand the legacy of this war or why American Christianity so often falls short in the face of harsh reality.

Examining my old writings for the source of some of my current views, today I found a long quotation on:

Vets: Deep Swimmers in Shallow Waters (pp. 192-193)

which mentions Robert Bellah as one of the authors of the study Habits of the Heart. The index of the book, The Rise of Western Rationalism/Max Weber's Developmental History (1979, 1981, 1985) by the German scholar Wolfgang Schluchter lists five pages for mentioning Bellah, who compared the symbolism of father and son in Christianity and Confucianism in a book, Beyond Belief. In Out of the Night/ The Spiritual Journey of Vietnam Vets by William Mahedy, Habits of the Heart is quoted:

The therapeutic self
is "defined by its own
wants and satisfactions,
coordinated by cost-benefit
calculations. Its social
virtues are largely limited
to emphatic communication,
truth-telling and equitable
negotiation." . . . It seems
as if beneath it all
"there is no there there."

The incessant search for a
perfectly fulfilled self is
nothing more than undisguised
narcissism. . . . contact with
the vets should provide further
stimulus to confront the
phoniness and inner emptiness
engendered by the therapeutic
mind-set. (William F. Mahedy,
Out of the Night
The Spiritual Journey of
Vietnam Vets,
pp. 192-193).

Having been exposed to marijuana, opium, and heroin in Vietnam, it is easy for me to see leeches who think they are practicing medicine because they used substances that are not marijuana as an official form of intellectual castration. Drugs are like sex and rock and roll in a society of institutions which do not consider each individual competent to determine their own personal habits and associations. Joint forms of therapy to examine the nature of personal relationships with a therapist who wants to limit thoughts to expressions of practical values even extended to considering books a big waste of time. I got married once just to kick a habit. So far my four children have only produced one grandson, and the rest of America seems determined to remain in the pattern:

Liberty,
equality,
fraternity,
vasectomy.

I read the first edition of "Out of the Night" over about 16 years after returning from South Vietnam where I served an infantry platoon leader with the First Infantry Division. It is a compelling work that will help the Veteran come "out of the night" and other readers better understand what happened there and what happened to the men and women who served there.

The Vietnam War was the defining event of my adult life. Its impact was tremendous and intense. William Mahedy captures the thoughts and fears of many Vietnam Veterans in his work.

Martin Luther King was right when he said ""A time comes when silence is betrayal." Mahedy was not silent and many have benefited.


Author of: "Mr. NewHeart," the story of my 1991 heart transplant.

Mr. NewHeart - Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond

Mr. NewHeart