A Personal War in Vietnam (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series) [Paperback]

Robert Flynn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Flynn, novelist ( Wanderer Springs ) and ex-Marine, spent two months of 1971 in Vietnam as a correspondent. These five previously unpublished essays investigate so-called "pacification" teams--mixed units of American Marines and Vietnamese Popular Forces members who labored in the villages to win the "hearts and minds" of Vietnamese peasants to their political way of thinking. Clearly, Flynn believes that in day-to-day personal contact with Vietnamese of uncertain loyalties, such Marines faced the ambiguities and anguish of Vietnam with courage. And the author sympathizes with these Americans, noting that in their place he might have behaved as they purportedly did--for example, testing villagers' loyalties by asking a child to open a potentially booby-trapped trash can. With all the recent books on Vietnam, little in this cogent, complex account will come as a surprise. Much, however, is memorable--as when one young soldier holds conscientious objectors responsible for the massacre at My Lai. "If everybody who has a conscience runs and hides," the soldier demands, "who do you have making moral decisions?"
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

ROBERT FLYNN is the award-winning author of Wanderer Springs, North to Yesterday, and The Signs of Rescue, the Signs of Hope (see page xx). He is novelist in residence at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: TAMU Press; First Edition edition (September 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890964181
• ISBN-13: 978-0890964187
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,210,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Flynn, professor emeritus, Trinity University and a native of Chillicothe, Texas, is the author of fourteen books. Nine novels: North To Yesterday; In the House of the Lord; The Sounds of Rescue, The Signs of Hope; Wanderer Springs, The Last Klick, The Devils Tiger, co-authored with the late Dan Klepper, Tie-Fast Country, Echos of Glory.and his most recent Jade:Outlaw. His dramatic adaptation of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying was the United States entry at the Theater of Nations in Paris in l964 and won a Special Jury Award. He is also the author of a two-part documentary, "A Cowboy Legacy" shown on ABC-TV; a nonfiction narrative, A Personal War in Vietnam, an oral history, When I was Just Your Age, and a memoir, Burying the Farm.

Also, three story collections, Seasonal Rain, Living With The Hyenas, Slouching Toward Zion, and a collection of essays, Growing Up a Sullen Baptist. He is co-editor of Paul Baker and the Integration of Abilities.

North to Yesterday received awards from the Texas Institute of Letters and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, and was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times. Seasonal Rain, was co-winner of the Texas Literary Festival Award. Wanderer Springs received a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. Living With the Hyenas received a Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Echoes of Glory received a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. Flynn's work has been translated into German, Spanish, Dutch, Afrikaans, Malayalam, Arabic, Tamil, Hindi, Kanada, and Vietnamese. Flynn is a member of The Texas Institute of Letters, The Writers Guild of America, Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Associate, and P.E.N. In 1998, he received the "Distinguished Achievement Award" from the Texas Institute of Letters. (See Flynn's Blog.)

Robert Flynn is a native of Chillicothe, Texas, the best known Chillicothe outside of Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, despite its size. Chillicothe is so small there's only one Baptist Church. Chillicothe is so small you have to go to Quanah to have a coincidence. Chillicothe is fairly bursting with truth and beauty and at an early age Flynn set out to find it.

His life and work could be described as 'The Search for Morals, Ethics, Religion, or at least a good story in Texas and lesser known parts of the world'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vietnam War, April 8, 2000

By 

Christopher (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Personal War in Vietnam (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series) (Paperback)

This book illustrates the importance of the courage of the men in the Vietnam War. The author was a journalist in the war, and he records everything he sees and hears. Your mind will be filled with detailed scenes from the actual war, you might even find yourself checking your shoulder for mortars!