Customer Reviews

The Proud Bastards

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Never have I read a more gripping combat account. It's a wild, unfettered ride. From the author's numbing, raunchy belittlement at Parris Island Marine boot camp to fighting in a faraway country he found "luring, lovely, and lethal," Helms pulls no punches. I especially like "Mikey's" biting, insightful running dialogue with himself.

Often as I read a book I will pause and thumb through a few pages to see how soon the chapter will end; perhaps because I've lost focus and I'm ready for it to end. I never did that while reading "The Proud Bastards" because Mr. Helms spared me the bother. He has the blessed knack to know when his readers are ready for a chapter to end and he writes accordingly.

Helms is observant in other ways that made reading this book an adventure. Seldom have I read a brutal war story graced with so many coloful descriptive passages about the lay of the land: the trees, birds, mountains, ocean, stars, and the weather. Such contrasting lends realism that "takes the reader there." I think it both sets the stage for and respites the gruesome battle scenes to follow.

I owe E. Michael Helms. He took me to Vietnam, showed me around, then got me out of there when he knew it was time for both of us to leave. He is an especially gifted writer, which "The Proud Bastards" proves abundantly.

I highly recommend this book.

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Perhaps the best book about combat I've ever read. The writing is superb, and like all good writing, becomes transparent as you are carried into the story. The setting is horrific, the language raw, as you share a teenager's thoughts and emotions in the face of violent death. Words are not wasted here - the writing is spare and accurate.

There is no moralizing about the "meaning" of the war. In effect, the author says, "Here's my story. Draw your own conclusions." My conclusion is that Mr. Helms is one hell of a writer!

This isn't just another book telling you about jungle combat in Viet Nam. Mike Helms thrusts an M-16 in your hands and drags you along as he tromps through the mud and blood of firefights and ambushes. Your stomach will tighten into knots. Fear will gnaw away at your mind as you climb to the top of another vine covered hill. Feel adrenaline flow as bullets buzz your head and stitch the ground in front of you. Learn why Veterans hold tightly to one another years after the war has ended, why some wake screaming in the night. As a Viet Nam combat veteran, I've experienced the horror Mike tells so vividly. He has mastered the technique of putting the reader into the hot seat. I was grateful when the book ended and I could close the cover and cry. Mike has every right to be one proud bastard.

As a career fighter pilot and a retired colonel with a combat tour in Southeast Asia, I always wanted to know what the war was like in the trenches--now I do. Don't pick this book up unless you like those stories that reach out, grab you and won't let go. This one did just that. I couldn't put it down. When the author was at Marine boot camp, so was I. When he faced the North Vietnamese Army, so did I. When he was severely wounded, I felt it. Proud Bastards is in the same league with Born on the Fourth of July and Private Ryan. Mike Helms' book is the "Top Gun" of Vietnam War sagas--a must read.

Helms' writing engages the reader from the beginning, and draws them into the story. I laughed with him in boot camp, had a knot in my stomach as he trudged through the rain and fighting in Vietnam, and hoped the best for him at the end. I've read the book several times, and each time feel the same strong emotions. The best book about Vietnam I've read. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to know what grunts went through during the war.

I found this book by accident at a library several years ago and saw the 4th Marine Regiment crest on the cover-that caught my eye because I was with the 4th during my tour in Vietnam as an FMF Hospital Corpsman in 65-66. I read it in one night--after putting in down numerous times to catch my breath. Mike writes about what I saw but did not have the skill or nerve to put in writing. He had me smelling the jungle, the gun cleaning solvent, the wood smoke and fear all over again. He made me remember things I had totally forgotten with his in-your-face honesty. If that's what a book is supposed to do, he does it better than anyone else ever has in The Proud Bastards. I would highly recommend it to any Vietnam vet (or non vet who wants to learn what it was like). I have only read a few books about Vietnam but this one is tops.

Larry Hill Havana, Florida

"The Proud Bastards" is one of the best books I've ever read. Michael Helms tells his true and pain story of MARINE boot camp and the Hell of Vietnam. The book is intense and extremely realisitic(because it's true). This is a story of a young man's right of passage to man hood through the horrors of war. A true classic and a must buy for everyone interested in the Vietnam War. "Welcome Home, A Salute to the forgotten Vietnam War Heroes" is another book E. Michael Helms will be appearing in. It will be out in December. Please e-mail me at AeroPosse3@aol.com for more information. Semper Fi, Mike!

I've seen many of the Vietnam War movies (Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Born in the USA). To me, The Proud Bastard would make the best movie of all because it's written by a grunt who was there. I'm a former magazine editor who doesn't read much these days. A friend told me about The Proud Bastards and I obtained a copy. I couldn't put it down, and read it cover to cover although that cost me some sleep. Its stream of consciousness style reminds me of works by Jim Harrison, an author I greatly admire. It is a gutsy, no-holds-barred account of the way things were in the trenches. I can't believe it hasn't already become grist for a movie.

A great book about the USMC. It's told in words from a Marine to others (not especially Marines). I'm a former MSgt of an former elite unit of the German Army and the first part of the book reminds me for my own time in "Boot Camp" in the German Army, though it wasn't that hard (rondabout 90 percent). The rest of the book is interesting to read too. It took me only four days to read it completely, I couldn't get enough of it. Thanks to Mr. Helms to write such a great stuff.

This book really tells it like it Was.Very possibly the
best account I've read. Highly recommended,Vets or civilian!Three thumbs up!