From Publishers Weekly
In 1967 the author, fresh out of Harvard, declared himself a conscientious objector, joined the International Voluntary Services and launched a series of emotion-laden and often dangerous ventures in Vietnam. They included retrieving the body of a colleague, who was probably an early victim of the CIA's Phoenix Program, and getting wounded in the Tet Offensive. As a member of the Committee of Responsibility he arranged for the evacuation of several war-injured children to hospitals in the U.S. despite obstacles thrown up by American and Vietnamese authorities. In 1989, 16 years after the fall of Saigon, he returned to Vietnam to teach at the University of Hue and look up the war-injured civilians he had helped. His self-deprecatory approach notwithstanding (referring to himself as "a little do-gooder," for instance), this talented author was an aggressive, resourceful and effective activist whose sympathy for innocent victims of the war runs deep. This beautifully written memoir presents a sid e of the war rarely addressed. Photos.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-- A unique view of the ambivalances and contradictions of the U. S. role in Vietnam. A conscientious objector who chose to serve the Vietnamese people by teaching English and sending child war victims to the States for medical treatment, Balaban immersed himself in their lives and cultures. This tough kid from the Boston projects, Harvard graduate, poet, and novelist traveled with equal ease among American GIs, CIA agents, journalists, and local people. Readers will relate to his compassionate, anguished narrative and thrill to his many heroic escapades.
- Jackie Gropman, Richard Byrd Library, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Jackie Gropman, Richard Byrd Library, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
