Customer Reviews

Remf Diary: A Novel of the Vietnam War Zone

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

 

 

As a Vietnam veteran, this book made me chuckle with the author's well-depicted description of what it was like being a lowly clerk in a non-combatant environment. No one else, and this is important; because of the real courage it takes to tell about one's "real" war experiences, which are often not daring exacerbations of Herculean heroics as depicted in many books about Nam, has cut out the self-serving---"I won the war single-handed," chaff, like the simple well-written satire of David Willson. In one form or another, we all complained in Vietnam. What I have liked about the book is that it reeks not the John Wayne bull (No offense intended to the ninty-nine percent of those who served as Navy SEAL's, Green Berets, CIA ['So bad, man---I still can't talk about it.'], and the several hundred Spartacus clones who arrived back in "the World" with a genuine shrunken head of Ho Chi Minh dangling from a dried piece of enemy intestine around their necks.) I can identify with all said, and this must have been hard to write---No other book covers REMF's (Rear Echelon Mother F-----'s) with true candor like this. A rare jewel for the serious student of the Vietnam war, but God knows the author's photo on the cover will never make an Army recruiting poster. The ending is a fitting climax to a very unusual, well-written, and honest down-to-earth book about the finer aspects of the war in Vietnam. Sincerely, Franklin D. Rast, author, "Don's Nam," and "Ghosts In The Wire."

David Willson has written an honest book on war. There are no heroes, no glory, no war booty, but there is lots of typing. The boredom of military life shines through in this rare book. The REMF perspective is the most well known among veterans, but the least understood among the non-veterans. Read this and believe it.

With tongue firmly planted in cheek, David A. Willson presents another side of the Vietnam War, the nonRambo rear echelon. The main character in REMF Diary, an army clerk, is funny, wise, sarcastic, and philosophical. I loved this book! Diana J. Dell, author, A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories.

Captures like nothing else the experience of the vast majority of us who served in what were referred to rather dismissively as "combat support" roles in Vietnam. I highly recommend this book and its sequel, The REMF Returns, to anyone who wants to get a taste of the day-to-day life "in the rear with the gear and the beer".
These two books served as a major inspiration for me to finally get off my [rear] and write my own REMF book, A Bad Attitude (which is also available on Amazon.com).

Thanks, David, for paving the way.