These Good Men: Friendships Forged from War [Hardcover]

Michael Norman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For former Marine Norman, the Corps is a brotherhood that instills a strong sense of clan in its members. So, 16 years after a Viet Cong ambush on a bridge, he set out to track down 11 survivors of his platoon. One motive behind his quest was a desire to find out whether, as a 20-year-old radio commander, he left a man to die on that fatal day in 1968. His search brought absolution and a renewal of bonds of comradeship. Each ex-buddy had changed in a different way. One, an insurance executive, turned his wartime experiences into an "incessant monologue," a "series of comic skits." Another, a supervisor in a maximum-security prison infirmary, suffered an emotional breakdown just before freelance reporter Norman caught up with him. Told in simple, lean prose, this wistful Vietnam memoir is both personal catharsis and meditation on the anger, grief and loss caused by war.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Former Marine Norman was not at a bloody ambush at a bridge over the Quang Tri River because he had taken over another duty, but the other members of his squad were, and they were riddled with bullets and shrapnel. The ones who survived were contacted by him 18 years later to see how they had fared after their combat experience, and they show how resilient the human spirit can be. Those wounded were now dealing with their lives as handicapped, and the untouched physically, like Norman himself, were reliving the guilt and pain daily. Norman's account of his journey to rebuild friendships with his squad mates is powerful,touching and knowing, and filled with personalities more deftly sketched than those in many novels. It is also as solid a document as reader's will find describing the human debris of war, and the strength of character of its survivors. Good work.
- Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (September 2, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517076195
• ISBN-13: 978-0517076194
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,213,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MICHAEL Norman has been a professional writer and journalist (including a correspondent for the New York Times) for thirty-five years. His first book, "These Good Men: Friendships Forged From War," a memoir published to critical acclaim in 1990 by Crown, turned on his time as a combat Marine in Vietnam. He is currently a tenured professor of narrative journalism in the Literary Reportage Program at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University.

Michael thinks of himself as a non-fiction story teller, a writer who collects the thousands of details necessary to make a true story come to life on the page. For "Tears In The Darkness: The Story of The Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath," he as his co-author, his wife, Elizabeth M. Norman, interviewed more than 400 people, among them former soldiers in the Japanese Imperial Army and scores of Filipinos who witnessed the death march. The Normans traveled to Asia four times across ten years and collected some 2,800 books, documents, photographs and other material from archives around the world to complete the story of Bataan and the death march and to make it a three-dimensional experience for the reader.

ELIZABETH Norman is the daughter of two World War II veterans. Her father served with the U.S. Army in Europe in 1944; her mother was in uniform with the U.S. Coast Guard. Beth began her professional career as a registered nurse before turning to the study of history and writing. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Rutgers University (where she and Michael met and were married). She earned her graduate and doctoral degrees from New York University, then joined the tenured faculty there in 1998. She currently is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Development and Education where she teaches history, writing and research design in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.

In 1990, Beth published her first book, Women at War: The Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam 1965-1973, (University of Pennsylvania Press). She followed this with We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Women Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese (1999, Random House.) Both books are still in print. Her work on We Band of Angels led her to look at the larger story of the battle for Bataan and the Bataan Death March, an inquiry that led to Tears in the Darkness. She has won a number of awards for her work, among them an Official Commendation from the Department of the Army, and a Certificate of Appreciation from the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Michael and Elizabeth Norman spent ten years researching and interviewing for "Tears In The Darkness." They made four trips to Asia and crossed America several times for the book. They have two grown sons, Joshua and Benjamin, and a daughter-in-law, Rachel Cahn Norman. For most of their married life, the Normans have lived in Montclair N. J.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, September 9, 2009

By 

Gary E. Earls (Morrow, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: THESE GOOD MEN (Paperback)

This is an excellent book about men who served together under very trying circumstances. Norman had reservations about contacting his old comrades to see how they were doing and how they would react to him. Each man had his own story to tell Norman about their life after Viet Nam and how they were able to get together for a reunion. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to contact his old friends or is curious about what happens to veterans after they leave the service.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finished it ASAP, April 1, 2000

By 

Tim (Enfield,Ct,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: These Good Men: Friendships Forged from War (Hardcover)

I came upon this book while searching for soemthing to read for the period at school. I found my slef entranced in teh book and checked it and finsihed it that nite. This is truly a great book which opened my eyes up to a side of war I never really thought about. Pst war after all is said and doen the different thigns which men go through. I reccomend this book for anyone Intrested in the grunt life of a Marine in Vietnam and also the psychological effects of The Vietnam War. Excuse my typing. Mike Norman Thank You for writing a great book. Tim

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Find!, November 20, 2011

By 

Fred Tomasello Jr. (Cheektowaga NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: These Good Men: Friendships Forged from War (Hardcover)

Years ago, I bought this book from Amazon and loaned it to someone before reading it and, of course, it was never seen again. Even though the book is no longer in print, I was able to find a used copy through Amazon, ordered it and received the book in great shape. Thanks for providing a wonderful service to readers. I served with many of the Marines mentioned in this book.