365 Days (Paperback)

~ Ronald J. Glasser (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A moving account about tremendous courage and often immeasurable suffering... [A] valuable and redemptive work." -- William Styron, The Washington Monthly

"Chilling, shocking, extremely moving, heart-rending...There is no other way to start thinking or reading about 365 Days." -- Robert Armstrong, Minneapolis Tribune

"Dr. Glasser's book is oone of the most gripping accounts of the Vietnam tragedy that I have yet seen." -- George McGovern

"Glasser has a superb ear for dialogue and eye for action. Stephen Crane could not have been a better guide." -- Robert Sherrill, Chicago Sun-Times

"Its quiet eloquence, its factual precision, its emotional restraint...make it a book of great emotional impact." -- Thomas Lask, The New York Times

The most convincing, most moving account I have yet to read about what it was like to be an American soldier in Vietnam. -- Newsweek

Product Description

Over 200,000 copies sold in all editions. A new edition of Ron Glasser's classic account of the Vietnam War. 365 Days stands not only as a compelling account of this tragic conflict, but as a powerful antiwar statement. Nothing speaks so convincingly against the evils of war as the evils themselves.

In this gripping account of the human cost of the Vietnam War, Ron Glasser offers an unparalleled description of the horror endured daily by those on the front lines. "The stories I have tried to tell here are true," says Glasser in his foreword. "Those that happened in Japan I was part of; the rest are from the boys I met. I would have liked to disbelieve some of them, and at first I did, but I was there long enough to hear the same stories again and again, and then to see part of it myself."

Assigned to Zama, an Army hospital in Japan in September 1968, Glasser arrived as a pediatrician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps to care for the children of officers and high-ranking government officials. The hospital's main mission, however, was to support the war and care for the wounded. At Zama, an average of six to eight thousand patients were attended to per month, and the death and suffering were staggering. The soldiers counted their days by the length of their tour—one year, or 365 days—and they knew, down to the day, how much time they had left. Glasser tells their stories—of lives shockingly interrupted by the tragedies of war—with moving, humane eloquence. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: George Braziller Inc; 4th edition (September 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807609951
• ISBN-13: 978-0807609958
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,810 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of War, Courage, and Truth, April 28, 2000

By	Steve Rawlings (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

I have read scores of books about the Vietnam war and witnessed countless movies. I have found no one who can capture, with such poignant clarity, the horror of the war and the nobility of those who fought it quite like Dr. Ronald Glasser. Through a series of deeply affecting vignettes, Dr. Glasser reveals the experiences of men who struggle with the personal and private moral conflict that only those who have taken a life can understand. These men did not, as later accused, lose a war; rather, their loss was their own youth and innocence.

The book is a haunting tribute that evokes images that are raw and bleeding...and yet bestows a sense of peace and understanding. I reread this book every year. It is a book about courage...the courage of the warriors who populate its pages...and the courage of the man who wrote their stories at a time when a Nation was not prepared to know a truth their sons could not convey. Thank you, Dr. Glasser, wherever you are....

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST, December 12, 1999

By	Mark D. Raab (REISTERSTOWN, MD USA) - See all my reviews

As a student of SE Asia history I have over 300 books on the subject and 365 Days ranks in the top 5%. (Also a veteran of three tours in Vietnam & Cambodia). I first read Dr. Glassner's book over two decades ago and yet remember it as if it was yesterday.

For those who want to know what it was like to be in Vietnam, this is a must read book. The writing is very graphic and it is a book you will not soon forget.

My deepest gratitude to Dr. Glassner for his fine work. Not only for writing it but especially for publishing it at a time when it was not fashionable to be writing about Vietnam or Vietnam veterans. My sincerest thanks to Dr. Glassner.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Made me do what I do now..., October 8, 1999

By A Customer

I first read this book when I was in junior high school in the early 70s...if you read the publishing dates, it actually came out as that hell hole conflict was winding down...I still read it to reinforce lessons...I learned of sacrifice and of dedication, not to the country, but between comrades...At the same time I was reading this, the protests were still going on...and service people coming back to the "World" were being horribly treated by those that they had gone off to theoretically protect...it bothered me greatly that no one gave homage to those coming home...in my mind, a debt to those involved in a human tragedy was left unpaid...the war ended, I finished college and went to med school...when time for residency came, I chose the VA...and when I finished, I decided that I wanted to stay...Why? because I wanted to give back to all that served in the uniformed services, but especially those who went to 'Nam and never got a thank you...and importantly, I wanted to work to make the "system" better for those that served...the book really had an impact...read it for what it tells you about the human spirit and the inhumanity of governments...when I run into a vet from 'Nam that I don't know, I always try to remember to say "thank you for going and coming home" because I can't be sure that anyone else has told them that...we all should...will you?