From Library Journal
Johnson's gritty memoir chronicles the eight and a half months he spent in the Mekong Delta serving 350 men of the 9th Infantry Division during the war's heaviest fighting. Chaplain Johnson's personal odyssey begins with his ministering in the field and ends with a return to Vietnam almost 30 years later. As in Tobias Wolff's In Pharaoh's Army (LJ 10/15/94), the enemy is not only the elusive Vietcong but also the awful snake-and-mosquito-ridden estuaries of the Mekong Delta. Johnson, who even performed a few baptisms in the Mekong, praises those 19-year-old heroes he knew, whose lives were so quickly lost in a conflict that consequently everybody wished to forget. His own courage in ministering under deplorable conditions and heavy fire where a dry bed, hot food, no snipers, and no incoming were a blessing was recognized with several Bronze Stars for valor, among other awards. Johnson's unusual memoir is essential reading for scholars who study the conflict and for the men and women who have suffered because of it. Recommended for academic and public libraries. Gerald R. Costa, Brooklyn P.L.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Description
Chaplain James D. Johnson chose to accompany his men, unarmed, on their daily combat operations. This is his chronicle of Vietnam and the aftermath of war, of his coming to terms with his post-traumatic demons, and his need for healing and cleansing which led him to revisit Vietnam years later.
