A young man in the `60s had to face three life-altering choices upon graduation: get a job, and wait for the military to draft you; join a branch of the military that you could only guess would not have the dreaded words "Vietnam" attached to your name; or enroll in a university to get a deferment. While each choice contained its own experiences, being in the military was probably one of the most unique.
As I read Gatto's book, my own military experiences came flashing back from over forty years ago. Besides being a master story teller, I suddenly realized that he'd written a generic book that tells the story of a whole generation's experience. While hundreds of thousands of young men went to Vietnam, millions of others that were in the military were sent to some of the other hundreds of U.S. bases worldwide. And even in Vietnam, something like only one out of seven actually saw combat. So in the vast majority of cases, being in the military at that time was truly an adventure that civilian life could never duplicate. Movies like "Platoon" did not speak for the majority of us, but here, in this masterpiece, Gatto has saved our memory for us. While Kurt Vonnegut told his tale of being a P.O.W. in WWII Germany, I'm sure that wherever he is now, he's nodding his head in full approval.
For all you veterans from that era, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this book. Consider it a gift to yourself. And to those non-veterns that want to know what it was really like then, get a copy. This is the true picture of that momentous time.
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Back to Kimchee Days
I first read Kimchee Days back in 2000 before it was published. I read it cover to cover non-stop! And have re-read it several times. I laughed. I cried. I cheered! It felt like home to me.In a time when super-power rivalries defined the direction of nations and the destiny of America's youth, KIMCHEE DAYS takes us into the Cold War of 1970's South Korea at a time of coming of age for a crew of young American Cold Warriors manning Foxtrot Battery, one of America's most advanced anti-aircraft missile system. It is a modern voyage into our ancient souls, into our very essence on which we embark, it is M*A*S*H with nuclear tipped missiles, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER in combat fatigues, with a touch of COLD WAR reality to keep you from putting it down.I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.
