VIETNAMI HÁBORÚ

Vissza

EILERT : For self and country (fülszöveg)

 

I step off with my right foot and look down. I spot a grenade just in front of me and off to the left, where I'm about to drop my left foot. In back of the grenade a C-ration can sits in the bushes. C.L. has tripped the wire attached to the grenade and pulled it from the can. It's live.

I know ít's too late. I'm in the middle of taking a step. My left foot has yet to hit the ground. My mind says, Run, duck, evaporate, but my body won't react fast enough. It's like sliding on ice. No way to stop, and nowhere to go but in the direction gravity moves you. I feel a rush go through my body. I feel the stillness. My left foot touches earth. I start to take a running stride. The grenade explodes. . . .

This is the true story of a young Marine lance corporal who was severely wounded in Vietnam. His account of hope and survival carries a special message for those who fought there or were wounded there, and for those who stayed home, especially the women who love their men and have tried to understand what they endured and how it changed them.

For the author, Vietnam meant five months of combat and a year in Ward Three South at Great Lakes Naval Hospital. When he left the hospital, he was twenty – the oldest man on the ward.

Vietnam was, more than any other conflict, a teenager's war, and Rick's account is one of teenage love and despair, as are those of his buddies. How these young men were joined together in a special fraternity for which the only initiation dues were pain, and how they managed to cope, makes M*A*S*H take a back seat to real life.

Rick's story is inspirational yet horrifying. It makes the reader laugh and cry. Above all it sets out clearly the sacrifice made by so many who fought in Vietnam.

This is more than just a story of men at war, however. It is a touching, tendr account of how young love can overcome what appear to be insurmountable obstacles. Rick's teenage sweetheart, Cheryl, tried valiantly to understand the horrors her man had experienced. That she succeeded is a tribute to her courage, love, and faith – as well as to the other members of the young lovers' families, who stood by their children when they were needed most.

 

Katalógus Eilert : For self and country Tartalom nincs
KATALÓGUS TARTALOM

 


Vissza Hadtörténeti Gyűjtemény Vissza Vietnam