Sharon D. (booklit) reviewed And a Hard Rain Fell: A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam on + 473 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A guy who grew up in upstate New York and went to Vietnam not as a willing participant. A very powerful look at war and the effects of a draft although he elected to enlist after facing the draft. They told him he probably wouldn't go to Vietnam but that was a lie stated by the Army. He was on the list to be drafted and thought if he enlisted maybe he would not have to go there. Very eye opening that many of the Gi's did not want to be there which did effect there performance. Not everyone is cut out to fight in Wars. Not everyone has the collective mind to withstand it.
Jerry A. reviewed And a Hard Rain Fell: A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam on + 18 more book reviews
A GI true story of the war in Vietnam
Mark R. (strato-reader) reviewed And a Hard Rain Fell: A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam on + 49 more book reviews
An illuminating account, passionately written on Vietnam and war in general. Reading this has crystallized some of my half-formed thoughts on the horrors of not just war, but choosing to make war. Seems fresh material in light of our continuing to feel little reluctance to go to war.
Even accepting that Ketwig feels little interest in dazzling the reader with gruesome war scenes, there are stretches in the story that are too ruminating and wound-licking. It obviously didn't diminish my overall praise very much, but there will be readers that will react with, enough already. I'd recommend it to anyone who is serious about considering the costs of maintaining our status in the world through our military.
Even accepting that Ketwig feels little interest in dazzling the reader with gruesome war scenes, there are stretches in the story that are too ruminating and wound-licking. It obviously didn't diminish my overall praise very much, but there will be readers that will react with, enough already. I'd recommend it to anyone who is serious about considering the costs of maintaining our status in the world through our military.
This is a moving account of a Vietnam GIs experience in "The Nam." It helps to tell the story for those of us who were here while our "big brothers" were gone & it helps to reinforce messages that we should never, ever forget. I was totally absorbed with this book. And I cried when I finished it.
Sharon D. (dulcimer42) reviewed And a Hard Rain Fell: A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam on + 107 more book reviews
Wow! Awesome insight into the life of a young soldier in Viet Nam. Especially meaningful to me, because when my brother returned from his time there, he was a different person. He never talked about it, but we knew, he wasn't the same. Reading this book helped me understand that which can never be comprehend, unless you were there. But it makes me want to reach out and thank every soldier who was there, or in other areas, fighting "for their country."
Back in the 80's when Platoon and Full Metal jacket created a brief flurry of interest in a grunts view of conflict there were many books published, this was one of the very first books and remains one of the best.
This is one of those books that I had a hard time putting down. It has been several months since I finished the book and I find myself thinking about the contents often. I am very impressed with the way the book was written. No political crap; it was simply written from the author's perspective. I highly recommend. Especially if there are combat Veteran's in your life.
