When it first appeared, A Rumor of War brought home to American readers, with terrifying vividness and honesty, the devastating effects of the Vietnam War on the soldiers who fought there. And while it is a memoir of one young man's experiences and therefore deeply personal, it is also a book that speaks powerfully to today's students about the larger themes of human conscience, good and evil, and the desperate extremes men are forced to confront in any war. A platoon commander in the first combat unit sent to fight in ...
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When it first appeared, A Rumor of War brought home to American readers, with terrifying vividness and honesty, the devastating effects of the Vietnam War on the soldiers who fought there. And while it is a memoir of one young man's experiences and therefore deeply personal, it is also a book that speaks powerfully to today's students about the larger themes of human conscience, good and evil, and the desperate extremes men are forced to confront in any war. A platoon commander in the first combat unit sent to fight in Vietnam, Lieutenant Caputo landed at Danang on March 8, 1965, convinced that American forces would win a quick and decisive victory over the Communists. Sixteen months later, and without ceremony, Caputo left Vietnam a shell-shocked veteran whose youthful idealism and faith in the rightness of the war had been utterly shattered. A Rumor of War tells the story of that trajectory and allows us to see and feel the reality of the conflict as the author himself experienced it, from the weeks of tedium hacking through scorching jungles, to the sudden violence of ambushes and firefights, to the unbreakable bonds of friendship forged between soldiers, and finally to a sense of the war as having no purpose other than the fight for survival. Most troubling, Caputo gives us an unflinching view not only of remarkable bravery and heroism but also of the atrocities committed in Vietnam by ordinary men so numbed by fear and desperate to survive that their moral distinctions had collapsed. More than a statement against war, Caputo's memoir offers readers today a profoundly visceral sense of what war is and, as the author says, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to men".
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You cannot be a student of American history without reading this.
John M
Apr 26, 2012
Great History
Solid factual historical account with great details and vivid picture of events
jimmymack
Oct 20, 2011
platoon of books
rumor of war was ist best seller on nam.today,see stolen valor) it is chic for people to say they served as oliver stone (platoon).in the 70sit was smart to brag about how u avoided it!!1
clint eastwood 1976 made enforcer where the bad guys were crazed nam vets,bt 82 he started plaYING A GOOD GUY V NAM VET,any which way u can and so on.
i also recommend where the orange bloon by tom talyor and fields of fire by jim webb.
Docwaters
May 3, 2007
Early view of Vietman War
"Rumor of War" is the story of a Marine officer who becomes discussed with the early war effort. He saw American Marines die for a people who weren't willing to sacrifice themselves or their children.
Glllorria
Apr 27, 2007
Great!
This is probably one of the best books I have ever read. Even though it deals with military cambat it's very easy to read and follow. I felt like I know so much more about what Viet Nam was like because of this book.
