TITLE: Carl Melcher Goes To Vietnam _____________________________________ The Review Carl Melcher Goes To Vietnam takes us along on a journey with fictional draftee Carl Melcher. In 1968 when much of this country was in turmoil filled with both racial tension and anti war movement Carl finds members of his new Army company are not unlike those he left at home. This ‘coming of age’ narrative by author Clayton presents a rather likeable, although naïve youngster who, along with most of contemporaries is little prepared to face the reality of war. Carl faces the alternating boredom and tension, the unpredictable nature of the situation, the enemy often largely unseen and the worry for forming friendships only to have them end as I have heard my Green Beret husband discuss. In ‘Carl Mercer Goes To Vietnam’ we are told that Writer Clayton draws on his own experience in Vietnam in an effort to present the reader with understanding of what it was to be ‘in country’ during the most difficult of times. Men on DEROS, yearly rotation, had little time to acclimate themselves with the horror of war or the reality that much of time is spent not in ducking bullets but in sheer boredom of ‘garrison duty’ out in whatever camp where they lived in the jungle. The work begins slowly, is told in the first person and picks up speed as you continue reading. Carl Melcher is the Everyman soldier. He is in Vietnam, not by choice, but determined to see it through. New buddies, bombing runs and mortar fire all are part of the narrative. As with every Nam veteran I have known Carl Melcher has a fatalistic attitude toward life and those who are able to command men into war. Politicians posturing before the cameras while taking part in ‘peace talks’ as men hope only to survive their tour of duty fighting a faceless enemy and an unpredictable and hostile populace. Carl Melcher survives and returns home where he cannot forget the friends who did not. Very akin to David Hackworth’s revelations in his book, About Face, writer Clayton points out, the ‘coping with the situation’ problems the men faced there in the jungle in South East Asia were not necessarily left there when they returned to ‘The World.’ Clayton presents a bit of insight into why so many more Vietnam vets seem to have returned to the US ill prepared to reenter society. This is a book I will suggest to my sons who never had a chance to really know their father. This work may help them better understand the man who screamed each night before he died at age 37 while they were still children. Carl Mercer Goes To Vietnam is a coming of age story told by Clayton who was only 20 when he was drafted and sent to Nam. The story is presented in a way that will aid reader into an understanding of why Vietnam was so different from other wars. Veterans, general readers and young people who have heard a little about the conflict but are not well versed in the political mess that permeated the whole situation will all come away with a little more perspective into that difficult period in our nation’s history. Carl Mercer Goes To Vietnam is filled with the same excellent writing as is found in writer Clayton’s Calling Crow series. Happy to recommend. Reviewed by Molly Martin ______________________________________ AUTHOR: Paul Clayton Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books a division of St Martin’s Press 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 . ISBN: 978-0312329037
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Reviewed by Pam Potter (Reader)
Reviewed on July 24, 2003
I was in grade school thru high school during this war, by the time I was in the 12 th grade the people from there had came here , met a few in my high school, very nice people, and what they went through, no one should have to, but it happens anyway, and still goes on in countries.
