The Writer's Connection, SM
a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach SM


"The Creative Process of Writing is a Liberating and Therapeutic

Experience"

www.virtualwritingcoach.com

October, 2010

In This Issue:

1. Preview
2. Publisher's Note
3. Philip Caputo's The Rumor of War
4. Helpful Hints

1. Preview

The Writer's Connection explores the creative process of writing and the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and actions. We are an interactive community of authors and readers who share ideas to enhance our knowledge, skills, and experiences in writing fiction
in any genre, but our emphasis remains mystery and suspense thrillers.

Published monthly, the Newsletter offers writing tips for authors, coaching suggestions, editing, and marketing information.

Topics are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and represent only his ideas on producing your first manuscript, and are provided to the general public. Because we are an interactive community of writers, other viewpoints are welcomed and may beprinted in future monthly newsletters with permission from Keith Barton.

2. Publisher's Note

October, 2010

Dear Writer's Connection Subscriber,

This month features the author's firsthand account of his experiences as an infantryman during 1966 - 67 in Vietnam and his later years in 1975 as a news correspondent when we left Vietnam.

3. Philip Caputo's The Rumor of War

There have been thousands of books on Vietnam but none more graphic and personal than Philip Caputo’s book, The Rumor of War. Mr. Caputo was your average high school student in Midwest America who only thought about helping his country when he heard John F.
Kennedy’s famous inaugural address about “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” Later, in 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson agreed for military advisors to help the struggling country of South Vietnam fight against “aggression from
the north.” The Gulf of Tonkin incident was mysterious and ambiguous on whether we were drawn into this war or looked for a reason to enter the war. Regardless of the circumstances. Philip Caputo, like any young 21 year old wanted to join the Marines and to fight for his country.

The first third of the book tells of his boot camp days, DIs, survival training, and infantry school training before his deployment to Danang Airbase to secure a perimeter around the base. Terrain was now defined by hill #s instead of street names, enemy engagement by trip mines and snipers rather than combat battalions, fighting with boredom, dysentery, and malaria rather than the enemy and the constant change of orders from higher ups more interested
in body counts than strategy. Caputo could have easily focused on the graphic horrors of war, no doubt prevalent on both sides in the Vietnam conflict, but instead his first - hand narrative depicts the people of South Vietnam as victims more than Viet Cong sympathizers.

He is honest in his R&R (rest and relaxation) liberties in the “boom - boom” houses and dives in Saigon where servicemen drink and carouse with the locals to escape the atrocities in the field. What
struck me about Caputo’s book is the slow pace of the war: the NARVN fought at night, slept and dug in during the day, and essentially picked off American soldiers by sniper fire. Caputo tells the story of a close friend and fellow non - com officer with
only six days of his tour left taking a sniper’s bullet in the head while filling canteens at a stream for his buddies. His inglorious death like so many of his comrades, some by enemy fire from USAF jets and mortar rounds falling short of their mark, does not help grieving families nor does it give meaning to a war that was not going to be won in Washington. Some pretentious officers were more concerned about their boot shines and body counts than ammo supplies and morale. Others fought valiantly by their men choosing
to lead rather than look through a pair of binoculars.

As a member of 3rd platoon, trench warfare consists of jammed rifles, firing at imaginary nighttime targets, and resisting fatigue. Men go for days without food or sleep only to catch a mortar or bullet while dozing in a foxhole because their buddy also fell asleep. Pursuing the VC is like the proverbial game of “king
of the mountain;” only this time there are hills and underground tunnels that hide the VC who have learned the art of guerilla warfare since the French occupied their country in 1954.

Action lasts only two or three minutes; yet everything is seen and felt with unusual clarity. Corpsmen, EVACs, hot LZs, and jungle surround twenty - year olds a long way from home with little reason as to why they’re in this war and who’s winning. Women scream, children cry, villagers run out of flaming villages that was home for them, American soldiers befriend villagers who turn on them by giving away their positions to the VC in order to stay alive to live
another day. Some marines “lose it” like Lt. Calley did in the infamous My Lai incident where villages are decimated by flame throwers because some colonel wants a dead VC to impress his superiors in a war of body counts.

In the field manuals where guerilla warfare was learned in Quantico, Virginia, “the jungle can be your friend as well as your enemy.” Caputo concludes that “there was nothing friendly about the Vietnamese bush. Once the H - 34 Huey put you down in a hot LZ, you
were literally back in some prehistoric Jurassic Park nightmare where everyone was your enemy and no one was your friend except the soldier sharing your foxhole. Each man helplessly waited for that bullet to pierce their helmet or skull and end what was supposed to
be “something we could do for our country.”

Helpful Hints:

1. What parallels do you see between Afghanistan and Vietnam? Is any war winnable in the sense that there is a winner and loser?

2. Although some might say we should not have entered Vietnam what would have been your orders if you were the commanding general and you had unlimited governmental support back home in the states?

3. For the 58,000 who lost their lives in Vietnam what is their legacy? What do you tell their families and veterans who still harbor resentment and mental problems today?

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Contact Information

Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281 - 583 - 5005
Fax: 281.583 - 5008
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E - Mail: keith@virtualwritingcoach.com
(c) Copyright 2003 A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
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The Writer's Connection SM Mission:

The Writer's Connection SM is dedicated to helping first - time authors create their first manuscript for publication and to offer an exchange of ideas and opinions from our readers who might be interested in becoming authors.

The Writer's Connection™ is a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton, Ph.D. and a registered trademark.We would like The Writer's Connection SM to be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments, topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time. Send your e - mail to keith@virtualwritingcoach.com.

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Archives

You can read previous issues of The Writer's Connection SM in our archive section which is located at the top right section of this page.

About Keith Barton, Ph.D.

Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist for over thirty years. He is currently enrolled in MentorCoach and is accepting new clients. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina, consultant to Fortune 500 companies in executive development, founded and managed Texas Community Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing group home services to persons with
mental retardation, and for the past 13 years founded and runs a clinical practice in Northwest Houston. He writes part - time with the goal of completing one novel a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate interest in helping others become
attuned to their creative powers of storytelling.

Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family therapy and health psychology. He has published articles, made presentations and conducted workshops about:

Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self - esteem
Communication skills
Marital/relationship enrichment
Wellness issues
The relationship between psychology and spirituality

Copyright by Virtual Writing Coach (SM) and Keith Barton, 2001 - 2008.