Fish Heads, Rice, Rice Wine & War: A Vietnam Paradox

Fish heads cooked with rice and accompanied with rice wine are the basic staples in the day-to-day lives of Montagnard natives. Equally, these staples were the subject of many jokes, songs and the day after the night before headaches, as well as more than average the number of trips to the latrine for those of us who lived among them.

Without intent to remove the callousness of war itself, Fish Heads, Rice, Rice Wine & War: A Vietnam Paradox is an effort to have the reader recognize that even in the midst of deplorable conditions and carrying out an undefined combat mission, Americans by their very nature are a fun-loving, compassionate, joking people---war being merely and aside in which they find themselves thrown. Even when they find themselves involved in the blood and guts of war, soldiers will always find the means to laugh. After all, laughter lends sanity when theres nothing else left.

I was sucked into this book from the very first chapter...I could tell this wasn't your ordinary "take my side" coverage of the war. No hidden agenda's, just experiences relayed. I loved it!


fish heads rice rice wine and war   November 13, 2002
this was a very interesting book written in an easy reading style. he was not trying to put any pressure to like or dislike the war, he was just telling you how it was for him and his feeling then and now. he seems to be a real patriot and a true american that was trying to do the best job he could do for his men and his country.