Book Review: Life Dust by Pam Webber (five stars)

Book Review: Life Dust: A Novel by Pam Webber (five stars)

“Quy is what Asians call ‘life dust’ or one who is left behind.”

 Amazing tale of second chances. The protagonist, Nettie (and her now-fiancé Andy) from The Wiregrass and Moon Water, matures and faces new challenges personally and professionally in the early 1970s. Dual-track plot with several cross connections. Dickens would have been proud.

“Sometimes the most valuable lessons are not the ones we learn in a classroom, they’re the ones we learn when people abuse power.”

The best kind of historical fiction, inserting the reader in history. Since Webber is a nurse, we assume she got the nuances of nursing student life right. Vietnam veterans will recognize she got enough of the situation on the ground in Vietnam’s I Corps in 1971-72 and events related to the National League of POW/MIA Families right that she must have consulted those who had been there.

“Never underestimate the power of human contact and what it means to someone who feels isolated and alone.”

Overtly Christian. Optimistic. Not overtly political, though hospital and military life is awash with internal politics. Her characterization of military and medical types rings true. All of which will offend some readers. Those who stick with the story will be rewarded.

“People rarely forgive you for what they do to you.”

As true for her previous books, Webber does not dwell on race though several characters are people of color. Personalities are fully drawn and engaging.

“No one is beyond forgiveness.”

(Full disclosure: I was a beta reader of this novel in 2021. This review reflects my impression then and now. The finished product is even better.)

Life Dust by Pam Webber (five stars)

Life Dust by Pam Webber

Amazing tale of second chances. The protagonist, Nettie (and her now-fiancé Andy) from The Wiregrass and Moon Water, matures and faces new challenges personally and professionally in the early 1970s. Dickens would have been proud.

Since Webber is a nurse, we assume she got the nuances of nursing student life right. Vietnam veterans will recognize she got enough of the situation on the ground in Vietnam’s I Corps in 1971-72 right that she must have consulted those who had been there.

Overtly Christian. Optimistic. Not overtly political, though hospital and military life is awash with internal politics. All of which will offend some readers. Those who stick with the story will be rewarded.

As true for her previous books, Webber does not dwell on race though several characters are people of color.

(Full disclosure: I was a beta reader of this novel in 2021. My review is based on my impression of the draft I read. I suspect the finished product will be even better.)

Book Review: Faith of My Fathers by John McCain and Mark Salter (Four Stars)

Book Review: Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir by John McCain and Mark Salter (Four Stars)

“If you valued them, and held them strongly, love and honor would endure undiminished by the passing of time and the most determined assault on your dignity.”

An engaging family history by the deceased senator and POW. Written presumably as a presidential propaganda piece for McCain’s first run for the Oval Office. Despite that it is well-written and absent the vitriol expected from politicians.

“Some officers get it backwards. They don’t understand that we are responsible for our men, not the other way around. That’s what forges trust and loyalty.” John S. McCain Jr. (his father)

McCain credits his grandfather and father with both his dedication to service to his country and the strength of character which saw him through six years of isolation and torture as a prisoner of war.

“Like other senior commanders, [my father] believed the United States had squandered its best opportunity to win the war in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive, ‘when we had destroyed the back of the Viet Cong…. And when we had finally drawn North Vietnamese troops out into the open.’”

McCain’s criticism of how LBJ and McNamara mishandled the Vietnam War is shared by almost every participant. I was one of them. It was a stupid waste of humanity and resources and accomplished nothing. That Nixon did little better during his first term indicates what a Gordian Knot a land war in Asia can become. Apparently, we unlearned that lesson in one generation.

“A lot of men died who shouldn’t have, the victims of genuine war crimes.”

Never a classic conservative or Republican, he was a man of integrity who followed his inner compass even when those around him urged him not to.

“This is the faith that my commanders affirmed, that my brothers-in-arms encouraged my allegiance to. It was the faith I had unknowingly embraced at the Naval Academy. It was my father’s and grandfather’s faith. A filthy, crippled, broken man, all I had left of my dignity was the faith of my fathers. It was enough.”

Book Review: Rolling Thunder by Mark Berent (Four Stars)

Book Review: Rolling Thunder (Wings of War #1) by Mark Berent (Four Stars)

“Precisely how a crashing jet fighter breaks up is a function of its speed, of its angle of impact, and of the topography of the ground it strikes.”

The opening work in a five-volume fictional Vietnam War series. Berent was there; it shows. He manages to capture the insanity and the pathos of the war most Americans would like to forget, especially those who served in it.

“I’ve got to tell Ho Chi Minh that unless he stops his aggression in South Veet-nam, that I’m going to hammer hell out of him; and at the same time I’ve got to tell, to convince the American people, that I am not going to escalate this Veet-nam war.” LBJ

Berent captures the attitudes, vocabulary, antics and pain of the men (mostly) who fought this pointless ruin in Southeast Asia. He also reveals the lack of understanding and empathy of American leaders up to Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara, who bear much of the blame for getting us in so deeply with no clue what they were doing or how we were to extricate ourselves.

“From half a world away these men, politicians for the most part, would decide which targets would be struck and with what ordnance.”

Heroes and opportunists share the pages with hapless Gilligans who had no clue what was going on. Truth was the first casualty each day. Every day. For politicians—in suits, uniforms, and with press passes—what went on was merely something to be manipulated for ones own advantage and point of view.

“Most youngsters his age were letting their hair grow while investigating the wonderful mind expanding properties of cannabis under the tutelage of Harvard Professor Timothy Leary. Exactly as his own son was doing, Norman reflected sadly.”

Early in my reading I kept thinking Berent was relating needless details, then I realized: most Americans have no clue what went on in SEA in the 60s and 70s. My generation went—willing and unwilling—bled, died, grew up, dropped out, and were scarred for life. The folks in Washington never understood nor apparently the Saigon Commandos.

“So what’s a nice Jewish boy like me doing here anyhow killing Buddhists to make the world safe for Christianity?” “Now that’s profound, [redacted], really profound. The only problem, is, it’s what you always say after you’ve had two beers.”

Many of my generation served; many never came back or returned physically and mentally scarred. Yet, having vowed we would never get into another land way in Asia, here we are: same song; new verse. (Yes, we were treated that poorly on our return landing in California. We were warned not to wear uniforms in public.)

“Does anybody know or care how many Air Force people we’ve lost in this screwed up war?”

We Veterans Thank You

In 1973, GIs returning from the Vietnam War landed at Travis AFB, CA. From there most of us were bused to San Francisco for connecting commercial flights to home or our next duty assignment. Before we left Travis we were warned about the treatment we’d receive in San Francisco. Public opinion was greatly against the war in Southeast Asia, and we would be cursed, ridiculed and even assaulted by people who found us to be convenient targets for their dissension. And we were.

Today thousands of us veterans enjoyed a pleasant free meal–in my case at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Glen Allen, VA. As I ate that fine steak, I remembered other wars and other homecomings. And of course those who didn’t come back or who have since died.

War is an unpleasant business. Some wars are necessary; some are not. Regardless,

What Retirement Feels Like

Our younger son asked me, “How does retirement feel?” I replied, “Like the second day of vacation.” Referring to a week-long vacation.

He asked because, like many of his generation, he doesn’t look forward to ever being retired. In addition to handicaps he put on himself, his entire generation is caught in the vice of few full-time jobs and little opportunity to save.

My first real job was to be a four-ear stint in the US Air Force avoiding the Vietnam War draft. (Do young folks even understand conscription?) It turned into