Colonel Henry Gole, USA Ret., has written a unique report of a career of soldiering which might best be described as a staccato presentation of random thoughts. This is not to imply that there is not a coherent progression through his career, but rather that he focuses on one thing at a time, covers it succinctly, and passes on to the next. He warns his readers in the preface that he has chosen to "write little stories about soldiers I've known . . . ," about "the peculiar subculture we called

more »

... ome . . . , the Army" and "snapshots from the career of a soldier." He fulfills the promise admirably. As with all memoirs there is the obligatory introduction of who he is, beginning with his early years in Greenwich Village in New York City until he volunteered for the draft in 1952. He was the son of immigrants struggling through the Depression and was eight years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed. His account of the four World War II years, through the eyes of an adolescent, is the best four-page summation you will ever read, though you may have to be of the "greatest generation" to understand it all. I have already cited in Army magazine his tribute to an 18-year-old uncle, a draftee, home on his first leave in an ill-fitting uniform and horse blanket overcoat who nevertheless prompted, "But he was somebody. He was a soldier." The remaining chapters cover years that played out in an unusual Army career, one that begins during the Korean War, then is interrupted for eight years before a restart is instigated by President John F. Kennedy's challenge, "Ask not what your country can do for you . . . ." Despite the break it was a war career that spanned almost 30 years of service, most in the demanding field of special operations and most in satisfying "serving with the troops" assignments. Gole's Korean War period is a graphic portrayal of the life of a BAR (Browning automatic rifle) man in an infantry rifle company during the last months of the hostilities. Chapters, some only one and a half pages, cover his troopship across the Pacific, his stay at a replacement center, shipment to Korea, and arrival at his unit. Thereafter anecdotes cover his return to the United States and his discharge. Eight years of "Interludes and Reflections While Safe" carry him through schooling and into the teaching profession and give background and substance to his developing philosophies and principles. Those years and an excursion into Slovenia on a successful search for his roots, along with an occasional touching reference to his family, are the only departures from the Army life of a combat soldier. Gole returned to the Army in time for Vietnam, and a major portion of the book covers his years of Special Forces duties and activities. Almost all accounts are short chapters, introducing the reader to Heinz, Mad Dog, Mr. Fritz, Bill Holt, the 120 Parameters "Yards" (Montanyard people), Lopes, Billy B., and other characters who deserve their 15 minutes of recognition in the recorded history of our nation. There is no particular theme or linkage among their stories, but each adds a small bit to the mosaic being presented as one man's view of Vietnam. The overall effect, however, is that the book becomes a collection of short stories, not a comprehensive presentation of the value of that whole career. There are nuggets of philosophy, of guiding principles, of a lesson learned, but for the most part the reader has to deduce for himself the meaning and value of what he learns. It is all well and good not to be preached to, but there would be value also in the author's view of what he has learned and how he draws it all together as a purpose for his prose. I nodded appreciatively at Colonel Gole's caustic appraisals of Walter Cronkite, the news media, draft dodgers, and our government's failure to honor our promises to the Republic of Vietnam. As a member of "the rest of the Army," however (I've never worn a green beret), I was much less enthused over the disparaging references to "arrogant leaders" and the "centralized, unimaginative Army," typical comments that pop up through the book, all delivered as offhand swipes at Army organization and leadership without explanation or specifics about what was wrong. I don't mind the criticism, but would like to know from what it stems. One is left with the thought that although the author identifies two particular outstanding leaders, he developed his love for the Army and respect for the brotherhood among soldiers despite the seniors he had to work for. Nonetheless, the author provides a vivid portrayal of soldiering, honors a parade of deserving individuals, and adds more understanding of our Army operations during the third quarter of the last century. There are many wise and thoughtprovoking passages throughout-depersonalization of the individual replacement system, the adoration enjoyed behind the Iron Curtain "because he was wise enough to be born American," and "some men like to fight in the deadliest game men play." These and other such observations make Henry Gole's book a worthy addition to the Army library.