MWSA Book Review

Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order: A JAG Corp Novel

Author:  Dan Dane

CD Audio Presentation by Ross Ballard II

Publisher:  iUniverse

Reviewer (Audiobook): Joe Fabel

A no-holds barred insight into the military maelstrom of Viet Nam.

The author presents a JAG (Judge Advocate General) lawyer who represents soldiers accused of murder and drug offenses. And the censors are not allowed to lessen the brutal telling of the pitfalls.

This audio presentation brings the listener into the fray, allowing him to feel, taste, touch and react to military life in Viet Nam. Using the experiences of a non-career Army lawyer assigned during the last days of duty in Viet Nam, we discover that the justice served in the military is a fight in itself. 

At times that legal battle is influenced by high command input not necessarily beneficial to the lawyer’s role or to the meting out of justice to the defendant.

We listen to the lawyer protagonist fight his personal battle of bafflement and anger towards his immediate superior whose sole ambition is to promote himself. Thoughts of killing enter the lawyer’s mind. This mind frame is grown out of the futility felt due to Generals doing the opposite of the facts published to the American public. “I fight to stop a moron poising as an Army officer from screwing up the life of a soldier.”

The five CD’s of this moving presentation guide us through the daily experiences faced by the “grunts” which, of necessity, become the foundation of the ordeal of the defense counsel. Fortunately, where he finds innocence of the purported crime, our lawyer battles through the layers of military law to bring about a “not guilty” decision.

This is a “must listen to” story of little known area of the conflict in Viet Nam.

MWSA's 2004 Distinguished Medal Award