MWSA Book Review

M.P. A Novel of Vietnam

Author:  John R. Schembra

Publisher:  Writer's Exchange

Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA

What the Vietnam War was like for M.P.’s

Author John Schembra, a former Army M.P. in Vietnam, draws from his own experiences in creating a very compelling account of that place and time in his book, “M.P. – A Novel of Vietnam.”  The characters are multi-layered and complex and the intelligent dialogs make for good story telling.

Schembra draws out the action in a diary like presentation of young men going to war.  But this is a different kind of war and sometimes the enemies are our own soldiers who get caught up in drugs and black marketing or are drunk or AWOL.  Sometimes it is hard to tell who the enemy really is.

The story takes you on a journey through a tour of duty and allows to grow and change with the lead characters as they come to grip with the harsh realities of Vietnam.  The Tet Offensive becomes a focal point of action in one part of the story but it is the people themselves that are center most in this story of survival, friendship, loyalty and duty.

This book has a good fast pace and is a great look inside the military police of 1967 and 1968 around Long Bihn and Bien Hoa.  The author nails the time and place with his word pictures just like you are there; a very readable book and good entertainment.

Synopsis: (taken from author's website)

June, 1967 As Vince stepped off the plane at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, he was almost overwhelmed by the stench in the hot, humid, air. he still had a hard time realizing he was in Vietnam, in the midst of a war.

Drafted into the Army five months earlier, he ended up becoming a Military Policeman, assigned to the 557th MP Company at Long Binh Post just outside Bien Hoa City.

His year tour of duty in Vietnam changes him from a somewhat naive young man to a battle hardened veteran. Through unlucky chance, Vince becomes involved in the ferocious '68 Tet Offensive, barely surviving the night. He sees and experiences things he could never have imagined before Vietnam.

This is Vince's story, of how he survived that year in Vietnam, how he coped with the hell he faced, of the friendships he formed, and of the sorrow of lives lost.