MWSA Book Review

SNAFU

Author:  Vic Mills

Publisher:  Jemworks Publishing

Reviewer: Jeff Edwards – MWSA Reviewer

An overlooked treasure.

In view of the amount of trouble I drummed up when I wrote ‘The Wrong Army,’ I was a bit hesitant to review SNAFU, by Army Veteran Vic Mills.  The book is after all, a chronicle of Army screw-ups in Vietnam.  Ultimately the story was powerful enough to override my misgivings.  In many ways, SNAFU is a comedy of errors.  Cases of mistaken identity - misrouted troop planes - busses that drop Boot Camp recruits off at abandoned barracks, never to return - transport pilots who fall asleep and overshoot their destinations.  Mistakes that range from hilarious, to tragic, to blood-curdling.  But in the end, the story isn’t about military blunders.  It’s about good men trying desperately to be good Soldiers under appalling circumstances.  It’s about a breed of Vietnam Soldiers who never caught the attention of Hollywood or the press: patriots who forsook the drugs and the excesses to try to get the job done.  It’s about warriors who wept and bled for a people they ultimately couldn’t protect.

SNAFU shows a side of the Vietnam War I’d never seen before.  I was not at all prepared for the intellectual and emotional power of this simple Soldier’s story.  You owe it to yourself to read SNAFU, and - just maybe - you owe it to the people who lived this incredible tale.

Review received January 15, 2006

Mr. Mills,

I finished SNAFU the other day (evening) and while I’ve only known “the other” definition of SNAFU, I truly enjoyed your version! A fine book that shows an entirely un-known side of Viet Nam. I’m probably too cynical concerning our press or media to believe they’d ever promote a book that actually depicts life in a positive manner, yours sure does. And does it well.

Rest assured your books and CD have been put in a good place (I think) the 86th CSH (our version of MASH in a former Iraqi Hospital here in the Green Zone). I hope others who need something to take their minds off their current situation will read SNAFU and find it motivating and a welcome relief. I did.

Thanks

Brad - currently stationed in Iraq