Red Boots Rebel

2nd Edition

Lawrence Drake served in the nation's top-secret cryptologic intelligence gathering facility in Asia at the height of the Vietnam War, working side by side with the National Security Agency, Army Security Agency, Navy Security Group, and the Air Force Security Service. The secrets he learned ultimately led him and his friends to make a unique and bold protest against the war. It was a first of its kind, and those in command were bewildered as to how to handle it. What followed resulted in a small band of patriotic rebels known as the Red Boots. Written with the feel of a novel, his story is filled with suspenseful drama, intrigue, romance, and ironic humor. It symbolizes the coming of a new era.

The book is well written and documents Drake's changing attitude toward the war, the military, and ultimately alters his consciousness toward the United States Government and particularly the military. It testifies to his changing attitude during a very volatile time, 1966-1970, and describes the many experiences that ultimately led up to his act of defiance. Some of these experiences are humorous, absurd, and typically military SOP, and sets the book apart from other Vietnam memoirs. It's not the violence or the mistruths perpetrated by the military and the government, but the absurdity, (like Catch 22), that is at the heart of his rebellion. The Air Force doesn't know how to deal with him and his small band of rebels, which leads to more small acts of rebellion and confounds the establishment's often hilarious and noneffective responses.

The book also records the beginning of the military resistance that was documented by the terrific film "Sir No Sir " and that has been intentionally omitted by the historical revision of the American War in Vietnam so lavishly perpetuated by the Vietnam War Commemoration. Drake's recollections and individual perspectives are important and essential because so much of this history has been lost or glossed over to create new "ignoble" wars. Significantly, the book was written at the urging of Drake's daughters, and it's something that we as veterans should all be mindful of.
- RG Cantalupo - The Veteran / 4th Qtr 2016