Viet Man

Viet Man is about the transformation of a young man whoenlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam War, was trained as ahospital corpsman, was transferred into the Marine Corps, thensent to Viet Nam where he joined the elite First Recon.It is a first person narrative of alternating episodes experiencedin the rear and in the bush. In the rear, Doc encountersa straw-haired mid-western farm boy who shows him how toprepare a meal of long-rats, and Loopie, a Puerto Rican fromthe Bronx who shares a guilt-torn confession that borders onconfabulation. In the bush, Doc experiences the terror of accidentallyreleasing a live grenade among his men, of rushing torescue a wounded marine, and of sharing a quiet conversationin a bunker with Trang, a South Vietnamese soldier.After being assigned to the Recon Dive Team and attendingthe Navy diving school in the Philip-pines, he returns to Viet Namwere he engages in numerous combat dives and river operations.At the end of his tour, he is processed out of the military.And upon his return to his hometown as a veteran, he facesa jarring reception of insolence, indifference, and fragmentedflashbacks. In Viet Man, D.S. Lliteras unlocks the inner mystery ofa man s combat experience. It is poetic and haunting, authenticand amusing. It is a story told by a man who ultimately survivesthe war and returns to his homeland, but another country willforever dwell in his soul."