- Men
- who
- have
- been
- in
- combat
- may
- or,
- as
- is
- more
- usually
- the
- case,
- may
- not
- tell
- war
- stories.
- When
- they
- do
- tell
- them,
- they
- usually
- leave
- out
- various
- details,
- and
- often
- change
- things.
- After
- all,
- the
- stories
- can
- dredge
- up
- painful
- memories.
- In
- addition,
- the
- fact
- is
- that
- someone
- who
- has
- never
- fired
- a
- shot
- in
- anger,
- has
- never
- been
- the
- target
- of
- enemy
- fire,
- simply
- can't
- understand
- the
- reality
- of
- the
- stories.
- If
- they
- have,
- they
- don't
- need
- to
- hear
- the
- stories.In
- There
- I
- Was;
- the
- war
- of
- Corporal
- Henry
- J.
- Morris,
- USMC,
- Marine
- veteran
- of
- the
- Vietnam
- War
- Henry
- J.
- Morris,
- sits
- down
- with
- his
- son
- twenty
- years
- after
- he
- returned
- from
- the
- war
- to
- tell
- him
- about
- his
- experience.
- Henry
- J,
- as
- he
- is
- known
- throughout
- the
- novel,
- fully
- expects
- his
- son
- to
- follow
- in
- his
- footsteps,
- join
- the
- Marines,
- and
- go
- off
- to
- fight
- a
- war.But
- Henry
- J.
- is
- telling
- his
- war
- stories
- to
- someone
- who
- has
- no
- experience,
- no
- knowledge
- of
- the
- reality
- of
- combat.
- So
- none
- of
- his
- stories
- are
- fully
- accurate.
- Details
- are
- often
- distorted,
- and
- many
- details
- are
- omitted.
- Sometimes
- the
- story
- Henry
- J.
- tells
- is
- very
- different
- from
- what
- actually
- happened.In
- a
- series
- of
- short
- monologues,
- Henry
- J.
- tells
- his
- stories
- to
- his
- son.
- Each
- monologue
- is
- followed
- by
- a
- straight
- forward
- narrative
- of
- the
- event.The
- combat
- in
- There
- I
- Was
- is
- not
- the
- same
- as
- the
- combat
- in
- my
- series
- The
- Night
- Fighters.
- The
- Night
- Fighters
- series
- was
- the
- story
- of
- a
- Combined
- Action
- Platoon,
- a
- small
- unit
- living
- in
- a
- Vietnamese
- village,
- working
- with
- the
- people
- to
- protect
- them
- from
- the
- Viet
- Cong
- and
- the
- North
- Vietnamese
- Army.
- The
- Marines
- there
- had
- a
- very
- different
- view
- of
- the
- war
- from
- most
- other
- Marines
- fighting
- those
- same
- VC
- and
- NVA.
- In
- There
- I
- Was,
- Henry
- J
- is
- in
- a
- line
- company
- going
- on
- battalion
- operations
- with
- generally
- minimal
- contact
- with
- the
- Vietnamese
- people,
- nothing
- like
- the
- personal
- association
- the
- CAP
- Marines
- had
- with
- the
- villagers--the
- CAP
- Marines
- saw
- the
- villagers
- as
- their
- friends
- and
- neighbors.
- In
- some
- ways,
- the
- combat
- in
- There
- I
- Was
- is
- far
- more
- brutal
- than
- the
- combat
- in
- The
- Night Fighters.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
