4 comments about A Woman Soldier's Own Story.

1. It is a great book! this book portrayed how women were mistreated in the early 20th century in China. In that old days, girls were not allowed to be educated. They only learned how to spin cotton and embroider,, how to be an obedient daughter, and later a dutiful daughter-in-law. The reading materials for them were highly restricted to certain books such as Teach Your Daughter Traditional Rules. The worst thing was that girls had bound feet! However, there were still a few "lucky one" be able to escape from these old customs. Of course, it wasn't easy. This autobiography described an extraordinary woman, Xie Bingying who struggled to free herself from the traaditional Chinese society--received education, freed from an arranged marriage, became a soldier in the National Revolutionary Army, etc. Her experience was extraordinary!! I like this book because it is not only a truth story, it also pertains very rich information about the old Chinese customs.



2. Few people in the West realize how extraordinary this book is and how much it has influenced generations of young Chinese. I used to own the original (Chinese) version of this book while growing up as a boy in South America in the 60s. I used to read it for guidance and strength in the darkest days of my youth. I must have read and reread it a dozen times before I had to reluctantly part ways with it. This is a true modern classic that is often ignored by contemporary historians of Chinese literature, who prefer the shallowness of the likes of Sanmo. The War Diaries, which were praised by none other than Lin Yutang, are also worth reading; the translators should make them the subject of their next project.
   Fine as the edition is, I wish the cover had been different. I have never seen a likeness of Xie xiansheng before and almost overlook the book because I was misled by the photograph of the woman in uniform to think it was a book about the Cultural Revolution. But I am glad the editors have included the photographs contained in the insert. I have always matched the feistiness of the woman soldier with a rather robust physique: I am surprised how fragile and delicate Xie xiansheng actually was.
   This book is correctly listed as an autobiography but it reads like a fine novel, with memorable scenes and episodes. Without opening this translation and reading a single line, I can name a half dozen right off the top of my head: the foot-binding, the escapes, the dying brother, the impoverished former army girlfriend, the love triangle, etc. This book is to the Chinese literature what the Ann Frank diaries are to the European; it definitely should not be missed.



3. I have just read this book for a Chinese Women's history class, and I have found that it is nothing more than a hagiography that oversimplifies many complicated facets of Chinese culture. These days, it seems to be the vogue in literature to publish books by Asian women portraying them as hobbling, footbound victims of patriarchy and oppression. While it is true that Asian culture is definitely patriarchal and something that needs to be reformed, this book is another hackneyed account of a young woman trying to escape "feudal" social structures.
   I have no love for this book or any book like it because its message has been written and rewritten in various books by authors such as Amy Tan and Maxine Hong Kingston. The translators say in the introduction that Xie is the symbol of transition from "old" to "new" China. By not clearly defining what these interpretations are, they leave it to their audience to define what "old" and "new" are based on individual interpretaion. Moreover, Xie Bingying's black-and-white, old-and-new, feudal-and progressive viewpoint oversimplifies many complexities that face women in confronting modern gender ideals. If you have read Amy Tan or any other hackneyed works, I recommend skipping this book because it is another example of the oversimplification of cultural identity today.



4. Xie Bingying was many things. Unfortunately, her autobiography does not convey this well, reading like a nationalist propaganda piece. She also did not write much about the political context of the times in which she lived, although I suspect that was deliberate. Her story is still fascinating, however, because of how she navigated the shifting social intersections of China in the turmoil of the early twentieth century. To understand what women went through during this period, this is a valuable resource. I wouldn't recommend it for casual reading though.

2 comments about Dmz Diary: A Combat Marine's Vietnam Memoir.

1. TJ Kelly's DMZ Diary is a stunning account of his Vietnam service. Kelly writes with honesty and intelligence, allowing readers to accompany him on his journeys into combat with his fellow Marines. Kelly recalls stories of heroism and horror from Vietnam that will move the most jaded military historian. His stories of life away from combat provide humour and relief from the ever-present tension of the war. In DMZ Diary the author reveals his transformation from a gung-ho new guy to a seasoned veteran. The story of this transformation is an important addition to the history of the American experience in Vietnam.



2. An excellent first hand narrative. Well written. After reading it, I thought that most vietnam war movies that have been made must have stolen ideas from this book. A beautiful example of a person coming full circle on the realization of the reality of war. I highly reccommend this book, I could not put it down.

No comments about The Afghan Wars, 1839-42 and 1878-80.

No comments about The Sutras of Abu Ghraib: Notes from a Conscientious Objector in Iraq.

5 comments about The Lemon Dance: Tell Fidel El Rojo Is Coming.

1. Well written and developed; it is apparent that this author has captured a characteristic of American life that eludes the present generation. The ones that lived through the "cold War" can only appreciate the patriotism that was America. Hemely captures it well. Does he go overboard in an effort to serve; perhaps... it is the essence of wanting to serve our country and the frustration of not being called. This is not what you might want to call a politically correct book. Well done!



2. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! What a great read on history - world history, our nation's history, and a man's history! I highly recommend this interesting and quick read.



3. As I was taking in Savannah's St. Patty's Day festivities I came across a sign for a book signing. I followed the arrows and came across and older gentleman with some books outside an art gallery. He introduced himself as "the only man in U.S. aviation history to hijack a plane and be found not guilty of it." At that moment I knew I had to read his book. And WOW!!! It was worth it!!! I could not put it down. The story of this man's life is simply amazing. The ups and downs he endured are like nothing anyone would think possible for any one man. I would recommend this book to anyone. And I'm not just saying this because he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. The book is awesome!!!



4. After hearing your name from Gary and Stacie for almost 4 years I am very glad to have met you. You ended our meeting with Semper Fi and I did not return the motto. I say to you now SEMPER FIDELIS Marine. Thank you for your service.
   
   I read the book in two nights and have to tell you that I was intrigued the entire time. You kept me captivated because I was able to draw similarities between your life and mine and our missions. The most interesting similarity was how you found peace and salvation with God. I spent 32 years trying to do things my way too and it never worked. This past January I made a change. Maybe part of that change was to meet you and read your story.
   
   As I was reading the pages I felt a stong urge to sit down and discuss this book with you. I have so many questions..Most of them are self indulgent but I hope it is testement to your writing style. You did not leave nay rocks unturned in your descriptions of your personal endeavors. The book told me the story and left just enough out that I wanted more. Your closing was gracious and worth the wait. I will end my review by saying " I hope there is more from you."
   
   Thank you again Mr. Helmey in more ways than one. I will be in Savannah soon and I wish to buy you a cup of coffee.
   
   Damon Whitlow
   USMC
   USN



5. A true patriot with a life bigger than any action star on screen. I was visiting Savannah and fell in love with the authors wife's artwork and not only purchased a painting, but Reds' book as well. Perhaps meeting him in person helped me to relate to the story, but I too couldn't put it down, even knowing the premise. As a 45 year old woman with little knowledge of the events of the Cuban Missie Crisis, I found this history lesson fascinating and meaningful. I am blessed to have met such a fine dynamic man such as Reds Helmey and encourage others to pick up this memoir for a exciting, turbulent ride into America's Past~

5 comments about A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry.

1. If you are interested in the dark events leading to the holocaust, especially French collaboration, this is an absorbing book. For those not quite so familiar with Vichy France it will be an eye opener, for there can be no doubt that many French officials bent over backwards to serve their German masters during those shameful periodic roundups and deportations of the Jews in France. New to this reader, were the descriptions of the horrible conditions of the "refugee camps" in Vichy-controlled France. These were not the infamous concentration camps because detainees could be released, but they were, nonetheless, death camps simply because of shameful conditions and inhuman neglect. In fact, some 3,000 Jews and non- Jews died in those camps in southern France because of the atrocious conditions.

   But French Vichy officials were not the only villains. Americans may be surprised to learn just how anti-Semitic U.S. officialdom was during the early years. One could argue that were it not for the openly anti-Semitic treatment of Jews by our own State Department there would be no book written about Varian Fry. If all of the US officials in France, in the Embassy and various consulates, had a mind set to save the Jews it is quite likely thousands more could have been saved. Varian Fry filled a void. He was fighting two battles, the enemy in France and the enemy at home, in the form of the State Department. It was a shameful period, only fairly recently recognized by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

   This book, about Varian Fry's rescue of the Jews under the auspices of the American Emergency Rescue Committee, raises some questions. Why was he not recognized sooner? And why did many of those Jews rescued seem to turn their backs on him, once saved? Part of the answer is simply that Fry is not a very heroic figure, not even particularly likable. For some he was distant, not easy to know, but he did what he had to do at the time and that did not include being popular with everyone. It is unfortunate that personality flaws probably did play a role early on in the assessment of his role in that period. Even after reading this book, I cannot shake an ambivalent view of Fry as a tragic figure caught very much by accident in an heroic period. Yet, what he did rightfully makes him a hero.

   One must read this book to better understand that tragic period and place. Marseilles was the end of a funnel at the beginning of the war. Jews from all over Europe were spilling into that port city, desperate to get out, their backs against the Mediterranean wall, but not a non-Jewish friend in sight to help. Enter a few good people like Fry. It would suffice to be a hero at that time in that place simply by feeling compassion. Elie Wiesel expressed it when he said, "In those times one climbed to the summit of humanity simply by remaining human."

   There were other heros and heroines to be sure, the cooperative police inspector, the compassionate Prefet official. I had just finished reading Mary Jayne Gold's Memoir of Marseilles, 1940-1941 in which she recounts her version of that same rescue effort. My feeling is that she deserves a little better treatment than Marino gave her. The fact that Fry may have dismissed her should not diminish her contribution. Although deceased now after a long life, she genuinely felt that those were really the only useful years of her life. (See Amazon.com for review of her book, "Crossroads Marseilles, Nineteen Hundred and Forty" by Mary Jayne Gold)

   In short, an absorbing well researched book. Although many of the players on that Marseilles stage have now passed from the scene, including Varian Fry, Marino had the good fortune of being able to interview many of those still living. The book is not at all pedantic, but I do wish to thank the author for expanding my vocabulary with "spavined" and "solipsism".




2. Sometime, not-so-admirable people do incredibly admirable things, and find in themselves qualities that no one, themselves included, knew were there. Such was the case of Varian Fry.

   In August 1940, Varian Fry boarded a plane in New York and flew to Spain, and from there to Marseilles, on a mission that would resonate far beyond his imagination.

   Fry was an historian, involved with "radical" politics: the Spanish Civil War, the looming Holocaust. He went from observing and writing about the coming crises to actively participating in a way that no one who knew him, or even he himself, would have anticipated. Far from being identified as a humanitarian, he was, in fact, an intellectual snob, a classicist by training.

   But he put his life on the line in an effort to save the leading cultural, intellectual, and artistic lights of Europe. Truth to tell, he had no idea what he was getting himself, or his New York sponsors, into, so the evolution of this rather untouchable, remote aesthete into a mover and shaker who consorted with the Marseilles underworld (and enjoyed it!) and worked outside the law is fascinating to observe.

   Varian Fry was personally responsible for saving the lives of, among others, Marc Chagall, Lion Feuchtwanger, Victor Serge, Heinrich Mann, André Gide, Franz Werfel, Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Hannah Arendt... He also saved about 1500 other lesser known people. Altogether, in the year he spent in France before being arrested and kicked out by the Vichy puppets of the Gestapo, he turned himself inside out, discovering in himself a depth of caring and feeling that neither he, nor most of the people who knew him, would have suspected was present.

   The story itself is so riveting that the book would have to be illiterate not to be absorbing. I found it well-written, with fascinating studies of the characters who worked with, and against Fry. It sort of fades out at the end, but then again, so did Fry, after his return to New York. He died in 1967, unrecognized for his work until the year before his death. In 1996, Israel further declared him "Righteous Among the Nations," the only American so honored.




3. I encourage anyone interested in WWII to read this book. Especially fascinating to me were the depiction of important characters in pre-war Europe. I gobbled the book, then started looking for more - I would advise against following this book with Varian Fry's own account of this period, because it seems like Marino covered it pretty well.



4. As the other reviewers indicate, this is an excellent book. The setting of Fry's heroism, Marseille and the environs of the South of France, permit an oblique perspective on the Holocaust, which unfolded principally much farther to the north and the east. Without the overwhelming machinery of the sealed boxcars, the gas chambers, the crematoria, some of the underlying causes of the Holocaust come into focus: the bureacratic obstructionism of the U.S. State department, motivated partly by national self interest and partly by the genteel anti-Semitism of individual Foreign Officers, provides a glimpse into how value-free institutional behaviour can be--a deadly underlying cause in Hitler's rise. The sympathetic behaviour of peasants living on the border and of petty police officers contrasts with the callous, and often actively evil, behaviour of their official leaders.

   But always, there is the central enigma of Varian Fry himself--a complex, difficult , troubled man, in many ways a talented failure, who because of his clear moral vision became the catalyst for saving the flower of European artists and writers from the clutches of the Gestapo and their collaborators.

   In another book, Todorov posits that in extreme moral situations, the basic moral unit for effective action is two, because he notes that the rescuers--Gentiles who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust were rarely individuals; often they were husbands and wives. Todorov's idea is the combination of personality traits and practical abilities that produces effective resistence to an overwhelming social climate of evil is beyond the range of a single individual, and that it requires a minimum of two people to act effectively in this kind of environment.

   Interestingly, Fry did organise a staff of incredibly courageous co-workers to help save his "clients", but the intriguing question is whether his very flaws were part of Fry's mysterious ability to distance himself from his society (ie American) and to plunge into effective action to resist Hitler's evil earlier than almost anyone else.

   This intriguing book is very rewarding and worthwhile. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 only because of an occasional passage in which the author, who seems to be almost super-abundantly talented, seems to stray into almost novelistic detail that would seem unlikely to be supported by his research. This is mostly atmospheric, and doesn't cast a shadow on the facts themselves.




5. Hermann Goering is reputed to have said, "When I hear the word 'culture', I reach for my pistol."
   This, from one of the most prolific looters of art in recent history, takes some explanation which, as it happens, is not forthcoming.
   However, upon reading of Varian Fry's heroic attempts to keep Europe from "blowing its brains out" by detaining and, certainly, eventually killing intellectuals wholesale, one may have a bit of sympathy for Goering.
   It isn't the art, it's the artists.
   Fry was an odd character from his earliest days when he easily manipulated his parents into letting him avoid school and do whatever it was that his latest whim desired.
   He had an unusual though substantial education, and was a writer and journalist and left-wing intellectual in the Thirties. He was also what used to be called "neurotic" in that he had a number of personality traits we could call counterproductive, if we could ever figure out what Fry might think of as productive. He had a bit of hypochondria, was sometimes hardpressed to make a decision, made friends and lost them over small things, and married an older woman with whom he had a relationship whose aspects, as Marino details them, make the reader squirm, just a bit, over what Marino doesn't detail.
   Whatever he managed to accomplish in those days seems to have been a function of high intelligence and fierce energy, opposed by various personality quirks.
   And then he went to Marseille to rescue European intellectuals.
   His transformation at that point is amazing. From intellectual dilettante, indulging his personal whims, he became, overnight, indistinguishable from a hardened and trained operative of the OSS or the British SOE (Special Operations Executive). Marino does not tell us how that happened, since it is almost certainly inexplicable.
   Unfortunately for Fry and others, the same process did not occur in many of those he tried to help.
   If there is one thing I did not expect in reading this book, it was the difficulty, sometimes the near impossibility, of chivvying various intellectuals through reasonably simple (given the circumstances) procedures that would save their lives.
   Some, told to keep a low profile while things were worked out, paraded themselves in Marseille's restaurants and bars. Others refused simple instructions, or jibbed at the last moment, doing either nothing or something quite stupid. Fry spent a good deal of the time and resources he had--not much of either--in bailing out individuals or repairing or replacing procedures they'd put in jeopardy.
   It is almost too good to be true, in terms of literary contrast, to find that Fry also had a group of British soldiers captured prior to Dunkirk to get out of the France. These men, fit and cheerful, followed directions without question, solved what problems remained, and were successfully sent home. There could have been no greater contrast between ordinary people and intellectuals.
   Any reader who becomes involved in the narrative must, although sixty years and more have gone, become frustrated at the inability of Fry's charges to get out of their own way. One, after having been trouble on the European end, arrived safely in New York and began babbling to all about every secret arrangement Fry had made to get him and others safely out of the Gestapo's clutches.
   Fry, for this period, was clear-minded and hard-headed and full of energy. In periods of crisis, people can go into overdrive for extended periods of time. Eventually, they collapse. Fry, however, managed to work like a fiend for months in circumstances of the greatest stress. He never lost his focus and, indeed, was able to operate outside any constraints that one might have thought his earlier life placed on him. In one case, having been betrayed and done out of a substantial amount of funding, Fry met with some of Marseille's underworld bosses and took out a murder contract on the traitor.
   Eventually, having been sent home by the authorities, he returned to the intellectual's life he'd left, including neuroses, counterproductive activities, odd relationships, and eventual death in obscurity.
   The obscurity is partly a matter of official activity. It wasn't until many years later, when Fry was honored in Israel as one of the Righteous, that Warren Christopher apologized on behalf of the State Department for all the obstructionism Fry had had to face from the United States.
   Fry saved a great many intellectuals from death, providing the West, mostly the United States, with an intellectual boost (some became successful screenwriters as well), by finding within himself a person absolutely invisible to anyone looking at him either before or after his exploits. The greatest mystery of the story is that contradiction.
   The second greatest mystery is why saving intellectuals from certain death is so much like herding cats.
   What is it about them?

5 comments about Flying Through Midnight: A Pilot's Dramatic Story of His Secret Missions Over Laos During the Vietnam War.

1. This is a great war story and very different from the usual flying tale. The pilots invovled are NOT gung-ho fighter jocks, but cargo plane pilots who seemed to get into flying solely to escape getting drafted into the infantry, don't like being in the Air Force, and would much rather be someplace else. The author does a very good job of making you feel the unique terror of being lost at night in difficult terrain. Up to now the book gets 5 stars.
   Now on to why it doesn't: The book seems to be "factually challenged". The book states the airplane was brought down by a leaking gascolator (fuel filter). On a website the author gives an interview stating it was 37MM anti-aircraft fire that caused the fuel leak. One of these versions must be wrong. There seems to be a curious time warp going on as well. The pilots complain they don't have satellite photo maps of the area. These events happened a LONG TIME before Google Earth was invented. I doubt that was the #1 complaint in Laos in 1969. The author talks about a high-tech compound where they did electronic monitorting of the Ho Chi Min Trail being all chrome and glass and looking like the rest of America might look in 1985. Once again, I doubt pilots in Thailand in 1969 had a firm graps of mid 1980s high tech corporate architecture. The author gives a heartpounding description of rivets popping and metal tearing when they drop flaps and gear at speeds not only way out of the white arc, but way over VNE as well. Then the airplane has NO damage the next morning??????
   The events at Lon Tien seem a bit odd as well. They acted like the CIA/Air America staff might hold them prisoner for months. I could be wrong, but I bet the CIA rarely held AMERICAN PILOTS as captives. Also odd was their being assumed dead. The airplane was not damaged and the batteries were not dead, so why not get on the radio and say "Hey -we landed at X" and prevent a SAR operation from launching for no reason.
   Other things that left me puzzled - Did the F4s that bombed the HCM Trail *really* bomb ahead and behind the trucks first so the drivers could run off and not be killed when their trucks got blown up? I sure wouldn't waste my time doing that if I were flying the F4. They also seemd to have an odd system of "fair fighting" with the AA guns. They seemed to think the gunners could fight airplanes that were directly attacking them, but if they were sneaky and shot down an airplane that was just nearby that wasn't "fair" and then that gun site would be bombed. That doens't soud righ to me, but I wasn't there.



2. After reading all the other reviews, I started to think our reviewers (which include many ex-service) are missing one key point. "Flying Through Midnight" is well written and keeps its emphasis until the end.
   
   
   I kept re-reading the scene where the grizzled old mechanic "Toothless...Yearlong untrimmed beard..shoulder length uncombed hair.filthy Korean War fatigues" patched up the C-123 and got Halliday/crew back to NKP. It would make a hell of a movie. I would nominate Nick Nolte as the mechanic. I do admit that I pictured Long Tien to be at the bottom of a mile high ravine,which doesn't agree with phtographs I've seen.
   As far as its veracity, the reviewers should read some of the Luftwaffe novels wriiten in the fifties purporting to be true.



3. My theory is that the author saw that Richard Hooker did pretty well for himself with a comic drama novel based upon his experiences with a support unit during the unpopular Korean (which he entitled MASH) so Halliday thought that he would go to the well with this comic drama novel based upon his experiences with a support unit during the unpopular Vietnam War. Let me begin (before I rip him a new one) by saying that there is some funny stuff here and the drama is not bad either (although I find the prose a tad purple).
   
   But there are problems with this book. First and foremost, there is entirely too much hippy-Zen-Tao navel gazing in this book. The basic premise is that the military is far more concerned about compliance with their rules than it is with winning the war or saving the lives of its men; therefore the average guy's only hope for physical and moral survival is to break those rules. The good guys break rules and the bad guys adhere to rules. (Did someone mention MASH?) You must disregard the rules and trust your inner self even if that means that the full weight of military authority will come crashing down on your head. The first half of the book (and you could even say the entire book) is the story of TJ learning to disregard more and more rules. The problem with this philosophy, of course, is its inherent contradiction: I get to break your rules but you don't. TJ is great when he disregards the rules of the squadron commander and various and assorted other brass but when Don't-Call-Me-Dick, TJ's co-pilot, disregards one of TJ's rules, there is hell to pay. The result is a very non-democratic and non-American standard in which the rules don't apply to cool people but they sure as hell apply to nerds. Apparently the author spent twenty-six years in the Air Force. With this attitude, one is tempted to ask how? Or better yet, why?
   
   Another problem is that remarked upon by numerous reviewers more qualified to comment than I, this story simply does not feel real. Not only does TJ complains like a middle school girl when as a memoir of the horror of combat, it doesn't hold a candle to such works as With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge, The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer, or Company Commander by Charles MacDonald (to name only a few), the explanation and descriptions don't make a lot of sense. Ignoring the technical details, an example would be that TJ and his mentor, Wiley, seek solace from the stress of combat by cranking Wiley's stereo to a reported 1000 decibels and singing along with Karen Carpenter's Rainy Days and Mondays Get Me Down. (1000 decibels of Karen Carpenter! I may have to take back what I said about this book not revealing the true horror of combat.) That is a major problem with this book, it just doesn't ring true. Indeed, as I write these words, Hillary Clinton is being subjected to public ridicule for exaggerating beyond all recognition her experience visiting a Bosnia airport. "Hamburger" Hill described dodging snipers as she descended from above to bring peace to the Bosnians. The only problem was the snipers were a figment of her imagination. One gets the feeling that this memoir has been exaggerated by Clintonian standards but at least Hillary was kind enough to include comedian Sinbad in her war story perhaps as a "tell" that she was fibbing. Sinbad was not available during the Vietnam War but perhaps the author could have included Henny Youngman to let us in on the joke. ("Take my airplane, please!")



4. My unease with this book started from the very first page. I had just finished Tom Yarborough's excellent "Da Nang Diary", documenting his experiences as a special forces forward air controller in Vietnam, and was hungry for more on this topic. But "Flying Through Midnight" proved to be a very different book, and I plowed though it trying to ignore the red flags that kept popping up far too frequently.
   
   Small inaccuracies like the rainy season starting rather than finishing in November, or the Thai waitress using the polite ending "krup" which is reserved for men (women say "ka") I put down to forgetfulness and lax editing. But anyone who writes about a vintage MiG 17 trying to destroy an unlit transport aircraft at night with air-to-air bombs has little idea of military aviation.
   
   Numerous other small technical inaccuracies that one would not expect from a career pilot grate throughout the book. An example: the air cushion that forms under a low flying aircraft is called "ground effect" not "water effect". Its influence is felt at half a wingspan not half a wing chord length, and it's a well known effect taught to every trainee pilot, so Halliday's experienced copilot would not have been stunned by experiencing it for the first time so late in his career. Small inaccuracies for sure, but they accumulate throughout the book to increasingly test its veracity.
   
   All the characters appear to be caricatures with such exaggerated traits that they are difficult to accept as real people. In particular, the inflexible rule-spouting copilot, who becomes worried about dumping government property overboard to lighten an aircraft in mortal danger, beggars belief. Nothing you can place a finger on, but the book's characters just don't read true.
   
   The first two-thirds of the book is little more than a rant against an Air Force hierarchy that deliberately stifles even the slightest innovation. I would have thought that like most military organizations, this squadron would have adapted rapidly to wartime conditions, and welcomed suggestions from its combat pilots. The last third is an admittedly very well written account of an emergency landing that is reminiscent of the best writing of Richard Bach, including all of that author's mysticism. But even the good part of the book is marred by implausible characters and airstrip topography only Hollywood would normally have thought up (as pointed out by another reviewer).
   
   So what to make of it all? There seems little doubt that Halliday is a retired airline captain who did fly C-123s over Laos. His detailed narrative of the difficulties he endured in getting his book published mentions real people, some well known, who helped him. So why is the book full of so many niggling, doubt-inducing entries? Perhaps, in his desperation to get published, the author adopted many of the edits suggested by literary rather than aviation people during the numerous re-writes he was forced to make to get the book published. Or perhaps, as other reviewers have suggested, this is a "faction" book, a Vietnam version of Catch-22 loosely based on the author's experiences, not intended to be an accurate autobiography.
   
   Either way, the book disappoints.
   
   For a first-class read about the work of an unorthodox forward air controller during the Vietnam war, I strongly recommend Tom Yarborough's "Dan Nang Diary" instead.



5. This fella is a pretty good writer but the content of the book and especially his claims leave it with one star. The part about throwing a chain out back of the aircraft and bringing down a chopper was the least believable part. If it were to be found under "Fiction" I would gladly give it a couple more stars.

5 comments about She's Just Another Navy Pilot: An Aviator's Sea Journal.

1. I was recommended this book when I shared with a friend my interest in the Air Force and Army. I never read much, but this got my attention. Her discription of life at sea, and all the little things she had to deal with, that civilains never think about on land. The author made it easy to understand her emotions, and her life style. It was an excellent resource to how woman were integrated into the Navy, and how difficult it was. It was facts, and also her opinions as she lived through it. I loved it!



2. This was a great book! Open, honest and to the point. There is no sugar coating here, just straight simple truthful writing. I recomend it to anybody who wants a dose of reality about trans-gender issues in a hostile environment.



3. Before reading "She's Just Another Navy Pilot", I knew about the author from Jean Zimmerman's "Tailspin: Women at War in the Wake of Tailhook". I had seen her letters of rebuttal to reactionary editorial in the San Diego Union Tribune, and to unfavorably slanted articles in Newsweek. I knew her name as a successful Naval aviator and very credible advocate of women in her profession. When I received her book from Amazon, I opened it immediately, and did not put it down until I had finished it. What a fascinating autobiography of a most extraordinary person! Loree Draude Hirschman was one of the US Navy's first female fighter-pilots to transfer to fleet combat operations. She describes the early opposition to women in the jet-jock community and the sometimes open hostility she encountered. She details her first deployment, in which female aviators were isolated and ostracized. By the end of that cruise, one had been killed, another grounded for poor performance, and another had turned in her wings. But with perseverence and dignity, the majority of the sixteen women in the pioneer group had succeeded. By her second deployment, female aviators had already begun to find acceptance -- especially after one new F/A-18 pilot won the "Top Nugget Award" for best score in qualifications. (Loree herself earned placement in the Top Ten.) I hope this book will be read by opponants of female aviators. The author exposes the distortion of fact they have presented to the public. Yet she is refreshingly frank about problems which still exist in the gender-integrated Navy. I hope her book will be read by aspiring pilots in search of a role model. Her descriptions of flying and the flight deck are vivid, and make the reader feel right there with her. And her pride in her Naval service is inspiring, even though she relates her accomplishments with modesty.



4. While books like Jarhead become best-sellers, this
   well-written account of a female navy pilot has remained
   hidden from the mass market. And that's our loss.

   Loree Draude Hirschman, daughter of a Marine general,
   joined the aircraft carrier Lincoln as an S-3 pilot, and thereby made history. That year the Lincoln was the first West Coast based ship to depart with an integrated male-female crew. Hirschman flew jets off the deck of the carrier and brought them back -- a test of skill and professionalism. And she describes, in detail, life aboard a carrier, where the frustrations come more from living under a microscope than from battling with the enemy.

   She probably pays more attention to details a woman would notice -- and enjoy reading about. For example, pilots work crazy hours, yet the mess officer was adamant that no cereal would be distributed after 10:30 AM! Four women in a cramped stateroom have to work to get along, especially when one brings her "boyfriend" home, in defiance of the rules.

   Hirschman was ideally suited for her role. She knew how to be one of the boys and she genuinely enjoyed navy life. She has moments of doubt and despair, but overall she cares about her crew and manages to make a tough situation seem easy. I suspect she left only when her husband became medically disqualified; otherwise she'd probably be on her way too becoming an Admiral.




5. She's Just Another Navy Pilot: An Aviator's Sea Journal is absolutely one of the most authentic and personal accounts of what its really like to wear Navy wings of gold. Reading this book, you'll be there when she's about to land on a pitching deck... It's an absolute page turner. You'll love it.

5 comments about Psychic Warrior: Inside the Cia's Stargate Program : The True Story of a Soldier's Espionage and Awakening.

1. but I'm not sure if this book is the best place to learn about it. Too many things on the military side don't seem to add up and it left me wondering how much of the information in this book is accurate, how much is conjecture and how much is just sensationalism.
   
   I don't doubt that the U.S. conducted research into remote viewing... evidence is very strong that the Soviets did as well during the Cold War. But remote viewing would have been of very little value and the program itself a dead-end militarily. It's a pity that there don't seem to be any books which seriously looks at this subject, the origins behind it, any possible successes, etc. Instead all we seem to have is this.
   
   A fascinating read, but take it with a grain of salt.



2. This book was impossible to put down. Morehouse tells his incredible story in such a down-to-earth manner that you feel like he is right there talking to you. And because of what he is telling you about remote viewing and his experiences "in the ether" you, you can't help but get chills up your spine! As a fellow military officer, I was equally as interested in reading about the military's reaction to Morehouse's story, and was shocked to read the depths to which the intelligence community went to keep Morehouse from going public with his information. An absolutely incredible personal account that you will NOT be able to forget. Very highly recommended!



3. I bought this for my husband for Christmas. He started the book and within a couple of days he was finished and concluded by saying YOU'VE GOTTA READ THIS ! Which he rarely recommends anything.



4. This book is a waste of time, because all non-practical stories, and lack of facts. Very tiring reading.



5. Very disappointing. The story of the actual work he did as a remote viewer was fascinating. The rest is dreck and casts doubt on the credibility of everything he writes.
   
   He plays the victim card with the Army, acting surprised that his superiors didn't want him to publicize details about his highly classified duties.
   
   The reader is left to wonder how much of his experience he distorts or omits. For example, he conveniently forgets to mention his apparently romantic relationship with a subordinate until it comes up in the investigation the Army conducts against him, then tries to justify it.
   
   He also is inconsistent. He writes about how unhappy he was in his assignment after Stargate, then about how he curses at the person who calls him out of the blue to offer him a job back at Stargate.
   
   He comes across as an undisciplined narcissist who sacrifices his career and family life for his own selfish gain. It is evident why he is an outcast in the military's remote viewing community.

3 comments about Kenneth.

1. This book is a great real life romance, but has a great appeal for history buffs, especially those who are interested in WWII. A look at a very specific and personal war experience.



2. This book had vivid descriptions and a story line that pulled me in immediately. When I had to stop reading for a while, I left the book with a warm, peaceful feeling yet I was anxious to get back to it. Nothing could be done to control the antagonist, so the suspense was light but compelling.



3. Finally a WW II story with heart. Unlike the epic Hollywood versions, this is an honest and harrowing account of the human cost of war. With great accuracy, Lentz takes the reader through the real-life experiences of a soldier in the Mountain Infantry. However, the real soul of the book revolves around a love so powerful and so strong that it would live on long after both lovers were gone. Perhaps the most moving aspect of this story is the way that their love has been kept alive. In fact, while reading I realized that Ms. Lentz is not just telling a story, but also presenting her readers with a precious family heirloom.