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Count your dead;: A novel of Vietnam
Count Your Dead is the first novel written about the Vietnam War by a professional soldier. A fictional story with drama, violence, strong characters and poignant moments, Count Your Dead is closely based on real events and John Rowe's personal experiences and observations of real people. When Count Your Dead was first published in 1968, it made front-page news and led to his resignation from the military. Written by Rowe as part of his own personal process to make sense of the complicated war, it raises questions still relevant in global conflicts today.
223 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 20, 2015
While this book is not great literature it did cost a man his career. The author was a serving soldier when he wrote the book (it was first published in 1968) with experience of counterinsurgency in Malaya, Borneo Kashmeer and Vietnam. He knew what he was talking about. Given the background it is hard for me not to see the protagonist as his alter ego. He uses the book to present in the context of the story, the views he must have come to as a result of his service. I, like him,felt within 90 days of arriving in Vietnam in 1970, that the war was lost and that I and everyone else thumping around the country was part of some monstrous evil machine.
Unfortuantely the incompetence and propensity of Americans in Vietnam to believe, in their arrogance, their own propaganda, came through clearly here. The issues he raises in the book are the very issues US command (and by association Australian command) should have been grappling with. They weren't then and they never did. The views contained in this book were toxic to Rowe's career, just as was the case with some American field grade officers who expressed their doubts about the US effort in Vietnam.
His remarks were prophetic! If a person unfamiliar with the war wanted an easy way to understand why the most powerful country in the world was humbled in the way it was, much of that answer is illustrated in the attitude and actions of the Brigade commander described in this book. He was replicated hundreds of times over at every level in the US military between the ranks of major right up to Westmorealnd and Abrhams. They may not have been stupid but they were certainly deluded.
The same delusions have been prevalent in Iraq and Afghanistan more recently. It seems that if there is one thing that Americans display consistently it is an absolute incapacity to learn from their mistakes. The belief in themselves as a God chosen people who can do, over-rides everything. This, to the great regret of the thousands of families who have accepted the flag from a "grateful nation" at a grave side. That is not to mention the souls wounded and broken in body and spirit nor the terrible cost to them and to those who loved them over the intervening years.
Unfortuantely the incompetence and propensity of Americans in Vietnam to believe, in their arrogance, their own propaganda, came through clearly here. The issues he raises in the book are the very issues US command (and by association Australian command) should have been grappling with. They weren't then and they never did. The views contained in this book were toxic to Rowe's career, just as was the case with some American field grade officers who expressed their doubts about the US effort in Vietnam.
His remarks were prophetic! If a person unfamiliar with the war wanted an easy way to understand why the most powerful country in the world was humbled in the way it was, much of that answer is illustrated in the attitude and actions of the Brigade commander described in this book. He was replicated hundreds of times over at every level in the US military between the ranks of major right up to Westmorealnd and Abrhams. They may not have been stupid but they were certainly deluded.
The same delusions have been prevalent in Iraq and Afghanistan more recently. It seems that if there is one thing that Americans display consistently it is an absolute incapacity to learn from their mistakes. The belief in themselves as a God chosen people who can do, over-rides everything. This, to the great regret of the thousands of families who have accepted the flag from a "grateful nation" at a grave side. That is not to mention the souls wounded and broken in body and spirit nor the terrible cost to them and to those who loved them over the intervening years.
February 19, 2015
At times a very tough read. OK it is a novel and I have no experience of service life let alone being in Nam. That said it is a powerful journey through one man's experiences of war as it was practiced back in the sixties. His disillusion is not shared by his comrades but worse his commanding officer. If you have a conscience, a soul and care for the actions of your country then this is a must read.
Sadly as another reviewer points out, it is a tragedy that powerful nations seldom learn the hard won lessons of their history. Perhaps it is within the nation itself that it throws the same kind of men into the fray with all the same shortcomings of their predecessors? But a new century on, America has exchanged the VC for the Taleban. Good intentions coupled with human fallibility and overwhelming firepower are a lethal mix.
Sadly as another reviewer points out, it is a tragedy that powerful nations seldom learn the hard won lessons of their history. Perhaps it is within the nation itself that it throws the same kind of men into the fray with all the same shortcomings of their predecessors? But a new century on, America has exchanged the VC for the Taleban. Good intentions coupled with human fallibility and overwhelming firepower are a lethal mix.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews