...and a hard rain fell
A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam
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4.0 • 24 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A classic, must-read Vietnam war memoir about the unforgettable story and unflinching portrait of a young soldier’s journey from the roads of upstate New York to the jungles of Vietnam.
…and a hard rain fell, has been updated for its 20th anniversary with a new afterword on the Iraq War and its parallels to Vietnam. John Ketwig's message is as relevant today as it was twenty years ago.
"A magnetic, bloody, moving, and worm's-eye view of soldiering in Vietnam, an account that is from the first page to last a wound that can never heal. A searing gift to his country."―Kirkus Reviews
"Solidly effective. He describes with ingenuous energy and authentic language that time and place."―Library Journal
"Perhaps as evocative of that awful time in Vietnam as the great fictions...a wild surreal account, at its best as powerful as Celine's darkling writing of World War One."―Washington Post
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Another recovered war memoir this one with a first printing of 15,000 is John Ketwig's ...And a Hard Rain Fell: A GI's True Story of the War in Vietnam, first published in 1985. Enlisting to avoid the draft in 1966, Ketwig ended up a platoon sergeant in Thailand, "in charge of 43 Americans and numerous Thais." He is articulate and perceptive throughout, voicing doubt, witnessing horrors, trying to fit in on returning. Ketwig has supplied eight pages of new photos and a new introduction for this edition; the press chat notes that Ketwig will do an NPR affiliate tour, and that the book is a "staple" in campus Vietnam courses.
Customer Reviews
Not bad but …
Ketwig was stationed in a rear area, the true “grunts” walked around in the mud day after day and would have loved to have a hootch to go to at night. Many of these men saw more combat in a week that Ketwig did in his entire tour. War is horrific and awful and always has been, but Vietnam was no worse than others, as survivors pf Okinawa (altho very few left). Vietnam was just the first war they allowed reporters to send in uncensored dispatches. BIG mistake! You cannot expect 250mil (back then) Americans to endure that blood and gore! I think Vietnam was a mistake to get involved in, but we cannot have armed forces who allow a bunch of cowardly hippies and left wing reporters decide how and when we fight! As soon as our enemies sense this, is the beginning of the end for the US. Unfortunately war has been part of civilization and will continue to be until we evolve as a species!
Amazing and Imperative
The authenticity of the author’s account comes through on every page of this unflinching book. This should be mandatory reading for all high school students. This book changed my view of veterans and deepened a healthy mistrust of politicians.
1
Excellent read. I struggled with the price, but in the end felt it was worth it.