A review by remkosiak
Welcome to Vietnam by Zack Emerson

5.0

“Once he had all his stuff, the first thing he did was write FTA on the side of his helmet in black ink. Which, of course stood for #*$@ The Army. Might as well let everyone know where he stood.” Nearly nineteen year-old Michael Jennings, a ski instructor from Colorado, is drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he is ordered to Echo Company, in I Corps - stationed in the heat of the action. Mike, or Meat, as his buddy Snoopy christens him, doesn't really understand the war – none of the guys do – but they follow orders, silently humping their way through the stifling heat, booby traps, and dense jungle of South Vietnam day after day.

Emerson presents a glimpse of a young soldier's time in Vietnam in this promising first novel of a projected series. Short bursts of wartime action provide startling realism to the hectic life of a soldier in the field – guys joking about the World Series one minute and cleaning a soldier’s exploded corpse off his best friend the next. These moments are well paired with long, detailed descriptions of the terrifying non-action of Meat's shifts standing guard at night. “A twig snapped. For sure, a twig had snapped. They were out there. Was anyone else awake? Was he the only one who had heard it? Were they coming?” Each character is well defined through short description, and confusion about the real conflict at hand may spark curiosity from readers and interest to learn more about the Vietnam War. Mostly absent from this brief novel are the politics and relentless gore of many war novels, yet the raw characterization, bursts of action, and simple writing are well-crafted. Sure to be compared to Walter Dean Myers’ 1988 novel Fallen Angels, a potentially stronger offering as it grapples with the political and racial issues of the late 1960s.