Title: GOODNIGHT VIETNAM: A Vietnam Memoir Vol. 2
Author: Curtis Stocker
Publisher: Olympus Story House
ISBN: 978-1968069179
Pages: 786
Genre: Vietnam War History / Nonfiction
Reviewed by: Jack Chambers
Hollywood Book Reviews
Unless one finds themselves enduring it for themselves, no one can ever begin to understand the horrors of war. That became more evident than ever before during the aftermath of the Vietnam War, as veterans returned from that war psychologically as well as physically changed forever by what they witnessed and participated in during those years. While many can put a name to these changes, no one can understand them unless they themselves endured similar events.
That is why having a memoir from a soldier’s perspective is the key to understanding these veterans and their hardships, as demonstrated in author Curtis Stocker’s GOODNIGHT VIETNAM: A Vietnam Memoir Vol. 2. The story picks up right where the author’s first book ended, with a series of reassignments to the PSYOPS division forcing him to seek new assignments for the AFVN. As his transfer faces red tape, Curt must deal with a gung-ho commander who gives an order he can’t follow, leading to a major clash which changes his life forever, all while dealing with the madness of war and the different cultures between stoners and alcoholics the war produced.
A compelling and gripping memoir, the author does a remarkable job of crafting his life’s story in a way which felt transportive, as if readers were walking through the jungles of Vietnam with the author. The depth of detail and the powerful imagery in the author’s writing style brought the Vietnam country to life vividly, as the way the author writes in general made the experiences he had in Vietnam and the interactions with others while over there feel almost cinematic in delivery, as if the story were a historical fiction narrative instead of the nonfiction memoir it really is.
Readers who enjoy nonfiction titles, especially those who are memoir driven and utilize a good amount of history, specifically history related to the Vietnam War, this is the perfect book to get lost in. The amount of history found in the book was not only greatly detailed but balanced out with some memorable and heartfelt dialogue between the author and the people he interacted with. The tension with a certain Captain and the shocking moment he faced in a trial highlighted the division that exists in certain military groups and the need to defend oneself in the face of unwarranted scrutiny. A memorable and captivating memoir, the book expertly weaves in the Vietnam war era and the drug versus alcohol culture that existed at this time with mesmerizing history and relatable personal experiences.