What Are You Reading?

[Janet Harrington]

I love John Sanford books. Night Prey, Winter Prey, all the Prey books were excellent.

[Wilma]

I ordered the latest Stephanie Plum today.  I also ordered the latest Charlie Moon and Kinsey Millhone.

[Janet Harrington]

Everyone needs to go to this website and read about this book. I just read the book and finished it in a short amount of time. It was great. The author has said that he is giving 100% of the proceeds to wounded veterans. Barry Fixler is a Marine and a Vietnam vet. Please look at this website. I especially hope that Jarhead reads this. I would like to know what he thinks.

http://www.sempercool.com/


Be sure you watch the video of the robbers that tried to rob his jewelry store. He reacted like the Marine that he still is.

[jarhead]

Haven't read that book Janet, but did read reviews on it in my Leatherneck Magazine. I'll read it when you read the NY times best selling novel, " Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War" by Karl Marlantes---based on my ol company.  Lt Marlantes has a new book out called "What It's Like To Go To War " I don't have it yet.
I know several Marines that were with the 26 th Marines at the siege of Khe Sahn. Not a good time for them. I was in the Khe Sahn valley over a year after the siege . It looked the the moon. Craters everywhere but at least we had lots of drinking water. Them 500  and 1, 000 lb bombs make instant swimming pools---after it rains

[Janet Harrington]

Okay. I'm going to check into both of those books. I have a book about a Marine Sniper. I am not exactly sure of the title. When I get back to Howard I'll look at it to get the correct name. Would you be interested in reading it if you haven't already? I can drop it off on my way through Longton sometime.

[Janet Harrington]

Ok. I have borrowed the Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War from the lending library at Amazon that sends it to my Kindle. I am starting it tonight. Thanks, Jarhead.

[Janet Harrington]

Jarhead, I finished the book, The Matterhorn. Oh my goodness. What a time those Marines had. I realize that it was a novel, but I am sure the writer wrote the truth. All those days on that hill, hiding and fighting, with no food, no water. I recommend this book to everyone. Going to check into the other he wrote.

[jensarlou]

currently I am reading True Believer by Nicholas Sparks.  Its pretty good so far. Next is The Green Mile by Stephen King.

[sixdogsmom]

I loved The Green Mile. I first read it in the original chapbook format. The movie is awesome also, but I do reccommend reding the book first as always. Enjoy! 

[jarhead]

Matterhorn is a novel Janet, but for the most part is based on things that happened to Charlie co, that Lt Marlantes was in. The time I read it was the 1st printing and since then  a NY publishing company bought the rights to it and Lt Marlantes had to shorten the original so I'm not sure what is left out of the book now, from what I read. The one thing I did not like about the book was I thought he dealt a little too much on the racial trouble but him being an officer he probably did have to deal with it, while I didn't even know there was a problem most of the time. What I like most about his book as he doesn't dwell on "blood & guts" but talks about being hungry, thirsty, cold then hot and being so tired it is hard to keep going---and the endless nights of no sleep or very damn little---and the insane taking a hill, then humping off it to let the gooks set up house keeping again.
I could never be an author (beside me being dumb'rn a box of rocks ) because of the book reviews. One in particular set me off. The Jack-Wad started off by saying he wasn't there BUT---wondered why Lt Marlantes wrote about things that in no way would or could have happened. One was about when a leeched crawled into a "damp ,warm spot" looking for blood. I won't say where that place was but the book tells where. I think in the book that Marine might of" died" but he is alive and well living in Dayton ,Ohio. Then the jerk(that wasn't there ) said he had a hard time believing our clothes would rot off. Well ,I'm here to tell you it happened more than once. For example on operation Purple Martin , Charlie co. was in the bush for 57 days, pulled back to the rear for 3 days, and right back out for 54 days, on operation Herkimer Mountain. Try living in the humid jungle for that amount of time and see what happens to your clothes. Then the guy says it was laughable to read where someone had been eaten by a tiger because it never happened. Here is a quote from the battalion after action reports:
15 November

At 2000H, A Co. D ambush at XD 754534 had one member of the ambush dragged away by a carnivorous animal.  Search was conducted under constant illumination for a period of some three hours with negative results.

At 0930H, Co. C patrol conducted a search for lost man.  Found remains at XD 753536.  Man had been attacked by carnivorous animal.  Remains med-evaced.

Now there was some big damn rats in Nam but don't believe they were big enough to drag a man off and eat part of him. My beloved Plt Sgt, Arkansas ,led the patrol that found the remains and said the guy was partially eaten. Within the next few nights of Delta co loosing this man a recon unit had a Marine get grabbed by the neck and stated screaming and another member of the recon team shot and killed the tiger. There are pictures of the tiger and well documented and almost the same grid co-ordinates where the tiger had killed just a few night before.

I have read lots of Nam books but can't relate to them because they are written about being down by Da Nang or points further south. Matterhorn is spot on to what it was like to be an infantry Marine in the triple canopy jungle ,and valleys of elephant grass, up by the DMZ. Glad you enjoyed reading it.