Memories Unleashed: Vietnam Legacy - Hardcover

Small, Carl Rudolph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1612006981 ISBN 13: 9781612006987

Publisher: Casemate, 2019

Synopsis

This memoir of the Vietnam War is structured as a series of short stories that convey the emotional and physical landscape of the Vietnam War. It is a window into the war from the perspective of the author, who served in a rapid response assault force, as 'the Marine.'

The reader shares the Marine's experience through a year of combat that tested his character and shaped his destiny. Small joined the Marine Corps in 1969 at 19 years old, coming from a small Vermont farming community. After boot camp and specialty training he landed in Da Nang as a private first class. With three battlefield promotions in 8 months, he soon became a platoon sergeant.

Small did not talk of his experiences in Vietnam over the next forty years, but has now written this book for veterans' families, including his own, to understand what their loved ones experienced. It is a unique and powerful text that is written in such a way it brings you inside the marine; you see what he sees, feel what he feels. You know him, his back story, what he is thinking, why he made the decisions he needed to make. No names are mentioned throughout the book.

Memories Unleashed is an assemblage of memories, consisting of stories that stand alone to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. It addresses the warrior, the lives of innocent people caught up in the war, and the American and Vietnamese families impacted by those who fought.

About this title

About the Author

Carl Small joined the Marine Corps in 1969 and served 13 months in a Special Landing Force operating in 1 Corps, Vietnam. This is the first time he has spoken of the war. Two of the stories from the Memories Unleashed collection have placed first in the New Hampshire Writer's Project Regional Flash competition - 'Coming Home' and 'The Good Letters Home'. 'The Good Letters Home' was also published in Writer Advice Literary Magazine Sept 2014. He has authored a children's book, The Indoor Cat's Outdoor Adventure (Rose Dog Books, 2015).

Review

"Carl Small waited fifty years to put down on paper what his war in Vietnam was like. There is no argument here, no quarrel with history, just a fierce focused account of one man's year in the kind of close combat that was hard to talk about and hard to forget. What Small pursues in these 43 stories is the strangeness of war, where nothing and everything mattered." (Tom Powers)

"Told through the perspective of a young marine squad leader serving in Vietnam, I can't imagine a more immediate and eloquent account of what it is like to experience the horror, the foreboding, even the tedium of war. Like the marine's sweetheart who awaits his love letters and return to their small town, I found myself praying page after page- be safe, come home, be safe, come home..." (Jone B. Cole author of Good Naked: Reflections on How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier)

“The combat action is well-described and all the stories are well told. [...] Complete stories can be told in a small number of pages if you do it right, and Small frequently does.” (The VVA Veteran)

"The recreations of war experiences are powerfully written in sincere, staccato prose. Those looking for a creative, slightly different type of Vietnam War memoir will find this one to their taste." (Publishers Weekly)

"The book is so rich with detailed descriptions; it is if it had happened yesterday. Many readers may find feeling it evokes difficult; they are so clear and powerful". (Heather Steliga Vermont Standard)

"A fascinating read and I think it is worth saying thank you to author Carl Small for finally feeling able to write down his experiences and share them with the rest of us at last." (Military Model Scene)

About this edition

• Publisher: Casemate
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1612006981
• ISBN 13: 9781612006987
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192