SNAFU

by Vic Mills

Vic Mills’ SNAFU takes readers on a tour in Vietnam through the eyes of a young military police office, or M.P. Daily life at war is exposed in its subtlety and its brutality. M.P.s discover that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0970177305
• ISBN13: 9780970177308
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Hara Publishing Group
• Length: 347 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

The Good, the Bad ... and the Hilarious

Vic Mills does for MPs in Vietnam what M.A.S.H. did for meatball surgeons in Korea. The novel is a quick, enjoyable read based on the author's wartime experiences. From the perspective of a soldier, Vic shows us the very best and worst of human behavior. He presents the raw ugliness of war where little girls are molested by one side -- and then rejected and murdered by the other. He describes the arrogance of ignorance where rookie guards struggle to open cans of food oblivious to the approach of VC soldiers a few yards away. He writes about malicious unit leaders who send others into combat while avoiding danger themselves. However, the book is balanced. For every drunken pedophile, there's an army of earnest young soldiers building an orphanage to help the forlorn children of Vietnam. For every meglomaniacal officer, reasoned, professional leadership saves the day time and again. If there's heartbreak, there's also joy. If there's drudgery, there's also fun. The reader will laugh at the image of an amorous water buffalo going after an Army jeep -- and then shed a tear for parentless children left behind in a war zone. SNAFU is about dignity, sorrow, absurdity -- and in the end, kindess. Definitely worth a read. Joyce Faulkner Author of In the Shadow of Suribachi, For Shrieking Out Loud!, and "Losing Patience" Coauthor of Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors

A Side of the Vietnam War You Never Heard About

SNAFU is an old military acronym, short for Situation Normal - All Fouled Up. (Some would substitute a less polite word for the letter 'F.') Army veteran Vic Mills manages to bring out the true meaning of the word in this extraordinary novel of the Vietnam War. Loosely based on actual events, SNAFU is a comedy of errors. Almost immediately after arriving at Basic Training, Vic is mistaken for an undercover Army investigator. Worried that their new `recruit' has been sent to gather evidence of incompetence and wrongdoing, Vic's Drill Sergeants can't decide whether to kick his butt, or kiss it. By itself, a mistake of that magnitude could easily become the stuff of legend, but it's only one in a monumental series of screw-ups. Vic encounters busses to the middle of nowhere, pilots who fall asleep at the controls of their planes, and Vietnamese house cleaners who elevate cleanliness to the point of physical hazard. The absurdity of Vic's experiences, peppered liberally by his keen sense of irony, conjure up memories of Yossarian in Joseph Heller's classic `Catch 22.' But, unlike Yossarian, Vic is not content to protect his own skin while railing against the insanity of war. Vic is a Soldier, and he wants desperately to be a good one. Amid drugs, incompetence, and personal excess, he looks past it all to discover a love of the people he has been sent to protect. Moreover, he is not alone. There are others like him - other Soldiers who forge a code of skill and professional integrity that transcends their surroundings. Jeff Edwards, Author of "Torpedo"