The American War — Stan Washburn

President Johnson described the war in Vietnam as “Just the biggest damn mess I ever saw.” Nevertheless, he proceeded to escalate, and the confusion, bungling, slaughter, and destruction dragged on for years. A high school student, Eddie, is caught demonstrating against the war, drafted, and whisked off to ‘Nam while his girlfriend, Nora, starts college in the middle of the anti-war furor. He is posted to Bravo Company in a firebase overlooking a small village whose inhabitants harbor mixed sympathies. Bravo and Honeyville proceed to play out the inevitable and tragic absurdity of the conflict. An edgy story out of an unsettled time.