War stories are personally a fascinating genre for me…as my eyes see the destruction, loss, grief and the pain of it all, reinforced by images of war shown in movies like Pearl Harbour, Flags of Our Fathers, Guns of Navrone, Eagle's Nest and The Pianist, I am able to follow the intricacies of war actions.
I am amazed by the scenes that De Mille lays out…the plot is unravelled from the perimeter and moves in with a punch to the centre of it all. Tyson, a Nam war veteran is caught up with his past and is to be court martialled for a war action in which hundreds of Vietnamese civilians are killed by deliberate shooting by his platoon. He refuses to save his skin, because of the word of honour that he has given to the platoon. What happened there to lead to that dishonourable pact for which Tyson holds himself responsible is the crux of the story and till the last few pages one does not really know the why of it, though we all understand Tyson is a man of honour.
The code of honour of the army and the valour of men like Tyson make this story immensely readable. De Mille makes no bones about the US army’s shameful war on Vietnam, but even in that shameful act, there is a certain dignity as evidenced by men like Tyson. The strong bond of love that he shares with Marcy and David, his family and with Corva, his lawyer, also a war veteran, is something to be savoured, so that at the end of it all, there is a pleasant feeling of having read a heart warming story of human spirit to stand by one’s word.
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