Book Review: Each One A Hero
This book is about Daniel Dundee, a fictional blue-collar New Yorker, who gets drafted in the late sixties, ended up serving a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam with the Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment.
The story begins with Daniel and other new arrivals to Vietnam riding in the back of a deuce and a half truck heading for the "Blackhorse" base camp several miles south of the village of Xuan Loc. March waste no time in getting the reader into the action. On page two, the convoy is ambushed by Viet Cong, killing two of the new replacements and escaping into the jungle. From that point on, the author gives the reader Daniel's one year of combat duty in Vietnam, capturing what it meant to face lethal danger, to follow orders and to hope that he survives.
Throughout his one-year tour (July 1967-July 1968), Daniel gets assigned to various jobs. Assigned as an artillery man within the fire direction control (FDC), Daniel's days are spent filling sandbags and spending many a day or night on bunker guard around the perimeter. He also goes out on missions with a platoon of mechanized troops on bridge security, road clearing and ambushes in the jungle as well as dodging frequent mortars and rockets fired into the basecamp. It was during one of these mortar attacks that he witnesses the death of one of his best friends. From that moment on his main goal was to stay alive and return home in one piece.
While assigned to the FDC, his ability to compute and order fire mission for the artillery was lauded by his superiors but one such mission ended in disaster: a nine-year-old Vietnamese boy was accidently killed, calling for an investigation, which caused him to question his competencies as fire direction coordinator.
Like most junior enlisted men, Daniel is assigned to the latrine burning detail with another soldier who is ready to go home. The short-timer offers him a joint and they smoke weed the entire day. This led to Daniel being a daily pot smoker and congregating with other pot heads and misfits in whatever unit he was assigned.
Taking R&R in Bangkok, Daniel and several buddies meet some bar girls with whom they spent their entire time while in Thailand. Daniel's female friend was Mia, who took him all around Bangkok, including a famous Buddhist temple where he felt at peace with himself and what he had seen in Vietnam.
Returning to Vietnam, he was told to meet with a board for promotion to sergeant. This was the last thing he wanted so he sabotaged his chances by antagonizing the board members. He never rose above the rank of E-4.
From the descriptions of the battles, terrain, and living conditions, March takes the reader along on Daniel's one year journey through the day-to-day drudge and monotony of the Viet Nam war, days that were punctuated by life-and-death challenges, sad losses and momentous gains, including the constant attitude of survival and self-preservation and the various smells and sounds associated with Vietnam.
While the subject matter is graphic and the language used is very raw, behind the blood, tears, and vulgar language exists a story that needed to be told. And Michael March did a wonderful job of writing a very realistic account into the life of Daniel Dundee.
This book held me captive from the beginning to the end.
Reader Reviews
When I was in high school, I remember my dad telling me stories about his shocking and poignant experiences while serving the United States Army in the Vietnam War. It was around then, he vowed to write a book about it. Heart, determination, courage, and now, I am holding a copy of Each One a Hero! What an amazing book, Dad. Reading about your time in the Vietnam jungle via the gripping third-person point of view of Daniel brings to life the stories I heard all those years ago in such a fresh, relevant fashion. This autobiographical novel helps me understand the trials of your life while also entertaining any reader with riveting action and slice-of-life humor.
~Scott Martin
This is another story about a more modern "Lost Generation" and is authentic right down to the hard and truthful conversations. This must be added to your collection of true Vietnam stories written by a vanishing breed.
~David Ramati
This book literally made me laugh and made me cry. I know personally that the book speaks the truth about the experiences of Black Horse cavalrymen. My husband was the man called Mickey in the book. He had told me several of the stories. Michael March relates and the details are the same to a T. This is such a well-written, moving account of a group of boys thrust into an impossible situation and they manned-up and got the job done while holding on to their youth and hope for surviving the experience.
~Rose Pellegrino
I read the book and I must tell you, it got me thinking. Therefore, saying that I liked it a lot would be an understatement. I loved it. After all, if a book gets you thinking, it means it really got the job done.
The terrible ordeals of a war are described in such living colors, but also in a very human way. In the skin of Dan, a guy forced to go to the war in Vietnam, I felt like I was there, even had to clean off dust after dodging some bullets.
I watched M*A*S*H, Platoon and Full Metal Jacket and man, this one goes hand in hand with them all. It made me laugh, it made me cry.
~Marcos B.F.
The plight of the young men who were drafted is brought to the forefront in this book. How they were viewed and treated helps the reader understand the stance some of these soldiers took.
One aspect of the descriptions that drew my attention was the way the author chose to describe in extreme detail the various smells and sounds associated with the modern battle. For me, this made everything clearer. Also, March shares many military terms and designations relating to equipment and tactics.
Bookended between arrival and departure, you witness the growth and evolution of the main character during his one-year tour of duty. After reading this book, you will understand why no soldier can return home from war unscathed.
This is an excellent book. The author is a skilled writer. The subject matter is graphic and the language used is very raw. But behind the blood, tears, and vulgar language exists a story that needed to be told. Michael March accomplished that task with this book.
~Alan B.
About the Author
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Michael March attended James Madison High School and after graduation studied industrial engineering at Fashion Institute of Technology. But rock and roll were his first love. Foolishly, he left school to pursue that musical dream and did so, until that day he found a letter of greeting from Uncle Sam in his mailbox. Michael served with the Eleventh Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam from July 1967 to July 1968. After his discharge from the Army, he traveled America, visiting the revolutionary hotspots. First stop was Berkeley, Calf., followed by Madison, Wisconsin where he entrenched himself inside the counter-culture. Eventually making his way back to New York, he married, and worked as a production manager and clothing designer in the garment industry. The world of consumer electronics beckoned and he found employment as store manager at Crazy Eddie, the infamous electronics chain. After working in that industry for twenty-five years, Michael took his leave and moved south to Atlanta, where he currently resides and writes every day.
In the author's own words:
"Possessing a wild streak tempered by the idealistic belief that good will overcome evil, in the end, can cause spiritual indigestion. That's my biggest problem. I find my imagination takes control of my fingers and I never know what will come out of my keyboard.
"I have experienced much in my lifetime, including attending Fashion Institute of Technology, being ripped off as a professional musician, learning a trade in the garment industry, working at Crazy Eddie and then at Uncle Steve's, and as an early indoctrination to fear and guilt, serving my country during the war in Vietnam.
"The most important lesson learned though, is the need to express love and to be kind to others. I try to communicate that in my work. Each One a Hero is my first novel and hopefully, only the beginning of my creativity."