Dawson's War (vii) and We Few (iii)

from novelist B.K. Marshall and raconteur Nick Brokhausen of the Studies and Observations Group

Last time we saw Alan Dawson a wounded sergeant on staff duty in chapter 12 was briefing the team on an objective he said that the lieutenant and the sergeants Peterson and Morrisey would not achieve. The briefer suspects that the other side will know they are coming.

So a major grabs the 2 men and the officer into his office as they leave and changes the insertion. The 3 Americans get on 2 helicopters with 6 Nung. They all return when pilots scrub the mission after many tortuous evasions.

Back at the base, Dawson takes his radio out of his pack. That is this lieutenant’s job on this mission, to carry the radio and its heavy batteries, shadowing Peterson, the leader, with no command responsibilities of his own. You could liken the role to an internship for the college he got thrown out of;

participant observation by a field scientist; or apprenticeship for a union job. It’s not what most infantry call on-the-job training, throwing a replacement in the deep end to sink or swim. It is an educational experience carefully structured by the master teachers of the United States Special Forces.

In this novel the mission is exposition, Alan Dawson showing the reader a reconnaissance patrol. Before the men fully unpack they are sent out again and at last make an insertion. Over chapters 13, 14, and 15 you get to see a patrol as you have not on screen because the men hunched over,

nearly out of sight from each other except the leader and the radio man, never on a trail, would not fit any lens. Glimpsing bits of one at a time walking 20 steps a minute would exhaust your patience. Then there is some action and an escape.

It all makes as much sense as it can and no more. Dawson’s War: a Novel of Friendship under Fire is a young adult fiction, a gripping introduction to a grown-up world of work.

We Few is not for children. They will find it and read it as they will find your ammunition, booze, the Christmas presents, every firearm, and the porn. The book presents stories for adults among their buddies such that the rest of us may overhear.

Many children don’t grow up. We have to do what we are told, infantilized like the infantry or, in office, manage other people rather than lead our own lives. Those men who do mature may do it in isolation, individuals without affective relations.

That’s the porn here, a utopia of an Army without subordinates to chivvy about or superiors to dress up for. All you have to do is go out and fight then drink and tell stories among buddies who also have come back.

Where lies this Shangri-la in reverse, this Valhalla of the living? The Road to Mandalay, the first chapter of We Few, tells how a reasonable man arrived at the one place in the Republic of Viet Nam where an American might find an overwhelming force looking for him. The first 6 chapters of Dawson’s War also spun that yarn.

B.K. Marshall told us under that pen name that his alter ego Alan Dawson was a college jock with a drinking problem, a father problem, and a good head on his shoulders. One small decision after another leads a slack-jawed youth to unusual opportunity. It’s a story many executives tell about their life course.

Nick Brokhausen tells the story as a working man. He speaks under his own name. He remembers being drunk. He says he arrived at the Studies and Observations Group on his second Special Forces tour in RVN but he doesn’t say what he had done the first time out.

He shows up at Oakland out of uniform 3 days late dodging those who want him to lead reluctant teenagers in constabulary duty in a civil war. He doesn’t want to lead anyone. He doesn’t want any leader.

So he finds SOG, his Brigadoon. One can’t help but think of Sonny Barger and his Angels arriving at Oakland a few years before to fight the anti-war movement then demanding to engage the Viet Cong. They were felons, firearms and motorcycle enthusiasts. Nick is a bon vivant, a commando, and a wit.

This was the third Viet Nam Letter of 3 so far addressing We Few: U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam by Nick Brokhausen. The first posted on August 15, 2022 and the second on September 7, 2022.

It is also the seventh of 8 so far concerning Dawson’s War by B.K. Marshall.

Other posts from the United States Special Forces include 4 on the work of Loyd Little and 3 on their Vietnamese Phrase Book and 2 on Alan Farrell and 1 on William P. Yarborough.

Viet Nam letters respects the property of others under paragraph 107 of United States Code Title 17. If we asked for permission it wouldn’t be criticism. We explain our fair use at length in the letter of September 12, 2022.

The colophon of these Viet Nam letters, directly above, shows the janitor speaking with poet David A. Willson on a Veterans Day.