An Accidental Soldier: Memoirs of a Mestizo in Vietnam

By Manny Garcia

Book Overview

"I was born in a log cabin just like Abe Lincoln, except our cabin was a rental." Starting with this account of his humble origins, Manny Garcia, who describes himself as "a left-handed, rather contrary Mestizo-American," has written a memoir that begins in late 1947 in the San Luis Valley of Southern Colorado and takes him to Utah and a stint as a Mormon and ultimately to Vietnam.

In late 1965, a cocky, naive, alienated teen-ager, Garcia joined the army almost accidentally, enlisting for three years. At eighteen he became an Airborne Ranger, a combat infantryman with the crack First Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles. His book shows you the war from the point man position, up close and personal, at eye level.

"I returned to the body and checked for booby traps. I noticed the guerilla's small bare leathery feet. I rolled the body over and realized the corpse at my feet was an old woman. Her hair was pulled back and tied in a bun, like how my grandmother used to wear her own hair. This was my first kill. I killed a woman before I made love to one. I killed a woman before I was old enough to vote. I killed a woman before I bought my first car. I killed a woman and I was an Eagle Scout. I killed a woman while I was on probation to the Juvenile Court. I killed a woman before I knew she was a woman. I killed a woman while working for the United States Army in South Vietnam. I had killed before I had lived. The afternoon in the jungle was bright and hot. I stood there sweating, bewildered, dumfounded, and completely absorbed by the power."--from An Accidental Soldier

"A valuable contribution to the growing list of Viet Nam narratives told from communities whose histories have yet to be fully recognized."--Jorge Mariscal, University of California, San Diego

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826330134
• ISBN13: 9780826330130
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.5" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

The VietNam Disaster

I use this book in a university-level class and have Manny visit the class where the students have the opportunity to cross-examine him on the book and race relations in general. The students generally find the book useful, some saying it is the best book they have read. It is a hard read. Is it truthful? What actually did happen in Viet Nam during those absolutely horrible and useless times with so many lives on all sides thrown away? The Swift Boat fraggers made it clear that any criticism of the US forces in Viet Nam was unacceptable and as with many conservatives, any lie will suffice to stifle criticims of the military and their overbloated worship, What DID happen in Viet Nam? Memories are funny things. Many veterans have nightmares of their experiences in Viet Nam. Are these real memories? Maybe so and maybe not. Did they happen? Did they happen to Manny? I think they did happen and probably to Manny, or near him and they live in his memory like monsters. War is a terrible waste, but so many love it, so many worship it. So many equate military duty with patriotism. Any country that equates military service with patriotism is a danger to the whole world. Our arrogance keeps costing us our money, our lives, our reputation. If there is no other message in Manny's book, that is it. The US has taught the world so many lessons and has forgotten them all.

An honest book review

Regardless of it's literature categorization, this is a heartfelt, wonderfully written book, and it does it's purpose: it makes the reader consider war from all perspectives, and has you question the bases of ethnic conflict. Job well done. Shut the hell up; we can honor the army and simultaneously criticize the institution of war. I feel like we should write a book review NOT ONLY about the author's integrity, but about the craftmanship behind the writing. And again, job well done, Manny Garcia.

A thoughtful and emotional read

A Note About my Review In retrospect, I wince when I read this review. While it is an accurate and honest account of my experience with the book, the review seems hollow in light of the revelations that subtantial parts of the story are not true. I am saddened, discouraged and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the writing of this book, yet I have chosen not to delete my review. ======================================== Accidental Soldier is an intense, compelling, and graphic story of a young man surviving combat in Vietnam. There is a lot of raw, graphic combat experience and language from the perspective of an 18 year old soldier. There is also a lot of reflection on that experience by the 50 year old veteran. The result is a vivid and emotional narrative. Garcia reflects on his and others acts of cruelty, his own moral and emotional detachment, and the irrationality and insanity of combat. In addition he sprinkles his story with reflections on why the war was not winnable from the beginning. Many of these are relevant to our current military involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan. Garcia also raises moral dilemmas for those of us who have never been in the military or experienced combat. Garcia's "tour of duty" ends when his squad is ambushed, two of his men die, and he is seriously wounded. Garcia tells us about the irony of receiving a Silver Star with Valor for his actions in that ambush. "I was given a Silver Star for failing to read an ambush. I was responsible for my squad members being wounded or killed because I failed to read that ambush. .... I was responsible for our walk into that mess and I was only trying to get us out. It was a mistake, not valor." In the end Garcia throws his Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnamese Cross of gallantry, and Purple heart on to the lawn of the White House. I witnessed a similar act in April 1972 on the steps of the capitol building in Washington, D.C. during a massive anti-war demonstration. Garcia did it alone, on a dark night, as a private, personal statement. It is clear that the seeds of the mature Garcia were blooming in the young discharged combat veteran. Garcia's war experiences are preceded by brief accounts of his early childhood in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, and his adolescence in Salt Lake City. His experiences as a Mexican-American in a white man's world, and as a gentile in a Mormon world. His relationship and experiences within his family. The book closes with Garcia's post combat experiences, the awakening of his mestizo consciousness, and his eventual life as a criminal defense attorney in Salt Lake City. I find these stories as worthy as Garcia's memoir of combat. The book closes with a comment on the Vietnam War Memorial. "I haven't been back to the federal District to see the Vietnam War Memorial that hard dark autographed slab of granite that protrudes from a gash in the heart of the nation. I don't have

An emotive, poetic and suprisingly humorous Vietnam memoir

This is the life of Manny Garcia a soldier who experienced war before life. The book details the youth of a Chicano devoid of the American Dream. He becomes a specialized Ranger in the 101st Airborne Division onto a point man in the front line of jungle warfare.The details of the war are harrowing yet the account moves you to laughter as much as to tears.The descriptive passages of the jungle are pure poetry.The writing is good, so good that the soldier becomes a friend and you care what happens to him and to all the others you meet in the horror of war.

Entertaining memoir and a great read.

His experiences make it a good story; his writing style make it a great read!! I read it in one sitting. When the subject gets very serious ( as war accounts get), Manny injects his dry humour and I found myself laughing out loud!!This is a MUST read for anyone living with or related to a military veteran.