Of Uncommon Birth: Dakota Sons in Vietnam

By Mark St. Pierre

Book Overview

A work of creative nonfiction inspired by the true story of two South Dakota teenagers, Mark St. Pierre's Of Uncommon Birth draws upon extensive interviews and exhaustive research in military archives to present a harrowing story of two young men--one white, one Indian--caught in the vortex of the Vietnam War.

Dale, a young middle-class white American from South Dakota, joins the army during the Vietnam War and dreams of serving his country. Frank, a young Lakota Indian, joins the army in an effort to flee the seemingly inescapable circumstances of his life and to follow his people's warrior tradition. Mark St. Pierre intimately weaves together the lives of these two men from different worlds, as each struggles with issues of loyalty, responsibility, sacrifice, and personal identity through his experiences in Vietnam.

Of Uncommon Birth presents the ironic story of an American Indian soldier who lets himself become stereotyped as the Native "good luck charm," even if the brave Indian scout stereotype carries with it the smell of death.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806153458
• ISBN13: 9780806153452
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Insightful study of race relations

Mark St. Pierre is a writer who understands the world of white culture and the world of the Lakota Sioux. In "Of Uncommon Birth" he brillantly uses the contextual background of the Vietnam War to bring the reader into the world of the Lakota Sioux, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, juxtaposed against a dominant white civilization that exploits both white and Indian youth from backgrounds of modest means. A must read for anyone concerned with the plight of the Lakota. A brillant work by a master storyteller.

Universal themes of friendship and pain

St. Pierre is a consumate story teller. He brings the two pivotal characters in the story to life in such a way that you want to simply hang out with them. I am not a Vet (though veterans will resonate with the book deeply), a Lakota Indian, or a man from the Dakotas, but the book spoke to me in a powerful way. Don't miss it.

Uncommon Warriors

Two young men from South Dakota cross paths on the way from very different versions of this place called America. They are on a journey to understand manhood and love and family and duty. One is white, one Indian, and they meet in Basic Training. Their paths uncross in Vietnam, where the reader is shown the nature of that war--perhaps any war--with a truth that cannot be dismissed. The impact of this non-fiction novel is more similar to Michael Shaara's THE KILLER ANGELS than to much recent writing about warfare. The reader comes to care about, and to understand these young men, and through them, their worlds.