2023-05-03
In Handeland’s historical novel, a young man and his younger sister try to make sense of the political and social whipsaw that is the Vietnam War.
In 1967, teenager Billy Johnson from Willow Creek, Wisconsin, enlists in the military to head off to the Vietnam War—spurred by government propaganda, but even more by his grandfather’s urging that he make a man of himself. His 17-year-old sister, Jay, is left at home with the “Four Musketeers”: she and Mags, Ronnie Fredrick, and Helen Murphy, her friends since preschool. On the train to basic training at Fort Polk in Louisiana, Billy, who’s White, meets Terrell Jones, a young Black draftee from Chicago. They go on to fight alongside each other in Vietnam and become fast friends. When a soldier on patrol takes a Polaroid of Billy standing on the first person he’s killed, Billy sends it to his grandfather, who’s excited about it—but the teen is having regrets about joining up. Back home, Jay is beginning to courageously question the prevailing pro-war opinion in Willow Creek. She’s helped by Paul, a new student and anti-war activist at her high school. Over the course of the story, the beliefs of both Billy and Jay evolve. Many readers, and especially those who lived through that time, may be unimpressed by the prospect of yet another Vietnam War drama. However, they’ll be slowly drawn in by Handeland’s handling of details and nuances; it also makes clear that jingoistic, racist, homophobic, and xenophobic characters like Billy’s grandfather are not caricatures, but truly did, and do, exist. There’s some evocative writing, such as this line about everyday life on patrol: “They listened to the same birds, got bit by the same bugs; they smelled the same stink of sweat and mud and rot.” Readers will eventually realize that that this is a story not of political issues, but of personal loyalties: Billy’s to his platoon and Jay’s to the other Musketeers. Overall, it’s an arresting and moving lesson in integrity.
An impressive story that tackles familiar themes with skill.
