Boocoo Dinky Dow
My short, crazy Vietnam War
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Grady Myers was a big, artistic teenager with a poor grade point average and a yen for adventure. It was 1968, the height of the Vietnam War, and the U.S. Army was desperate for troops. It overlooked Grady's extreme nearsightedness and transformed him into Hoss, an M-60 machine gunner. He did find adventure in Vietnam, but also a world gone crazy -- or, as the locals put it, beaucoup dien cai dau.
His illustrated memoir "Boocoo Dinky Dow: My short, crazy Vietnam War" is by turns funny and sobering. Grady recounts his military initiation at Fort Lewis, where there could be a fuzzy line between training and torture. He describes the intensity of Vietnam, where an old man carrying a bundle of sticks posed a moral dilemma and a young man would weigh the burden of his virginity against the dubious pleasures of riverbank prostitutes. Grady's explosives-happy comrades in Charlie Company sometimes posed the greatest danger. But, in a dramatic ambush, that same bunch of crazy soldiers risked their lives to save his.
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News and reviews
"Part "M*A*S*H" and part "Full Metal Jacket" —brings to life a dark and uncertain war with humor and humanity. – Larry Clark, Washington State Magazine
Lucid ... well-told ... beautifully illustrated ... infused with humor. – David Willson, VVA Veteran magazine A unique, intimate and often humorous glimpse into the absurdity and savagery of Vietnam. – Kevin Taylor, The Pacific Northwest Inlander NEW: 'Boocoo Dinky Dow' interview on KRFP Radio Tim Woodward: My friend Grady's crazy Vietnam War
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