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Sorry About That

By Gerald R. Gioglio (reviewer)

Sorry About That: A Story from a Soldier's Heart
by Dick Denne
(CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014)

"That one statement — 'Sorry about that' — would, for me, come to embody the entire God-damned lie that was the Vietnam War."

—Dick Denne

So, Jesus walks into a bar with a disciple. The barkeep says, "What you need?" The disciple says, "A glass of red wine." Jesus says, "Just a water, please." Think about it before you read onward, Christian soldiers, and be ready for more of the same when you pick up "Sorry About That" as the jokes, puns and comic relief pop up throughout what is essentially a 20th Century Greek tragedy.

"Sorry About That" is truly a tragic/comedic tale of innocence lost and consciousness raised, of fighting enemies foreign and domestic, of war abroad and betrayal at home. Heartfelt and heartbreaking, Denne's is a powerful, exceptional memoir written in an appealing, relaxed, colloquial style.

"Sorry About That" includes 23 short chapters with an introduction by Stephen J. Weiss. The memoir covers the period 1965-1969 recounting significant events from childhood to the author's discharge from the Army. Most of the action takes place in Vietnam and in the cruel year following his return to The World.

We find Dick Denne, a young, aspiring comedian setting the foundation for a career on-stage when his life, like that of 30 million other young males who came of age in the Vietnam era, was interrupted by the reality of having to deal with military conscription and the war.

Quite willing to take his chances with the draft, Denne sets off to learn his trade in 1965 after graduating from high school. A mentor and WWII vet understood all too well that Denne would soon be drafted and probably sent to the infantry. Recognizing a blossoming talent, he recommended that Denne enlist in the Army and sign up for Special Services, a unit that entertains the troops at bases around the world. The seventeen-year-old Denne thought this was a great idea, all things considered, until it wasn't.

What happened next could put Denne's picture next to the entry for FUBAR in any decent dictionary of slang or colloquialisms (FYI on the acronym kids, that's: F——-Up Beyond Any Repair). Which is certainly what happened to Denne's Entertainment Specialist MOS and ultimately his comedic dreams.

Early on Denne laments, "All I ever wanted was to be a comedian," a plea for understanding that can break your heart. If you're like me, you will recall similar words repeated by oh, so many, other disillusioned draftees and RA enlistees when they realized their hopes for a "preferred" MOS or indeed a future were about to be severely compromised. Dare I suggest that goodly numbers of the approximately 10 million men who ultimately wore a uniform during the Vietnam era felt the same? "Sorry about that?" Indeed.

Meanwhile, at the recruitment office the teenage Denne let it slip that he has been parachuting out of airplanes since he was child. Oops, there it is! Well, you know the drill. He gets his contract for Special Services from the recruiter, but now he has become a signed, sealed and delivered GI, a Government Issue. That is, property to be issued orders and used and abused as required. As such he soon finds himself 11B10 Infantry, and slated, as one memorable Basic Training cadence has it, to live "a life of danger as an Airborne Ranger." At this point in this fast-paced and engaging narrative some may pause and perhaps experience a heightened sense of familiarity if not fear of impending calamity.

Denne tries to deal with being cheated out of his Special Services MOS while in Basic, in AIT and again at Jump School; but of course, he is jerked around with buck passing demands that he work through the chain of command and/or address it at his next duty station. The most egregious manipulation and the worst advice was, "once you get to Vietnam...I guarantee they'll reprocess you. Just show 'em that you signed up for Special Services, and they'll get you in the right place." In a classic case of "the triumph of hope over experience" the eighteen-year-old Denne, trusting that justice will prevail, ships to Vietnam.

Ever the comedian, Denne brings props like his rubber chicken with him to Southeast Asia and then into the field. He reports firing for effect with that chicken, using a keen sense of humor to break the tension before, during and after various missions and engagements. He details a number of difficult and frightening experiences in the jungles of Vietnam and reports seeing action as a grunt and a door-gunner, surviving innumerable fire-fights, air assaults and helicopter crashes. He proudly reports being given a number of medals including the Combat Infantryman Badge. He states that he "proved to be an exemplary soldier" even as his doubts about, and disillusionment with, the war grew.

Denne's "click moment" comes after meeting a Special Forces Major who was fighting with the Montagnards. Called Tiger Man, this committed jungle fighter and former OSS Army Intelligence Service officer had, in Denne's view, essentially become Montagnard. Much older and wiser, he schooled Denne and his mates in the geopolitics of the Southeast Asian conflicts and by the time they parted ways, Denne and some of his buddies were changed men. He reports, "Suddenly, everything they had been told about this war was put into question, their entire foundation shaken by this intriguing man in the black pajamas."

Denne fought on, but his interaction with Tiger Man had forever changed his perspective. He recalled the oath we all took upon induction to protect the Constitution from enemies, foreign and domestic. He came to ponder whether the Vietnamese were really America's enemies and started to wonder if his fight now included trying to end the war by standing up to those domestic forces responsible for the killing of Americans and Southeast Asians.

No radical, and apparently with no GI or civilian support, he simply started questioning and talking about the constitutionality of the war. He also began handing out leaflets trying to get others to do the same. Says Denne, "I went from being a dedicated combat soldier to a conscientious objector, all while wearing my Army uniform and in the service of my country." Like so many who read the pages of VVAW's The Veteran he both fought the war and the war against the war.

Denne used various techniques to make sense of his situation and to help him through his time in Vietnam. He drew, he kept a detailed journal and he wrote letters to his "pooka" an imaginary spirit-guide he named "Harvey." Sadly, a prison guard stole it during one of Denne's post-Vietnam incarcerations. That's a shame for as Denne admits "losing that journal was one of my darkest days...that thing had names, dates and places, not to mention some great yarns." Apparently a lot of important detail that could have been used to enhance this memoir vanished; so, it is our loss too.

Denne's relatively modest expressions of opposition to the war got him in a heap of trouble including trips to the stockade and beatings, some might say torture, at the hands of sadistic military prison guards. With a year left on his enlistment, disillusioned and ravaged by PTSD which he calls "a soldiers heart," Denne repeatedly goes AWOL hoping for a court-martial and no longer caring about being discharged dishonorably.

It's exactly here where you have to pick up the book to see what else happens. Sorry about that, but trust me, you will be shocked and moved, especially with the surprising and unlikely Hollywood denouement. So, be prepared for an ending that might make you hope that this remarkable tale gets picked up by a major publisher, is polished a bit and includes the following words on the back cover, "soon to appear as a major motion picture."

Gerald R. Gioglio, OFS is a VVAW member and author of "Days of Decision: an Oral History of Conscientious Objectors in the Military during the Vietnam War."