by Lawrence Mahoney (Author)
A Soldier's Story is a story centered around the experiences of Lawrence Mahoney during his 18 month tour of duty in Viet Nam, as a commissioned officer in the US Army Transportation Corps. Mahoney was stationed in Da Nang, but moved pretty extensively around that country. This story is based on fact and actual experience; however, not all of what is presented are actual experiences of Mahoney, but were experiences of others. For this reason, the central character is Lawrence Campbell. Other characters in the story are real people and events are true, but none of the names are real. Fresh out of college and training through the Reserve Officer's Training Corps, (ROTC), Campbell (aka Mahoney) believed that he was headed to Viet Nam to join a war to save the free world from the spread of Communism. Once in Viet Nam, the contradictions, the folly, the insanity of what was happening on the ground became starkly clear. The total disregard for human life was part of the military strategy, beginning with leadership of America. This story begins with the history of how we got there, together with all the warning signs of why we should never have gotten involved. I see this book as the opening story of perhaps 3 more books.