Hello, Wigwam by L. John Lawrence
Reviewed by Bob Jasper
In Hello, Wigwam, L. John Lawrence
pulls together a dozen or so intriguing stories in this fictionalized memoir based
on his experiences in Vietnam. In a short 150 pages, Lawrence captures the
reader and endears him to his alter ego, Private Albert Costas.
Costas arrives at Tan Son Nhut Air
Base in Saigon in the scorching heat of August 1970, just 10 weeks after
graduating from high school and fresh out of Army boot camp. He’s immediately
thrust into the insanity of war. Though not assigned to a combat unit, Costas
gets a good feel for the “Absurdities of War” (the first section of the book). Assigned
to MAC-V (Military Assistance Command – Vietnam), Costas faces such grave
questions as whether or not President Herbert Hoover is still alive and who is
the “Phantom Shitter” and what about the “Dead Bed?” Lawrence entertains with
the humor of Catch-22, and the excitement of expeditions behind enemy
lines.
Costas, who has no experience as a journalist, wonders why
the Army assigned him of all people to a unit that writes press releases and
provides information to other military units.
Each of the twenty short chapters of Hello, Wigwam
relates an incident with humor amid the pathos of war building up to several
climactic chapters in which Costas joins a Special Ops unit headed north of the
DMZ on a Top-Secret mission.
Even while on R&R in Honolulu, Costas manages to get
himself into a jam so threatening it has him yearning to return to Vietnam, and
the reader wondering if he’ll make it.
The only drawback to this delightful little book is its
shortness. Like any good book, it leaves the reader panting for more.
L. John Lawrence had an interesting career in the Air Force.
After that, he joined NASA and became the voice of the Space Shuttle program
for the first 24 Space Shuttle flights. He’s earned several awards for his
writing.
For more information on Lawrence and his other books, visit his
website: http://www.ljohnlawrence.com.
This book can also be obtained direct from the publisher, 4RV
Publishing, 35427 State Highway 58, Hydro, OK 73048, or http://4rvpublishingcatalog.com.
