Sadly,
there is no central plot, just little episodes. Men come and go, so we never
know who will be in the next sequence. To add to the problem the writing is
awkward. The sentences are extremely long, with way too many commas. It
suffered from lack of tightening, and good editing. Even though this is a
soldier’s story, to the author’s credit the profanity is kept to a minimum.
There was only one “f” word within the first 75 pages. I was also disappointed
that some of the units were not identified, as my old MP unit, the 720th
MPs patrolled Tokyo during the Occupation. After a year Blakely leaves the MPs
for Special Services.
Although
the story lies somewhere between truth and fiction, I would allow a little
truth, a little imagination, and a lot of fiction. I did enjoy the story,
especially since some of it was about the Military Police during this time. As
it was, many men were selected for MP units just because they were big and
tough, or at least looked mean and tough. They needed to be. The cities were
wide open, with prostitution, black market, and every kind of contraband
imaginable. The GIs were also a big problem. Alcohol makes anyone mean, and
American GIs are no exception. MPs had to get rough with them to keep them in
line. Later, MPs would be sent through training before assigned to units, and
it was their career field. How Blakely left the MPs so easily, since they are
forever undermanned, leaves me wondering if it was really his idea or the
unit’s to get rid of him. Another situation that left me flabbergasted was when
he tells his CO he has decided not to reenlist; they relieve him of duty and
cut his orders instantly, and he’s on a ship home that night. Orders and
rotation do not happen that fast in the real Army. But it’s the ending that I
like best about the book; the feeling when you leave a unit, and the men you
served with behind, knowing they had meant the world to you, but now they were
in the past, and would be soon forgotten. Read the following by the author:
“It happens like that all the time in the
Army.” I said, thinking now of Dillavou. “You meet guys and they’re your friends,
then they go or you go. And you never hear from them again. It’s sort of like
your life. Things happen you think are really important, but then they pass,
and the people that were a part of them go too, and the only real significance
is that they happened to you.” And I knew suddenly it was true and that was the
way I felt. In a way it pleased me, but it also made me feel lousy to realize
that was truly what I believed.
I
was not aware of this story when I wrote my own novel about an MP unit in France
during the early 1960s. It’s probably a good thing, for I wouldn’t have wanted
this novel to influence COLD WAR HEROES. At least mine was tight, and had a
plot, though it wasn’t received very well. Readers didn’t understand it was a
satire, and were expecting something else. For readers interested in this
period of Japan’s Occupation, however, I highly recommend this book, as it will
give you an insight into that time of chaos, and the problems of Japan trying
to rebuild their nation under the eye of American military presence.
Tom
Johnson
Author
of COLD WAR HEROES
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