Book Review of Dispatches: War Through a Journalist's Eyes

"Dispatches" by Michael Herr is one journalist's story of the Vietnam War as seen through his experiences.
Michael Herr was born in Syracuse, New York in 1940. He attended SyracuseUniversity. In 1967, Herr "went to Vietnam as a war correspondent for Esquire magazine" (Biography). "There, without any restrictions, he roamed the war-ravaged countryside watching, looking, listening, and writing it all down" (Biography). "Herr's work can be compared to that of other writers about the Vietnam War and with the so-called 'new journalists' such as Tom Wolfe" (Paredes 1). "Herr uses literary/fictional techniques - figurative language, characterization, narrative development - in what is ostensibly…a work of journalism" (Paredes 2).
"Dispatches" takes readers through the Vietnam War through the eyes of a journalist who covered the war. Michael Herr volunteered to write articles covering the war. He toured Vietnam with the soldiers, going through all the challenges and tragedies of the war. Throughout the book, Herr mentions some of the different soldiers and what their personalities are like. Herr mentions that most of the soldiers accepted him into their circle and even went out of their way to take care of him. For example, one soldier offered to give up his bed for Herr to sleep in one night and another brought him blankets out of the blue when it became cold out. Through these stories Herr brings to life the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of the soldiers. He mentions the realities of the war and how things went wrong sometimes that were kept out of the news. Herr focused on one place in Vietnam in particular: Khe Sanh. Khe Sanh became one of the largest war zones in Vietnam. During the siege the soldiers had to watch their backs everywhere they went so they wouldn't be killed. This included the only airstrip to arrive at and leave Khe Sanh. The airstrip was one of the most dangerous places in the area because there was no cover for it. One of the soldiers who was discharged ended up staying long after his orders went through because he kept worrying that he would be killed as he tried to make the run to the airstrip. He would leave in the morning for the airstrip and end up back at camp that night because he was afraid to make a run for it. This is an example of how dangerous Khe Sanh was.
Herr talked about the one outside event that intruded on the war more than any other: the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. There were scattered riots and a couple of stabbings. A lot of the troops and reporters sat around listening to reports of the gunfire in America on the radio. Some of the soldiers began to feel that there was no hope for the war ending.
But there was one place that made things better for everyone: ChinaBeach. As Herr mentions in the book, China Beach was a place where the soldiers "could go swimming or surfing, get drunk, get stoned, get laid, get straight, groove in the scivvie houses, rent sailboats, or just sleep on the beach" (Herr 175). He says "it was just an in-country R&R, a vacation, and sometimes it was a reward for outstanding services and exceptional bravery" (Herr 175). Herr not only spent time with the soldiers but with other reporters themselves. He would meet up with them when he returned to Saigon after spending time with one of the units. The reporters were known as "Those Crazy Guys Who Cover The War" (Herr 202). Herr mentions some of the reporters he met. One was a photographer named Flynn. He became popular because of his looks. He was very clean-cut and stood out from the soldiers and the other correspondents because of this. He was fascinated by the war and admitted it, which was different from others who didn't admit their fascination. He found friends among the soldiers and the journalists who didn't ask him to explain himself. Another journalist Herr mentioned was Dana Stone, an AP photographer. He was the type who was always going. When he was with the troops he was always in front, which didn't bother the soldiers because Dana could always find the boobytraps and avoid them. He was mischievous and always played practical jokes.
Tim Page is another photographer Herr talks about. Page is an orphan from London who worked his way across Europe through Laos and into Vietnam. It had been said of him that he was not much of a photographer but that he would go anywhere to get a picture. He was also very lucky. During his time in Vietnam he got hit many times but always survived. When the journalists were together they became their own army. They worked together, ate together, slept together and joked together. They became as united as any of the units in the Vietnam War. In the last part of the book Herr talks about what it was like to be back home after spending years in Vietnam. He mentions how a lot of those from the war were not making it back home. Herr says that the first nights home were awful for him, waking up in sweats from continuous nightmares. He says "coming back was a down" (Herr 264). This was because "you missed the scene, missed the grunts and the excitement, the feelings you'd had in a place where no drama had to be invented, ever" (Herr 264). None of the realities worked well enough to get the same highs at home as were gotten in Vietnam.
After Herr had been back home for awhile he got a call that Page had been hit again and was not expected to live. He was sent home to the Institute for Physical Rehabilitation in New York. He made remarkable progress while there and began to regain the use of his left arm and leg, which the doctors thought would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. After that, he slowly began to heal and admitted that his time in Vietnam was definitely over. His recovery continued over the years and he eventually became able to walk with a cane and give up his wheelchair. His personality remained the same as it was during the war: crazy as ever.
At the end of the book Herr looks back at what he had been through in Vietnam, remembering those he had shared the experience with.
"Dispatches" was a different kind of Vietnam story from others I have read. It tells the stories from the point of view of a journalist, not a soldier. The view looked very different from someone who volunteered to be there as opposed to someone who had no choice in the matter. I enjoyed hearing Herr's stories of the soldiers and the correspondents. I have always enjoyed stories of Vietnam. This one was no different.