Asian Studies

Vietnam-Perkasie is an autobiography of the life of author W. D. Ehrhart, a war veteran, during his service in the U. S. Marine Corps in the year 1967 to 1968 (Ehrhart, 1995). It completely narrates his experiences in the Vietnam War. In fact, it is more than complete for he fearlessly shared to the world, through this book, his personal realizations and actions that some will not be courageous enough to tell. The war brought to him a dramatic transition from a patriotic small town boy into a man filled with anger and guilt. His fascinating realizations on how the war is perceived by his country and by himself as a part of it caused confusion and questioning in his own mind.  This incredibly simple yet striking, detailed yet carefully laid account of Ehrhart s actual experiences in the war will keep you reading from cover to cover. 
William Daniel Ehrhart started writing at the age of fifteen and continued to write ever since. Until he was 30, he had only written poems. He was first known as the  Vietnam War Poet .  Though, the subject of his poems has a fairly wide range - from radio disc jockeys to tugboats.
He gives high regards to his wife and daughter as the main sources of inspiration in his works. Aside from his poems, his other works includes Passing Time memoir of a Vietnam Veteran against the War, Going Back an Ex-Marine Returns to Vietnam, and Busted A Veteran in Nixon s America, three of his succeeding autobiographical memoirs (Ehrhart, 1995). Ehrhart s roots can be traced from Perkasie, a town in Pennsylvania. Through an extended flashback, he gave us quite a clear idea of how Perkasie look and feel like. It is a small peaceful town described as a place  wherein men leave their homes without lock during nighttime  and  visitors during Christmas strolled from home to home on Christmas eve  and wherein  Jimmy the shoe repairman was aware of the shoe size of all persons in town . There, he was just a normal kid who plays and goes to school. This simple town is also where he developed his deep sense of patriotism.
In 1965, when news about Vietnam becomes more and more visible in the headlines, he wrote an editorial in his high school that answers those that say Americans are  dying for no good reason in Vietnam  and it reads  What additional noble reason can a man loose his life for, than to die in protection of freedom (Ehrhart, 1995).  A few days after writing this editorial and after a few arguments with his parents, he enlisted in the U. S. Marines Corp at an early age of seventeen.
     In June of 1966, he rode a bus to the Marines boot camp. There, he trained hard to be able to serve his homeland. He took the brave step to do something for his country only to get lost in confusion with clashing of his own beliefs, the two sides of him that is so different in many ways.
    This book published in June of 1995, takes us back in time and to a journey with Ehrhart in the Vietnam War. Readers may notice how plain and simple the facts are laid ( Vietnam-Perkasie A Combat Marine Memoir ). It is as if Ehrhart is just telling the story himself. The narration is very straightforward and honest. Amazingly, even with this style of concealing the art in his work, it captivates our interest as he did not leave any details out from the readers. It satisfies our curiosity as he answers even the questions we shy away from asking. He exposed the real fears of a soldier at war. We found out that encounters with the Vietcongs are not the hardest part of staying in Vietnam but it is during those times when they had nothing to do. He shared the reflective thoughts that played in his mind in his thirteen months in the war. And with a little hint of sarcastic humor, he was able to make this paperback simple enough yet still entertaining.
Maybe not everyone will appreciate this kind of prose. It contains foul language and disturbing events.  Nevertheless, it contains the truth- the truth that some might not be willing to accept and the truth that might open the minds of people to a new perspective towards their beloved country as described vividly by Ehrhart. As he got exposed to the bad side of being a noble soldier, he struggled to identify with the real reason why he joined the Marines. All he wanted was to serve for his country and to fight for freedom. He never knew that as he fought for it, he is taking away the freedom, and sometimes life or capabilities, of somebody.  The result is a moral turmoil of emotions and beliefs within a man.
Ehrhart believed that he has a duty as a citizen of his country. He was supposed to fight in defense for his country in Vietnam and took pride in. But during his field experience in the war, he began to wonder if he is doing what is right. He realized that he s becoming a foreign invader, and worse, a murderer.
After finishing his thirteenth month in Vietnam, he came back to the United States.  To his surprise, he became alien to his own country as well. It was a psychological struggle that he have to endure as he can never bring back the old Ehrhart that used to live in this neighborhood. He might not have sustained any permanent injuries, but he could never erase the scars that the war marked in his being.
Vietnam-Perkasie a combat marine memoir is very informative and helpful in understanding what is what in the Vietnam War. Its honest and accurate details allow readers to relate and sympathize with Ehrharts voyage, discoveries and self realizations.  The simplicity allows readers to have a better view of what really happens in the war.  The story of the physical and spiritual struggle of a boy who grew up in an ever so peaceful town and brought to the war by his love for his country and for freedom only to be regarded as a hero only by those who is ignorant of what really happens inside the war zone. In the end, he discovers hatred and shame toward himself and his country. His hatred became central to his core and affected the way he think and act.
Ehrhart lived a very interesting life. Many of us may not wish to try living in it. But through this book, we are awakened.  We were able to see more clearly the cruelty and consequences of war. It also provides us with more detail and information to develop a better judgment. It invites us to look into the truth of what really is happening in the society.  Sometimes it is man who creates chaos, resulting to difficulty in the lives of other people. And when people try to protect others, they end up hurting each other one way or the other. Everyone during the war was victims.
Finally, the Vietnam war was also illuminated in the book as it presented the way people cope up with it, including combat marine soldiers who fought for freedom. It is undeniable that the book is a precise stoytelling of a war that has changed the lives of may people in America. Dead combat marines and horrible stories of war are entrenched in the book as the new generation is ready to feel grateful of the true heroes of the Vietnam war.