It’s 1969. Rick Ward is out of high school and realizes he hasn’t experienced anything real in life yet. He wants to be a writer, and enlisting in the army might give him something to write about—brave heroes, tough realities and truths found close to the action, at the heart of darkness. He wants to publish a first novel and send a copy to his former girlfriend and sign it, “With love, from the guy you didn’t believe in.” By the time he fights in Vietnam and returns, he’s not exactly sure what truth he has found, but he does know that his war experience is about the people—about Trang and Whiley and J.D., actual people—not everyone’s vague conceptions of war. Simply written and taut, like the novel Rick might write, Hughes’s work will appeal to a wide audience. It’s a war story and a coming-of-age tale of a boy seeking real experience and a way to make a difference in the world. A solid companion to Philip Caputo’s photo-essay 10,000 Days of Thunder (Sept. 2005). (note on sources) (Fiction. 12+)
