THE WAY OF RONIN

A Vietnamese refugee’s sentimental education as a soldier and martial artist.

Experiencing racism and discrimination growing up, Tu learned important lessons from his mother (“smile and be brave”), and he has found plenty of occasion to put her cheerful stoicism into practice throughout his life. A student of martial arts, the author signed up to be a soldier. He excelled, but being a regular grunt wasn’t enough. First, he decided to try Ranger training: “Combat is easy,” someone told him. “Ranger School is hard.” Surviving that brutal schooling and numerous instances of racism on the part of his instructors and even some fellow students, Tu then trained as a reconnaissance scout and sniper before becoming a Green Beret and taking up its motto to “free the oppressed.” (His other mantra: “Shut Up and Learn.”) It’s a Horatio Alger story without a wealthy patron and with an endless supply of death-dealing hardware. As the narrative progresses, Tu gets fuzzier with the details, inasmuch as his work is now classified (“even the name of my unit was secret”) and would seem to involve targeted killing and other forms of dangerous international ventures. Tu survived it all, only to endure a traumatic brain injury in the field and fall into depression and addiction. “It was like my soul had been taken from me. I couldn’t find my purpose....And my only answer was more pills,” he writes. Tu’s devotion to cultivating his ronin persona helped his recovery, and he went on to star on the History Channel’s Forged in Fire: Knife or Death and serve as inspiration for the Ronin character in Call of Duty. Overall, the story has interesting twists and courage to spare, but the narration is merely dutiful—though it certainly can’t be faulted for its unfailing earnestness.

Good reading for aspiring warriors.