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As I read Deadly Waters some of the passages struck me as being out of tune with the deadly seriousness of the story. The beautiful descriptions of the jungle and the mountains are one example. The tranquility hid such frightening turmoil.

What passages did you find surprising and why?

Thinking back over the entire book, it surprised me that, in the hospital, the jarhead got such shabby treatment from the staff.

DC Brown wrote: ↑08 Nov 2019, 00:46 Thinking back over the entire book, it surprised me that, in the hospital, the jarhead got such shabby treatment from the staff.

This was not made up. At the time, the VA hospitals were so overwhelmed with casualties, that the treatment was sub-par on a lot of levels. Some Vietnam veterans will still not allow the VA to treat them. The fact that Boudreau was a marine may have had little to do with it. I found it surprising that he blamed the Navy for all of his problems.

From Chapter 28 on I was utterly surprised at the way the VA system was attacked. After doing my research I can say that this has opened my eyes to the mistreatment of our veterans and that more people need to read this wonderful novel.

I thought all people in the communist country remain loyal to their leader whatever might happened, but they just in the wrong hands. They do not have any choice as Private Phan noticed ' he is in the wrong hands fighting for peace.'

I don't know if this is related but I was really surprised that white people called other whites Yankees 'cause of their accent. It really bothers me.

I haven’t finished the whole book yet, but so far I’ve been surprised by some of the cultural tidbits within the book. Things like chasing the rats out of the rice paddies and selling the meat and the practice of fermentation because of lack of refrigeration. The enemy tactics including tunnel systems developed by the Japanese in WWII and selling premium heroine to soldiers at minimal cost to get them addicted were things I didn’t know about the Vietnam war.

I love the discription of the jungle, the shore, the peaceful life of the countrymen in Vietnam before the war took place. The setting of the sun, the colorful clouds, and oceans will soothe and calm the readers feelings.

What a surprise it was to hear that the South Vietnamese had their own navy of junks. The river patrol actions of their junk force was something I never heard about.

The horrors committed by the VA on the undeserving veterans! Utterly shocking!

djr6090 wrote: ↑17 Nov 2019, 10:03 What a surprise it was to hear that the South Vietnamese had their own navy of junks. The river patrol actions of their junk force was something I never heard about.

I agree here. For those of us that have had limited exposure to the Vietnam war, our vision is solely what is presented to us in movies, tv, and textbooks. I have rarely (if ever) seen the Vietnamese naval junks represented in either of those.

I was surprised to learn that the military dropped over 19 million gallons of Agent Orange on Vietnam. That seemed like overkill. It was hard to believe that the military thought that Agent Orange was not dangerous to humans or animals, but it would kill all plant life!

I was also a bit surprised that there was great animosity between the Navy and the Marines. The fighting each other seemed out of control when they had a bigger enemy to fight.

Aaniyah02 wrote: ↑08 Nov 2019, 17:30 From Chapter 28 on I was utterly surprised at the way the VA system was attacked. After doing my research I can say that this has opened my eyes to the mistreatment of our veterans and that more people need to read this wonderful novel.

I can't agree any less. Most times, the system even assassinates the veterans.

djr6090 wrote: ↑05 Nov 2019, 10:54 As I read Deadly Waters some of the passages struck me as being out of tune with the deadly seriousness of the story. The beautiful descriptions of the jungle and the mountains are one example. The tranquility hid such frightening turmoil.

What passages did you find surprising and why?

No part surprised me. Maybe because I have been living among the Navy for a long time and know a bit of what is wrong with the system. But this book opened my eyes to a lot of things.

I was surprised, although dismayed might be more accurate, by the level of disingenuousness and deception on the part of the Veteran's Administration. I suppose I shouldn't be. I tend to be the sort of person who mistrusts government agencies, usually for good reasons.