Business
Shameless Pandering For Christmas Gift Idea
November 11, 2017 
If you want to give a very limited edition book to a parent, friend, or veteran that will never be on the NY TIMES bestseller list, consider DRAFTED, VIETNAM at War and at PEACE.
“DRAFTED!” is GUARDIAN editor Dave Frazier’s behind-the-scenes account of the mostly involuntary Army of the 1960’s and his personal quest to make the best of an otherwise unpleasant situation and have fun doing it during the Vietnam War.
As a young freelance reporter-photographer, Frazier was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Vietnam. A note in his personnel file from a friendly commander led to an assignment as a Public Affairs NCO writing about and photographing the activities of the transportation command during the height of the Vietnam War in 1967-68.
Frazier’s memoir provides a unique look at Vietnam as both a war and a country. Dozens of contemporary photos along with “historic” war time images by the author compliment the vignettes and offer a peek at life in Vietnam today.
Think: equal parts M.A.S. H., GOOD MORNING VIETNAM, and soul-baring truths from a vet who returned unscathed, but not unchanged.
NOTE:
You can contact me directly using the CONTACT link above on this page or get an digital version at AMAZON . If you contact me, the $15 price includes autograph and coffee. At Amazon you can get it for $3, but no signature or coffee.
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Comments & Discussion
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Nov 11, 2017, 3:24 pm
Thank you for your service.
Nov 11, 2017, 3:31 pm
Seems like the prices should be switched around (joke). Happy vet’s day from another from that era.
Nov 11, 2017, 6:59 pm
Congrats on the book, and best wishes on Veteran’s Day!
Nov 11, 2017, 7:51 pm
It’s a good read. I read it shortly after it became available.
I request a sequel to tell the fascinating tale of the rest of your professional journey.
These windbags at city hall who refuse to call you a media outlet should bow and kiss your ring as you outclass all that do make the cut.
Nov 11, 2017, 7:53 pm
Gave one to my son last year as a gift. Well worth it!
Thank you editor for the book and thank you to all those that have kept this country safe.
Nov 12, 2017, 7:57 am
Dear Mr. Guardian… the $3 version on Amazon is for the “kindle edition.” So you get a license for the intellectual property, but no paper pages.
To Guardian readers… I made a donation to “Guardian citizen journalism” a year or so ago, and got the face-time autographed variation of the book. Money well spent, and time well spent reading the book.
The book is NOT a gritty war story, but rather a collection of up-close-and-personal anecdotes by a guy who entered the Vietnam War as a kid, got assigned to duty away from the front lines because of his unique skills, and came home a man… and has since made return trips to Vietnam. Good reading, even better photos. (Too bad Ken Burns doesn’t know about the author, who could’ve contributed to his documentary about the war.)
Nov 12, 2017, 10:25 am
Bikeboy – good info, thanks. But I’m pretty sure you meant Ken Burns film against the war, not about the war.
Nov 12, 2017, 11:09 am
It is a good read. You should buy one for Christmas!
Nov 12, 2017, 7:12 pm
Eagle Writer – I asked several Vietnam-vet friends for their impression of the Burns documentary, and without fail they thought it was a pretty fair treatment. One guy said “at its very best, war is an ugly thing.”
Are you saying you are “FOR the war,” knowing what you know now? Seems to me it was a tragedy for pretty much everybody involved.
Nov 12, 2017, 8:18 pm
Anonymous – Good points and no argument. I am a Ken Burns fan, but think he missed badly keeping bias out of this one.
I enlisted in the Army in 1968 for a reason and a cause – I stand by both today still.
FYI – I favor and have lobbied for opening relations with Cuba, and argued against the same with Vietnam. I seem to be in the minority, and am comfortable there.
EDITOR NOTE–Eagle Writer, we need to talk. At least half the people in Vietnam were on OUR side. We supposedly were fighting for their freedom, etc. etc. The term was their “right to self determination.” Today there is a Ford plant inn Hanoi, Nike plant, and the place is peaceful. Communist, but peaceful. I have been back 4 times and they love us–and our money.
Nov 13, 2017, 10:49 am
Editor – I agree with everything you wrote, and as soon as there is justice for the Montagnard people I may support everything you wrote.
See Rebecca Onion’s piece in “Slate” titled “The Snake-Eaters and the Yards.” You can just Google it. A snippet appears below:
“The Special Forces and the Montagnards—each tough, versatile, and accustomed to living in wild conditions—formed an affinity for each other. In the testimony of many veterans, their working relationship with the Montagnards, nicknamed Yards, was a bright spot in a confusing and frustrating war. The bond between America’s elite fighters and their indigenous partners has persisted into the present, but despite the best efforts of vets, the Montagnards have suffered greatly in the postwar years, at least in part because they cast their lot with the U.S. Army.”
It’s nice that Ford and Nike are there. It’s nice that they love us and our money. It is less nice that we seem to forget an entire people who placed their trust with us, and lost everything.
De Oppresso Liber.
Nov 14, 2017, 9:39 am
Not sure how one gets to “a film against the war” referring to Ken Burns’ work. Aren’t we ALL anti-war (“against the war”)?
Editor, whether the place is peaceful today is irrelevant to 50 years ago. Berlin is peaceful today too; Tokyo and Hiroshima are also on that long list. And they all love us and our money…
That doesn’t change whether the action was right based on the known situation back then.
Where would Hanoi be today be if the whole FUBAR didn’t happen? Another North Korea? Another hole for terrorists like other places in SE Asia? Who knows?
What we do know is, fighting for what is right, is a principle without expiration and without geographic boundaries.
Freedom at home and freedom around the world is not free.
Can I get an amen?
BTW let’s all note, dotard Trump FINALLY made it to Vietnam – just this past week. Bone spur must be gone!
Maybe next year, for Veteran’s Day, Trump will visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and apologize to Senator McCain, the Kahn family and others.