Bamboo dreams is the story of a young man socially bullied who is in love with a high school mate. Told she is too good for him he observes how a tiny country in Southeast Asia is drawing America deeper into its civil war… and he sees the war as a chance to become “Good enough” for his unrequited love. He embarks to Vietnam as a Paratrooper assigned to an elite unit. While others do their best to get out of the jungle war, “Dewey” as the other Paratroopers nick named him, does his utmost to stay in the jungle where he delves into the psychological abyss that exist in the form of “Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome”, He comes home wounded in mind and in body but feels finally worthy of his unrequitted lover only to have a phone call from home while he lay in a military hospital telling him Karen had been murdered by a 14 year old child who beat her face in and raped her, before strangling her with a venetian blind cord. Did you ever wonder where PTSD comes from? How it eats into the heart and mind of warriors? This book answers that question and many others about wounded warriors. A must read for all those family members of Veterans that take their stories to their graves.
A textured semi-autobiographical look at Vietnam day-by-day with one foot in the summer of love and the other in a jungle combat boot.
Brewer’s story describes the path of a young man from a Northeastern high school to combat with an elite airborne brigade in Vietnam. There are quite a few books on Vietnam, so it takes some effort to make one stand out. Brewer has succeeded because he answers a very good question with considerable descriptive talent. It’s quite clear that Brewer is just about there as a wartime novelist.
This is some of the most vividly descriptive word use I have yet seen, avoiding overstatement and creating instead texture: the environment, the weather, the noise, the fear, the mess, the dope smoke. I’m not normally patient with typos, and to keep me reading in spite of them, the underlying tale has to be a very good one with much to say for it.
Dewey and his paratrooper friends struggle to survive in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Each step in the dense jungle could be their last. Will they make it through the night, or will the enemy waiting in the darkness claim another soul?!
Read MoreThe smell of gunpowder lingers in the air, mingling with sweat and adrenaline. A single mistake in the field could mean death. As explosions light up the night, Dewey must decide—fight for his brothers or fall to the ghosts of war?
Read MoreDeath is always a step behind. The enemy lurks in the shadows, felt but rarely seen. For Dewey and the 173rd Airborne, is Vietnam just a battlefield—or a hunting ground where they are both predator and prey?
Read MoreFifty years later, the memories still burn. Dewey’s journey in the jungles of Vietnam was more than combat. It was about loss, survival, and lasting scars. Can he finally lay the past to rest, or will the war follow him home?
Read MoreThe bonds formed in combat are unbreakable. Amid constant danger, Dewey and his paratroopers grow closer. They transform from soldiers into family. But when death comes without warning, how do you carry on?
Read MoreAs monsoon rains drench the jungle, a firefight erupts. Dewey is caught in the battle, the ground slick with blood. Wounded soldiers scream as the storm rages on. In the chaos, he realizes—can anyone come out of this unchanged?
Read MoreTaking a life is not as easy as they were trained to believe. Staring down his sights at an enemy soldier, Dewey hesitates. At that moment, he understands—war is not just about winning, but about what you must sacrifice to survive. But at what cost?
Read MoreThe battles don’t end when the shooting stops. Haunted by nightmares, Dewey struggles with the weight of what he’s done and what he’s lost. Will he find peace, or will the echoes of Vietnam define him forever?
Read MoreVernon E. Brewer II is a multiple Purple Heart recipient who was medivacked from Vietnam in 1969.
© 2024 Vernon Edwin Brewer II, All Rights Reserved.