
A Rumor of War
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Narrated by:
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L. J. Ganser
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By:
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Philip Caputo
A platoon commander in the first combat unit sent to fight in Vietnam, Lieutenant Caputo landed at Danang on March 8, 1965, convinced that American forces would win a quick and decisive victory over the Communists. Sixteen months later, and without ceremony, Caputo left Vietnam a shell-shocked veteran whose youthful idealism and faith in the rightness of the war had been utterly shattered. A Rumor of War tells the story of that trajectory and allows us to see and feel the reality of the conflict as the author himself experienced it, from the weeks of tedium hacking through scorching jungles, to the sudden violence of ambushes and firefights, to the unbreakable bonds of friendship forged between soldiers, and finally to a sense of the war as having no purpose other than the fight for survival.
Most troubling, Caputo gives us an unflinching view not only of remarkable bravery and heroism but also of the atrocities committed in Vietnam by ordinary men so numbed by fear and desperate to survive that their moral distinctions had collapsed.
More than a statement against war, Caputo's memoir offers readers today a profoundly visceral sense of what war is and, as the author says, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to men".
©1996 Philip Caputo (P)2009 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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Excellent
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Powerful story, terrific narrator
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This book, unusual for its infantry Lieutenant's perspective, should be required reading for learning why we must not resort to war except in the most threatening circumstances. Vietnam certainly was no threat to the US, and so many of our young soldiers died or were wounded for so little.What was one of the most memorable moments of A Rumor of War?
The descriptions of what it was really like to invade a poor village are impossible to not remember indefinitely.What about L. J. Ganser’s performance did you like?
The voice of the narrator represented the author's persona very convincingly. Also, it was not fatiguing in any way.Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I understood for the first time some of the reasons why some soldiers violate the USA's war-fighting rules and ethics. Yet this type of conduct is still inexcusable but is rarely prosecuted.Any additional comments?
I was in college during the early years of the Vietnam war, and this book brought back many memories of those times. Many of my friends fought in the war, as did my high-school ROTC teacher (who was killed by a land mine).Based on the USA's history since Vietnam, it's now clear that as a country we simply do not learn from involvement in a pointless, immoral war. Our soldiers and their families and friends bear the burdens.
The realities of war, as seen by a young officer
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An amazing piece of work that stays with the reader.
Powerful
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Any additional comments?
This book is a classic. Being an Iraq War veteran I see that few things have changed since the 1960's.Will we ever learn
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A Classic of Literary contributions to the War
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Excellent
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You need to read this book.
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Brutal unfiltered honesty
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Authentic.
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