Review: The Calling of the Green Beret
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 28, 2013
"Alone in the Valley" by George Lanigan is a memoir which Chronicles his experiences from the time he drops out of college in 1968 until he returns home from the Vietnam War in 1971. George states that he'd always wanted to be a Green Beret in the U.S. Army since his early childhood days. He decides to follow his dream, enlists into the Army - intent on making the grade. George's descriptions during basic training and infantry AIT are right on, reminding me of some things I've done that were long forgotten.I looked forward to reading about the author's training during Airborne and Green Beret school as I was unfamiliar with both. I'd heard stories from fellow veterans about jump school, but I never knew anyone who trained for Special Forces. I remember the song where it heralded that so many entered, but only a few actually received the coveted beret. Although George does not go into major detail of the specific training itself, readers get a sense of the difficulties he must overcome.  Special Forces training outside of Fort Bragg included radio school and Morse code, skiing and snowshoeing in Germany and jungle warfare training in Panama.Mr. Lanigan heads to Vietnam in July, 1970 - a month before my tour began and is stationed near Vung Tau on the South China Sea. My tour began in Cu Chi which was only an hour away. His new job is to oversee and train Cambodian teenagers in the art of war.  Their country has sanctioned this training in order to help them defend against both external and internal enemies. He would take groups out to valley and bush for days at a time; sometimes encountering VC or NVA soldiers on patrol - getting hairy at times. When at the basecamp, George walks the perimeter during odd hours every night to check the wire and Cambodians in the bunkers. Seems like sleep and rest are a hard commodity to come by. After all, this is still a war zone.During his downtime, George and the other SF soldiers, like normal teenagers, would sometime get into mischief and have to suffer the consequences. He owns a small tv set to help pass the time, and hooks up with fellow SF members at the local bar occasionally to swap stories and reminisce about past training.Coming home, George finds the World has changed; protesters are everywhere and blame the soldier for war. It isn't safe to be out in uniform. There are no parades, words of thanks or welcomed home by civilians who, instead, should be grateful to him for protecting their freedom. This was very puzzling for all returning veterans who were ecstatic for having survived the war and then facing hostility, ridicule and insults upon their arrival home. What a fine reward!The story held my interest, my only complaint is the formatting and editing of the book which prevented me from giving it four or five stars. Indie authors, myself included, are continuously chided by readers and reviewers who expect perfect books.  George, please take the time to hire a skilled editor to help make corrections and then reissue the updated version. It does make a difference!John Podlaski, authorCherries - A Vietnam War Novel