Confession to a Deaf God : Memoir of a Mekong River Rat

• ISBN13: 9781401074647
• ISBN10: 1401074642
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-01-01
• Publisher: Lightning Source Inc

Summary

War is a religious experience. Mystic. Demonically insane. It pushes humans to the ragged edge of self-knowledge. Mixing philosophy, literature, psychology, and memoir, this book carries us on an odyssey - an odyssey that explores why young men volunteer for combat, how they live, and how they survive. It is raw in its portrayal of cowardice, of bravery, of haunting irreversible mistakes, of guilt, and of love. Confession to a Deaf God is a thought-provoking exploration of the incomprehensible cosmic game of Mars, ancient god of war.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION
A Novel	15	(2)
Acknowledgements	17	(2)
The Shrapnel's Edge	19	(4)
INNOCENT
Armored	23	(4)
Maddox	27	(2)
A Moose and San Francisco	29	(4)
SEA DRAGON
J. Jarvits (DDG66)	33	(2)
Sea Trials: A Guided Missile Shot	35	(1)
Sea Dragon	36	(2)
Captain Tarr	38	(4)
Incoming 155 MM Shells	42	(2)
Olongapo Police Department	44	(2)
Nasty Boats	46	(3)
A Naval Officer and A China Sailor	49	(2)
The Padre	51	(1)
Routine Gunshoot	52	(1)
Just Another Village	53	(3)
Hong Kong Hilton	56	(2)
WIBLICS	58	(2)
Beach	60	(3)
Iron Hand	63	(2)
A Greek Drama	65	(1)
Inside Haiphong Harbor	66	(1)
Globe, Arizona	67	(2)
Om	69	(1)
Plainsmen	70	(1)
Around The World	71	(2)
Anzio	73	(3)
Orders	76	(2)
Pineapple Fleet	78	(2)
Raccoons	80	(1)
Little House on the Prairie	81	(8)
BACK TO THE LAND OF THE ROUND EYES
Too Good for Her	89	(2)
Search and Destroy	91	(1)
Small Boat Training	92	(3)
Racehorses	95	(1)
S.E.R.E	96	(7)
The Boat	103	(3)
Victoria	106	(5)
CAT LO
Inbound Flight	111	(2)
Ton San Nhut Airport	113	(1)
Caribou	114	(3)
Rocky	117	(2)
CAT LO	119	(78)
Hank	122	(2)
Tex The Bosun	124	(3)
Kelley, the Engineman	127	(3)
Thompsen, the Quartermaster	130	(2)
Kid, the Radioman	132	(1)
Jake, the Gunner	133	(2)
The Viet, a Casual Observer	135	(2)
Thompsen and Kid	137	(1)
Nightwatch	138	(1)
C. Rats	139	(2)
Killer Bob	141	(1)
As Different as Night and Day	142	(2)
Sunrise	144	(1)
Swimmer	145	(1)
Beach Boy	146	(1)
Dinner Conversation	147	(3)
Starlight	150	(3)
Dinner Conversation (continued)	153	(2)
Professor Russell	155	(2)
The Red Bull Division	157	(3)
Starlight (continued)	160	(2)
The Learning Curve	162	(2)
In Cold Blood	164	(3)
Night Ambush	167	(1)
Saint Dominic and Bugs	168	(2)
Toenails	170	(1)
Papa Tango	171	(4)
How To Strangle A Cat With A Rosary	175	(3)
My Lecture to Tarzan on Macroeconomics and How America Can Be a Capitalist Beacon for the World	178	(3)
Fishermen	181	(2)
Cobra	183	(2)
Pandora's Box	185	(1)
Buddhists	186	(1)
Shit Magnets	187	(2)
Arclight	189	(2)
Intel Briefing	191	(6)
L.S.T. Hot Rivers
U.S.S. Madison County (L.S.T. 1100)	197	(2)
Mother Ship	199	(2)
You Have To Go Out	201	(2)
The South China Sea	203	(2)
Skippy's Brains	205	(2)
Salt	207	(2)
Sancho Panza	209	(3)
Trashberries	212	(1)
Oscelot 39	213	(1)
Getting Into Indian Country	214	(3)
R & R	217	(1)
Transmission Problems	218	(2)
Antigone	220	(2)
O Dark Thirty	222	(3)
Rung Sat	225	(3)
Piedmont	228	(2)
If I Die in the Combat Zone	230	(1)
He Doesn't Have Sense Enough to Pound Sand Down a Rat Hole	231	(3)
Letters	234	(2)
Ode to Bobby Mac	236	(2)
Luck	238	(1)
Desertion	239	(8)
CAM RANH
The New Kid Memorial Library	247	(4)
Nothing on but the Radio	251	(2)
Prisoners	253	(1)
Brown Betty	254	(1)
Ron	255	(1)
Hughes	256	(1)
The Measure	257	(2)
Ba Cuc	259	(2)
Crispy Critter	261	(3)
4-H	264	(2)
Typhoon	266	(2)
Sapper	268	(2)
Malaria	270	(1)
Smell	271	(2)
BB	273	(3)
Fortune 500	276	(3)
Ralph, New Kid, and Faye	279	(2)
R.O.K	281	(2)
They Just Don't Have the Right Perspective	283	(2)
The Photographer	285	(2)
Sydney	287	(2)
Village Sniper	289	(1)
One of Ours	290	(3)
Elephant Dung	293	(3)
Entering Petite Pass	296	(3)
Petite Pass: The Exit	299	(1)
The Inspector General	300	(3)
Andre	303	(2)
Dive	305	(1)
The Warrior	306	(1)
Kit Carson Scouts	307	(3)
Consolation	310	(5)
SHORT TIMER
Ice Cream	315	(3)
Bodysnatch	318	(4)
The Court-Martial	322	(2)
Travis	324	(2)
Things That Go Bump in the Night	326	(3)
The Church	329	(1)
Dentists	330	(2)
Lucky Little Guys	332	(3)
A Cosmic Joke	335	(2)
Philosophy of War	337	(3)
Jesus, What a Friend	340	(1)
My Kid Sister's Birthday	341	(3)
Slacker	344	(2)
The Pier	346	(2)
Hong Kong Hilton Revisited	348	(5)
Last Item on the Checklist	353	(1)
Our Little Boats	354	(1)
Medals	355	(1)
Kelley's Last Day	356	(5)
THE REAL WORLD
Freedom Bird	361	(2)
Night Flight, Catnaps, Insanity	363	(3)
Back Home	366	(1)
Quiet	367	(3)
Penelope	370	(1)
Puzzle Palace	371	(3)
PCF 97	374	(1)
George Washington University	375	(1)
Pentagon	376	(1)
REMF's	377	(4)
Naval Career	381	(1)
U.S. Naval Academy	382	(2)
BUPERS One Year Later	384	(1)
Impermanence	385	(2)
Danger, Bravery, and Recognition	387	(2)
One Fish Three Fish	389	(2)
Natural History	391	(1)
Badger in Chicago	392	(3)
Hood	395	(1)
Life is a Footnote	396	(3)
Seabee	399	(1)
Lincoln Park	400	(2)
In-Country 25 Years Later	402	(2)
Reunion	404	(4)
The Wall	408	(2)
Rob	410	(1)
Body Count	411	(1)
Maggie	412	(2)
The Sun Also Rises	414	(5)
EPILOGUE
Eight Epilogues	419	(4)
Rats in a Trap	423	(2)
Blind Mice: A Ghost Story	425	(2)
Veterans Day 2000	427	(3)
Never-ending Postscripts	430	(3)
A Book Review	433