Very Crazy, G.I.!: Strange but True Stories of the Vietnam War Mass Market Paperback – January 30, 2001

A friend let me read the book prior to me buying. It’s a very interesting read and Gary Linderer is a good Vietnam War writer. It’s a collection of short stories so it’s easy to get through the book a bit at a time. The stories range from incredible heroics to supernatural experiences from SF, RNGR BN, USMC, and USA infantry personnel during the Vietnam War. It’s also an excellent priced book.

An entertaining and easy-to-read collection of short stories about odd and quirky events that happened to Vietnam veterans who later told them to Jorgenson, the author. Some of the stories are only a couple of pages long but they do not disappoint in the least and maintain the book's underlying theme about strange events.My favorite story was about the Sergeant Major who had the sad task of writing a family about their son being KIA, only to find out the soldier was still alive. To any veterans, we all know the 2 sides of a Sergeant Major; the paternal mother hen who takes care of his soldiers, and the beast unchained that they become to anyone stupid enough to cross them. This short story captured the essence of Sergeant Majors perfectly, and I found myself rooting for the senior NCO as he commenced to rip apart a 2nd LT attempting to pull rank.Jorgenson's personal experiences in Vietnam put the reader in the boots of the various characters and the odd circumstances and events that an insane war brought to them.

I truly enjoyed each and every page of this book. I served from Apr 70 to Mar 93 from rookie to handyman. I was strictly USAF but as an ALO FAC or advisor I served many roles. This book covered some areas I has limited knowledge but where I did have knowledge it rang incredibly accurate. I would recommend this book for casual readers. I loved it. It certainly filled in some holes I had known about but not in detail.

While doing research for a Vietnam film I'm prepping, I stumbled across this book on Amazon. After reading some glowing reviews, I decided to buy the book. I mean, I saw the words "Crazy" and "Strange but true" and had to give it a read. If anything, I thought it might give me more insight and details to a soldier's life in Vietnam from a variety of perspectives. The author just happened to be an Airborne Ranger and our film centers around a platoon of Rangers from the 75th attached to the 101st Airborne Division.I happen to like the author's style. It's a very no-nonsense approach to things. He does describe things in an entertaining yet matter-of-fact way. In one passage, he asks the reader to imagine going to a zoo where all the animals roamed free - no cages or enclosures. Add to that a bunch of insects and poisonous reptiles. Then imagine all the zoo keepers running around with AK - 47 assault rifles. All of the animals, reptiles and zoo keepers trying to kill you in a dense jungle. That's what it was like. That put things into perspective for me.One of my favorite chapters tells the tale of a Special Forces sergeant and his South Vietnamese "Montagnard" partner going into Saigon and accidentally running over an old couple's leashed pig - killing it. The two men hop out and try to make things right with the couple when two South Vietnamese policemen enter the scenario. They treat the Montagnard with such disrespect that it's just sickening - including pointing a pistol at his head. The American Special Forces sergeant tries to keep things mellow and offers money as compensation to the couple. Of course, the policemen extort much more money and a case of booze from the American. After the money is dispersed between the couple and the corrupt cops, the Montagnard tries to load the dead pig into their Jeep for that night's family dinner - after all, they paid for it. Of course the cops won't allow that either. After the tension subsides, the Montagnard sneaks a live grenade into the throat of the dead pig and pulls the pin. As the sergeant and his Montagnard friend drive off, there's a loud explosion. The cops got what they deserved. The sergeant wasn't guessing the loyalty of the Montagnard anymore.Another stand-out chapter describes the author attending a military show in (present day) Las Vegas. He discusses the growing trend whereby men would tell people that they served in Vietnam. One guy even claimed to have killed Ho Chi "Ming." Hey, if you're going to make up a story, you might need to learn that his last name was Minh, not Ming. After being questioned by any vet (including the author) it's apparent these men were simply impersonating military veterans. I recall that, some years ago, impersonating a military veteran became a federal crime. I'm so glad about that!Chapters range from a page and a half to about two dozen pages and tell personal stories of the author and stories told to him. One delves into the Saigon scene with prostitution, another tells of a base being attacked, one where a soldier uses his Zippo lighter as a good luck Talisman of sorts and another story tells of a soldier's agonizing premonition of his own death. The last chapter is a bit more amusing than the others because he describes how a guy with his namesake would die in a film, "They got Jorgenson" or how Vietnam news footage is played on TV or used in History Chanel CD sets and shows the author being shot and loaded into a waiting medevac helicopter. Only later, the CBS reporter announced that "the soldier died from his wounds." The author's own friends and family constantly rib him about that to this day.CHAPTERS and Starting PagesDead Reckoning ................................ 1The Evil God .................................... 11The Nguoi Rung ................................ 33Remember to Die ............................... 37The Visitor ....................................... 55Payment Past Due ............................. 57The Price of Combat .......................... 65The Nightmare .................................. 76Finding Religion ................................. 86Namesake ........................................ 92We Regret to Inform You .................... 93Ripples and Waves ............................ 107Winning Hearts and Minds ................... 114And Thunder Makes You Tremble ......... 122The Premonition ............................... 145Chow ............................................. 147Cosmic Justice ................................. 150Cherry Boy ...................................... 167Enemy, by Choice ............................. 171Nothing! .......................................... 188Ready, Set ...................................... 192A Good Ambush ................................ 195The Talisman ................................... 205Lions and Tigers and Flares, Oh My! ..... 211"I Killed Ho Chi Ming" ......................... 216Buying Into History ........................... 225Dissolve to Black .............................. 226Final Words:While I did find this book helpful with some of the details in a soldier's life, I was distracted by the fact that the book needs a revision.There are several words throughout the book that need to be capitalized. The many tribes of Montagnards are simple but proud people (much like our Native Americans) who fought with the Allies against the North Vietnamese - with primitive weapons but huge hearts. The American slang term for the Montagnards was "Yards" yet the VC referred to them as animals or savages. So the terms Montagnards and Yards should have been capitalized and I'm not sure why they aren't. Actually, Montagnard was capitalized once or twice, so that further baffles me why the rest remained lower case.Also, there were three types of light utility vehicles used by our armed forces at the time... the Ford "Mutt" and some variation of the Jeep M38 and M151. In all cases (in the book) all of these vehicles are referred to as simply "jeep." First off, a Ford is NOT a Jeep and since Jeep is a brand name, it should always be capitalized. To this day, I'm amazed that people actually refer to vehicles like the Suzuki Samurai or the older Toyota Landcruiser as Jeeps. Jeep should NOT be used as a generic term for just any 4x4 vehicle. As a Jeep owner, I'm annoyed by this trend.With respect to the subtitle, "Strange But True Stories of the Vietnam War" I thought only some of the chapters were interesting on any level of strange. For instance, a man started screaming when he went to go relieve himself only to find that a leech had attached itself to his "private part." OUCH! While a couple stories were strange, there should have been more "strange factor" and more "wow factor" because overall, I feel let down to some degree. And while there are some stories told to the author by other Vietnam vets, it just seems to lack any real impact that the subtitle suggests.To say that anyone is "crazy" or that any of the stories are "strange but true" - outside the scope of the Vietnam War isn't saying much. That war was filled with crazy shenanigans and strange but true stories. So to use that title to draw a reader in was tactically smart but it just doesn't live up to the hype.Who do I recommend this book to? Not everyone. I'd surmise that military personnel (retired or active), military buffs, action junkies, war film buffs, history buffs and those who might like reading about a soldier's accounts of war will like this book. To the 20-something crowd - not so much. Unless, of course, he or she had a relative who served during the Vietnam War. Since the Amazon price for the paperback version is so low it makes the book a bit more worthwhile. I paid $5.33 with free shipping because it was part of a larger order.I give it 3.4 stars out of 5Ballantine Books, Presidio Press 2001NOTE: I also wrote this review for Epinions.com

TO ALL WHO SERVED I SALUTE YOU. I WAS NOT THERE BECAUSE I WAS A CHILD,BUT YOUR STORIES AREHEARTBREAKING,FUNNY AND ONLY MAKES ME PROUDTO BE AN AMERICAN. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.MY FAMILY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR SACRIFICE.GLENN: MIDDLE VILLAGE NY. MAY 8th . 2021.

I the book very well. It was well written it will keep your pages turning to see what going to happen.

I'm a 73 yr old Disabled Vietnam Vet. No hero ! But this guy is !

I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but this book was not for me. I'm a fan of the more traditional narratives or first person accounts of soldiers. The author state that he interviewed fellow Vietnam Vets that after a couple of beers, they admitted seeing some crazy, unbelievable things that they never dared tell anyone before. Not the sensationalistic baby killing stuff you might read in liberal press, but tales of ghosts, phantoms, big foot kind of things.The author and those he interviewed all agree & admit that if you're on guard duty at night, tired and afraid of the VC attacking you (very common things for grunts), you'll think you heard or saw some wild things. I don't doubt that the guys telling the stories were there, it's just a matter of disbelief at what they claim is real. Some will find it funny, for some it will bring back memories.The book is definitely a different look at Vietnam Veterans experiences in the `Nam. If you want to read about battles, ambushes, historical events, then I would not recommend this book.