The following two books have been reviews by Paul Bishop for this site as well as Raider magazine, for the lastet issue see stockests.

SOG Medic: Stories from Vietnam and Over the Fence
By Joe Parnar and Robert Dumont

Company – Paladin Press
Cost - £16.99
Available from - www.casematepublishing.co.uk

Do you ever get one of those books you just can’t put down? Well this was one of them books for me. The story and accounts are for the then SOG team medic Joe Parnar whilst serving in the Vietnam War with the Special Observation Group for the US Army. If you have no idea who or what SOG is then get a book any book about them and sit back for some amazing stories of heroes and madness in a combat zone.

This is no different in the fact that it tells the unbelievable story of a small group so secret that if they die in combat “Over the fence” Laos or Cambodia the US government will deny all involvement.

This book sticks out in mind as for a change it’s not just about the hard faced exterior of a Special force men it shows that sometimes these men (in this case a medic) are not sure they are always right with their chooses.

So is this an anti war book hell no! Far from it. What I mean is Joe Parnar had a strong feeling of “if someone dies on my watch I will be responsible for it for the rest of my life” He shows how hard it must have been and still is for the medics in war time. After all when you are sleeping they are still working, when you are eating or drinking they are making sure the wounded are looked after before themselves.

This book has some fascinating detail on a such a variety of missions undertaken by the SOG team medic, you get taken into the hard and fast combat, the recon mission and the chase medic role. You feel so involved you could almost smell it.

The only thing I can say bad about this book is I wanted more.

LBJ'S HIRED GUN: A Marine Corps Helicopter Gunner and the War in Vietnam
By John Gebhart

Company – Casemate
Cost - £20.00
Available from - www.casematepublishing.co.uk

This book is about a young cocky guy who joins the Marines, it follows the classic format of being young punk, going to boot camp, being punished for being said young punk and becoming a Marine. Having never been in the USMC so I can't really comment but to me it feels like I have read this before, it’s like Full Metal Jacket almost down to the exact wording however this could be due to the fact one of his Drill Instructors was the now famous drill Instructor in Full Metal Jacket, rather him than me is all I could think.

Our Marine arrives in Vietnam, again following the format of the veteran recollections and films. On plane with loads of other scared grunts etc. The book then settles into the format of what I would call "War stories" these are small chunks of stories often no more than two pages long. Easy to read and digest, something you can pick up and put down I just get the feeling that this Marine can’t have had all those war stories but saying that Vietnam was a busy place!

If you are not after the most detailed historical document then it’s an entertaining read for sure and made for those mornings on the way to work when you just need to escape for a short time.