I only knew Jeff Danziger for his art - pithy political cartoons - up to now. LIEUTENANT DANGEROUS establishes him as a writer. His Vietnam war memoir reflects the wry, off-center humor he was already known for, so there are plenty of things here that will cause you to smile or chuckle, especially if you are a veteran and have had some up-close and personal experience with Uncle Sam and the mysterious ways of the military chain of command. But mostly Danziger's account of his four-year hitch, as both an enlisted man and a junior officer, will make you think. About the messy quagmire that was Vietnam, the countless lives lost or ruined, and the waste. And it will probably make you angry. So many lies, so much waste, perhaps most succinctly put thusly - "Reality interrupts when rank stupidity and nonsense is presented by the commanders who deny the general lunacy of the situation."

Danziger quickly assessed the insanity of the war and resolved to keep his head down and look our for himself. "I would ignore idiotic orders and obey my inner coward ..."

Before applying for and receiving a direct commission (he was a college grad), Danziger was trained as a Vietnamese linguist. But he studied at Ft Bliss, NOT at the Defense Language Institute in California, and quickly discovered that El Paso is a poor substitute for Monterey. But I found it interesting, nonetheles (I DID study language at DLI), and he also trained at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo (me too).

He tried mightily to avoid Vietnam, but finally was sent there as an ordnance officer with one year left on his enlistment. He endured and survived a number of jobs there, some of them dangerous and bloody, although he downplays these, dwelling most on the stupidity, waste and dishonesty of those in charge.

This is a damn good book, articulate, funny, thoughtful - and angry. You want to know something about a misbegotten war, the wrongness of a conflict that took hundreds of thousands of lives? Read this book. My highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA ( )