3 out of 4 stars
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This story, A Police Action, was kind of hard to read since I knew some of it was actually about the Vietnam war - the most controversial war in America’s history, as far as I can tell. I like studying history, but unfortunately, I can’t avoid the really bad wars and other events. I haven’t yet decided If I’m going to study the Vietnam War further, but I certainly don’t want to do it before Easter.
To be honest, I can’t tell how realistic the relationships in the story were. The two main characters were apparently in love, but I wasn’t sure. There were a number of sex scenes which were very descriptive, almost too descriptive for my tastes, except that they reminded me, or rather, now they remind me, that the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, didn’t wear clothes before they sinned, and that they would have had a perfect relationship and sexual interactions before they sinned. The primary female character wrestled with guilt, for a short time, over something very bad that she did, and the male character tries to comfort her, even though he has less religious training than she has, growing up in Texas and being the oldest daughter and child of a pastor.
There were some good relationships portrayed, like between the main character, James, and his family members, and between James and some of his war buddies; and between the second main character, Samantha, or Sam as she preferred to be called, and her life-long friend, Kathy. Oh, and there are at least two other good relationships, that of the two main characters with their landlord, an elderly lady, who looks after Sam while James is in Vietnam.
The story tells of some of the hardships of the soldiers, like life on the battlefield; and life back home for the soldiers’ girlfriends or wives. Sam gets a job but refuses to ‘hook up’ with another man while waiting for James to come back from Vietnam. The wife of another soldier, a friend of James, has two young children, and then a baby before James gets back from Vietnam.
There’s a poignant moment near the end where Sam is learning from James’ mother how to make an Italian dish, as his family is from Italy, but lives in New York in the Bronx borough. But that poignancy is made interesting by the fact that James' mother doesn't speak very much English, and Sam can't speak Italian.
I rate this story at 3 out of 4 stars, for some editorial errors. This story, A Police Action, by A.A. Freda, is poignant in showing a controversial and difficult time in America’s history.
If you’re interested in history at all, you might want to read this story, even though it has its intense moments.
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A Police Action
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