Review of Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And Its Aftermath

[Gerald Fanuel]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And Its Aftermath" by Randy Miller.]

---

5 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War and Its Aftermath by Randy Miller is a historical fiction book that recounts the story of a Navy enlisted man, Zachariah Martin, who fought for the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.

The book revolves around Zack Martin, an intelligent, loving, and hardworking young man who was enlisted in the Navy to fight in the Vietnam War. It tells of the hardships he met in Vietnam as well as in his romantic life with Tally, whom he married after an honorable discharge from the war. Early in his marriage life, Zack was diagnosed with Soft Tissue Sarcoma, a cancer disease caused by dioxin poisoning from Monsanto's chemical defoliant, which was well known as Agent Orange. Agent Orange was sprayed across Vietnam during the war. After the diagnosis, Zack's life was full of surprises. He was denied medical care by the VA hospital as the Veterans Administration changed policies to preserve government coffers other than the veterans' lives. This in turn took a toll on the financial status of the new family, as Zack could not work on the farm due to the illness. Even with the help of Gerd Holmann with money and health care, things were going downhill fast. The VA changed policies to exclude Vietnam Navy vets from receiving benefits and other compensation. Zack felt betrayed and played by the government after being denied benefits and compensation.

This book serves as a voice for those who were neglected. People like Zack sacrificed their lives as a patriotic duty but were deceived by the very people they meant to serve.

The author tries to point out the differing views of the war and why the military was an easy target through which powerful and mediocre people could play their games and advance their priorities.

The author's selection of story settings made the story more real than fiction. It is a well-researched book that includes historical facts, good descriptions of places, and other details that include naval warfare and other nitty-gritty things that happen during or after deployment. The author also made sure that no part of the story left the reader in suspense as he inserted and interwoven plot after plot to complete the storyline.

Randy created powerful plots and skillfully infused them in contexts that bring the past to life—not just any past but those missing from the media, the policymakers and decision-makers reports, and social conundrum shakers (anti-war protesters).

It is an action-packed novel that employs literary techniques to bring to life the fundamentals of humanity: love, hate, courage, fear, happiness, sadness, anguish, hope, anger, and morality.

The author used dialect in the book to make the story more appealing and real, but the words were too many to comprehend. But it also made the book difficult to figure out errors, as it used other dialects of English other than the standard English. However, the dialect makes the book so interesting and believable. I therefore give this book a five out of five rating because it was professionally edited, and the way the author professionally used other dialects to evoke memories made me rate the book five out of five. This book is a message from a veteran to the people, especially the policymakers and decision-makers. It can be a good read for everyone, especially those in positions of power.

******
Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And Its Aftermath
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Janet Alex]

I was so sad and angry when Zack died. I mean he gave a lot to the country. He did well in the naval ship he served. He experienced the horrors of war. And then, he gets cancer from his hard work, and the government cannot help him?