Conversations With the Enemy: The Story of PFC Robert Garwood

by Winston Groom, Duncan Spencer

Biographies.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History

411 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1983

About the author

Winston Francis Groom Jr. was an American novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for his book Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a film in 1994. Groom was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Mobile, Alabama where he attended University Military School (now known as UMS-Wright Preparatory School). He attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta and the Army ROTC, and graduated in 1965. He served in the Army from 1965 to 1969, including a tour in Vietnam. Groom devoted his time to writing history books about American wars. More recently he had lived in Point Clear, Alabama, and Long Island, New York.

Reviews

[Thom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and sad story.

[SWZIE · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would have been bad enough if Robert Garwood had been fighting a war with conviction; that the American’s were in Vietnam for reasons which he believed in. But Garwood, a private in the Marine Corps, had little idea what the war was all about. He was a motor pool driver at the Marine base and only had 10 days before his tour of duty ended, when he was captured.
Robert Garwood’s experience as a POW in Vietnam sounded horrific. It amazed me that he survived the appalling conditions with such courage and fortitude. He remained captive for 14 years, and during that time, despite having a basic education; he managed to speak fluent Vietnamese like a native. According to linguists it is one of the most difficult languages to learn. He also adopted their mannerisms imbibed through living amongst them for so long.
Finally, when he was released, he didn’t have the welcome homecoming he was expecting. Instead of being hailed as a hero, he was vilified and accused of being a traitor and collaborating with the enemy. He was in the very least accused of not abiding to the American code of conduct. So his story is controversial.
I personally think the fight for survival is natural human instinct and Bobby Garwood probably did everything he could to stay alive in the grim conditions. But I don’t believe some of the things he was accused of. His Vietnamese captors were unpredictable so his life was precarious. He could have been shot or tortured for the least little thing. He had already survived malaria, dysentery and other illnesses in the most appalling conditions that led to the demise of his fellow prisoners. This was possibly because he would eat anything to keep up his strength, even rats, so he obviously had a strong survival instinct.
I can’t believe why only Robert Garwood was court marshalled but not his fellow prisoners of war. The original prisoners who were captured around the same time as him all died, so he had no witnesses to prove that he was a prisoner just like them and not a deserter.
It’s a contentious issue that appears to cause arguments over whether Garwood is telling the truth or not. I’m inclined to believe his version; my rationale is why would he defect when he only had 10 days left before his duty in Vietnam would have ended? I don't think he deserved his dishonourable discharge from the Marines.
‘Conversations with the Enemy’ is a well written and very detailed book. It’s an excellent joint effort by two good authors.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book, but unfortunately is is my first DNF of 2025. Groom is very detailed in this book, almost too detailed to the point where the story becomes a bit of a drag. With that being said, Garwood was a POW for 10 years, so the book needs to be 520 pages.

I do plan on finishing the book one day, however it took me almost a month to get to page 200. Time to start something else now.

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. What a shitty war Vietnam was, and what shitty people waged it. I have no doubt Garwood did everything he was accused of in the court martial, but the only thing that's a crime unless you're some hoo-rah armchair 'you can't break a Marine' chickenhawk was punching the guy who ratted out his best friend to the jailors and got him killed.

Which sounds like just as bad if not worse than what he faced the death penalty for. And then the US government cheating a guy out of 15 years of back pay (at $10k/year, what a prize) because we were still being a bunch of little pussy sore losers about the whole thing. For further reference on what a bunch of whiny spanked bullies we were about the whole Vietnam experience, consult your local Rambo/Missing in Action/Red Dawn/other assorted he-man kicking commie ass movie from the 80's.

More stuff changes the more it says the same. Stalin threw all the returning POW's into jail, we would have done the same to the Vietnam vets if it wouldn't have looked bad (but we made sure to nail at least one to the wall), and now Bowe Bergdahl. And it's always the ones who yell loudest about supporting the troops while we're fighting a stupid losing war who want to pile on the people who got broken by their stupid losing war while we were losing it.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great survival tale, of an American POW in Vietnam. It shows the great adaptiveness of the human spirit. Though it's a documentary, it is very literary, and a compelling read. After his return home, PFC Garwood was accused of treason, court-martialed, and became a controversial figure. Some of the facts about Garwood are disputed by official POW authorities (including John McCain), and I don't know who is telling the truth, which makes it more intriguing. Anyway, this is a real depiction of one soldier's tour of the Apocalypse.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written with a lot of detail that allowed the reader to understand his life.