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Fiddler's Green
1954. First Edition. 255 pages. No dust jacket. Red cloth. Pages and binding are presentable with no major defects. Minor issues present such as mild cracking, inscriptions, inserts, light foxing, tanning and thumb marking. Overall a good condition item. Boards have mild shelf wear with light rubbing and corner bumping. Some light marking and sunning.
- GenresFiction
255 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1950
1 person is currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Ernest K. Gann
58 books99 followersErnest K Gann was an aviator, author, filmmaker, sailor, fisherman and conservationist.
After earning his pilot license, Gann spent his much of his free time aloft, flying for pleasure. The continuing Great Depression soon cost him his job and he was unable to find another position in the movie business. In search of work, he decided to move his family to California. Gann was able to find odd jobs at Burbank Airport, and also began to write short stories. A friend managed to get him a part-time job as a co-pilot with a local airline company and it was there that he flew his first trips as a professional aviator. In the late 1930s many airlines were hiring as many pilots as they could find; after hearing of these opportunities, Gann and his family returned to New York where he managed to get hired by American Airlines to fly the Douglas DC-2 and Douglas DC-3.
For several years Gann enjoyed flying routes in the northeast for American. In 1942, many U.S. airlines' pilots and aircraft were absorbed into the Air Transport Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces to assist in the War Effort. Gann and many of his co-workers at American volunteered to join the group. He flew DC-3s, Douglas DC-4s and Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express transports (the cargo version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber). His wartime trips took him across the North Atlantic to Europe, and then on to Africa, South America, India, and other exotic places. Some of his most harrowing experiences came while flying The Hump airlift across the Himalayas into China. In the years to come Gann's worldwide travels and various adventures would become the inspiration for many of his novels and screenplays.
At the end of World War II, the Air Transport Command released the civilian pilots and aircraft back to their airlines. Gann decided to leave American Airlines in search of new adventures. He was quickly hired as a pilot with a new company called Matson Airlines that was a venture of the Matson steamship line. He flew from the U.S. West Coast across the Pacific to Honolulu. This experience spawned ideas that were developed into one of his best-known works, 'The High and the Mighty.' Matson ultimately soon fell prey to the politically well-connected Pan American Airlines and failed. After a few more short-lived flying jobs, Gann became discouraged with aviation and he turned to writing as a full-time occupation.
Gann's major works include the novel The High and the Mighty and his aviation focused, near-autobiography Fate Is the Hunter. Notes and short stories scribbled down during long layovers on his pioneering trips across the North Atlantic became the source for his first serious fiction novel, Island in the Sky (1944), which was inspired by an actual Arctic rescue mission. It became an immediate best-seller as did Blaze of Noon (1946), a story about early air mail operations. In 1978, he published his comprehensive autobiography, entitled A Hostage to Fortune.
Although many of his 21 best-selling novels show Gann’s devotion to aviation, others, including Twilight for the Gods, and Fiddler's Green reflect his love of the sea. His experiences as a fisherman, skipper and sailor, all contributed storylines and depth to his nautical fiction. He later wrote an autobiography of his sailing life called Song of the Sirens.
Gann wrote, or adapted from his books, the stories and screenplays for several movies and television shows. For some of these productions he also served as a consultant and technical adviser during filming. Although it received positive reviews, Gann was displeased with the film version of Fate Is the Hunter, and removed his name from the credits. (He later lamented that this decision cost him a "fortune" in royalties, as the film played repeatedly on television for years afterward.) He wrote the story for the television miniseries Masada, based on 'The Antagonists.'
After earning his pilot license, Gann spent his much of his free time aloft, flying for pleasure. The continuing Great Depression soon cost him his job and he was unable to find another position in the movie business. In search of work, he decided to move his family to California. Gann was able to find odd jobs at Burbank Airport, and also began to write short stories. A friend managed to get him a part-time job as a co-pilot with a local airline company and it was there that he flew his first trips as a professional aviator. In the late 1930s many airlines were hiring as many pilots as they could find; after hearing of these opportunities, Gann and his family returned to New York where he managed to get hired by American Airlines to fly the Douglas DC-2 and Douglas DC-3.
For several years Gann enjoyed flying routes in the northeast for American. In 1942, many U.S. airlines' pilots and aircraft were absorbed into the Air Transport Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces to assist in the War Effort. Gann and many of his co-workers at American volunteered to join the group. He flew DC-3s, Douglas DC-4s and Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express transports (the cargo version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber). His wartime trips took him across the North Atlantic to Europe, and then on to Africa, South America, India, and other exotic places. Some of his most harrowing experiences came while flying The Hump airlift across the Himalayas into China. In the years to come Gann's worldwide travels and various adventures would become the inspiration for many of his novels and screenplays.
At the end of World War II, the Air Transport Command released the civilian pilots and aircraft back to their airlines. Gann decided to leave American Airlines in search of new adventures. He was quickly hired as a pilot with a new company called Matson Airlines that was a venture of the Matson steamship line. He flew from the U.S. West Coast across the Pacific to Honolulu. This experience spawned ideas that were developed into one of his best-known works, 'The High and the Mighty.' Matson ultimately soon fell prey to the politically well-connected Pan American Airlines and failed. After a few more short-lived flying jobs, Gann became discouraged with aviation and he turned to writing as a full-time occupation.
Gann's major works include the novel The High and the Mighty and his aviation focused, near-autobiography Fate Is the Hunter. Notes and short stories scribbled down during long layovers on his pioneering trips across the North Atlantic became the source for his first serious fiction novel, Island in the Sky (1944), which was inspired by an actual Arctic rescue mission. It became an immediate best-seller as did Blaze of Noon (1946), a story about early air mail operations. In 1978, he published his comprehensive autobiography, entitled A Hostage to Fortune.
Although many of his 21 best-selling novels show Gann’s devotion to aviation, others, including Twilight for the Gods, and Fiddler's Green reflect his love of the sea. His experiences as a fisherman, skipper and sailor, all contributed storylines and depth to his nautical fiction. He later wrote an autobiography of his sailing life called Song of the Sirens.
Gann wrote, or adapted from his books, the stories and screenplays for several movies and television shows. For some of these productions he also served as a consultant and technical adviser during filming. Although it received positive reviews, Gann was displeased with the film version of Fate Is the Hunter, and removed his name from the credits. (He later lamented that this decision cost him a "fortune" in royalties, as the film played repeatedly on television for years afterward.) He wrote the story for the television miniseries Masada, based on 'The Antagonists.'
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 9, 2022
When I picked up this book, I assumed that it was a classic piece of literature, a la Steinbeck or London. It should be! I'm very surprised that it seems to go mostly unacknowledged; it is definitely a hidden gem and absolutely something I can picture being paged through in high school English (not a bad thing, just has that 'classic' period-piece feel!).
Fiddler's Green paints such an atmospheric picture of San Francisco, of fishing, of highs and lows and running and coveting, that it is easy to get lost in the fog. If you are familiar with the folklore meaning of "Fiddler's Green," then perhaps some of the outcomes should not be surprising, but even knowing what was probably going to happen did not make it any less impactful to read. As with any book, there are a few slow moments, but I found the whole book overall to be a page-turner, and that's to say nothing of the ending. This was a lucky find for me!
Fiddler's Green paints such an atmospheric picture of San Francisco, of fishing, of highs and lows and running and coveting, that it is easy to get lost in the fog. If you are familiar with the folklore meaning of "Fiddler's Green," then perhaps some of the outcomes should not be surprising, but even knowing what was probably going to happen did not make it any less impactful to read. As with any book, there are a few slow moments, but I found the whole book overall to be a page-turner, and that's to say nothing of the ending. This was a lucky find for me!
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March 25, 2018MWSA Review
Jack Stoddard introduces the reader to a special final resting place known as Fiddler’s Green. About halfway along the road to Hell, there lies a side road cut-off open only to members of the U.S. Army’s cavalry corps. It leads to a lovely encampment where these soldiers, both those who died in a battle somewhere, and those who have died after living for many years with the memories of their wars, can spend eternity with their comrades. Around their nightly campfires and in their six-man tents, the ghost-soldiers come to terms with the horrors of war and with the manner of their own deaths.
The story of how Sergeant Frank Saracino met his death in Vietnam in 1969 plays out against two backdrops. We meet the sergeant himself in his camp at Fiddler’s Green, where he can compare his experiences with those of men who fought in every conflict from the Civil War to Desert Storm. We also meet his family, a sister and a father struggling to understand why he died, and two of the surviving men from his unit who hold the answers to the family’s questions.
As in the case of a theater production that asks the playgoer to suspend his disbelief, so in this book the reader must accept the initial premise of the existence of a special kind of heaven reserved for cavalry soldiers, and their horses, too. If that idea offends, this may not be the book for you. The story itself, however, will ring true to every soldier who has survived the horrors of battle, and it will move those who have lost a loved one in warfare.
MWSA Reviewer: Carolyn Schriber
Jack Stoddard introduces the reader to a special final resting place known as Fiddler’s Green. About halfway along the road to Hell, there lies a side road cut-off open only to members of the U.S. Army’s cavalry corps. It leads to a lovely encampment where these soldiers, both those who died in a battle somewhere, and those who have died after living for many years with the memories of their wars, can spend eternity with their comrades. Around their nightly campfires and in their six-man tents, the ghost-soldiers come to terms with the horrors of war and with the manner of their own deaths.
The story of how Sergeant Frank Saracino met his death in Vietnam in 1969 plays out against two backdrops. We meet the sergeant himself in his camp at Fiddler’s Green, where he can compare his experiences with those of men who fought in every conflict from the Civil War to Desert Storm. We also meet his family, a sister and a father struggling to understand why he died, and two of the surviving men from his unit who hold the answers to the family’s questions.
As in the case of a theater production that asks the playgoer to suspend his disbelief, so in this book the reader must accept the initial premise of the existence of a special kind of heaven reserved for cavalry soldiers, and their horses, too. If that idea offends, this may not be the book for you. The story itself, however, will ring true to every soldier who has survived the horrors of battle, and it will move those who have lost a loved one in warfare.
MWSA Reviewer: Carolyn Schriber
November 5, 2010
Review Written by Bernie Weisz November 5, 2010 Vietnam War Historian, Pembroke Pines, Florida
U.S.A. Contact: BernWei1@aol.com Title of Review: "Americans in Vietnam: No Baby Killers, Just 19 and 20 Year Old Good Men Doing An Impossible Job!" It is truly amazing how much historic innuendo a reader can discover about America's involvement in Vietnam from a book titled about an old U.S. Cavalry fable. However, this is exactly the case with Jack Stoddard's "Fiddler's Green." I had initially read "What Are They Going to Do, Send Me to Vietnam" and knew there just had to be more from Mr. Stoddard than that. In his initial book, readers discover an array of vividly true accounts composed of a group of frightened young men thrown into the Vietnam War cauldron, perhaps one of America's most ill-conceived military campaigns ever undertaken. Arriving in S.E. Asia with the moniker "FNG", Stoddard began his Vietnam journey as a green, 22-year-old buck sergeant and after almost three full tours of combat duty, went "back to the world" as a battle-hardened veteran. He did not write this book for posterity or financial gains. With designs of leaving a legacy to his family and all who crossed his path, Jack went back 40 years in time to recount the unbearably hot and humid jungles of southeast Asia, dredging up long repressed memories. Organizing these stories into a book, Stoddard vividly described what it was really like to be a grunt in Vietnam. The reader is treated to the entire Vietnam experience, e.g. days of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror, miserable weather, lonesomeness and everything from hand grenades to hemorrhoids. there are terrifying moments such as when Stoddard drove his 50-ton tank, called the "Double Deuce," into enemy infested Khe Sanh to even finding sardonic humor in the anecdote where his new second lieutenant drove his tank straight into the mud where it promptly sank. Many stories were told that never made print in newspapers nor history books. However, one particular story, that of Frank Saracino, a man who paid the ultimate price for his sacrifice, is what "Fiddler's Green" is all about.
Jack Stoddard explained what happened to Saracino in his first book. They had known each other for less than a month while they served together in an elite unit called "the ARP's" (Aero Rifle Platoon) in 1969. Jack was also Saracino's roommate and was with him the day he was killed. As part a search and destroy mission known as "Atlas Wedge", the ARP's searched out, discovered and engaged the enemy outside a small hamlet on the outskirts of a very large rubber plantation owned by a French family, today a household name, e.g. "Michelin." The date was March 20, 1969. After being in Vietnam for nine months, Stoddard had transferred from a tank battalion to the ARP's. Formally having the protection of a tank, going into his first battle as a grunt shielded only by his M-16 and uniform was a bit unnerving. Saracino and Stoddard were air lifted into battle in separate helicopters, and as Stoddard watched his friend leave, he said to him: "See you later, good buddy! Saracino responded by exclaiming: "We'll have a cold one tonight, Jack." Tragically, these were the last words Stoddard ever heard from his friend. Saracino, a squad leader and point man , went ahead first with his particular platoon to do what was known as "BDA" (bomb damage assessment), evaluating the damage done to the enemy by "Arc Light" B-52 bomber strikes 7 miles northwest of Dau Teing. Saracino's platoon came upon the bunkers of a North Vietnamese battalion and promptly assaulted it. As "point man" Saracino was the first and placed in the most exposed position in his "ARP" military formation, being the lead soldier to advance through hostile and unsecured territory. Generally speaking, a point man in Vietnam was frequently the first to take hostile fire. The inherent risks of being point created a need for constant and extreme operational alertness.
Frank Saracino sensed this, and while he directed his fellow ARP's to take cover, he single-handedly assaulted an NVA bunker and destroyed it with a hand grenade. Joined by his platoon, he continuing to advance into the NVA stronghold killing two enemy soldiers that tried to escape from a second fortification. Cleverly disguised in camouflaged bunkers, the NVA suddenly let go a fuselage of fire, pinning down Saracino and his men down with machine gun and antitank rocket fire. Sacrificing his safety, Saracino placed suppressive fire on the NVA, thus endangering himself to a torrent of NVA bullets. This brave action enabled the rest of his ARP platoon to withdraw and remain safe until they could secure a safer location. Following three air strikes at the entrenched enemy, Saracino once again led his men forward and for a second time he became separated. Discovering another enemy bunker, Saracino assaulted it, killing both it's occupants with hand grenades. Attempting to resume his one man fight, he pressed forward to another stronghold. This time, an NVA machine gun nest started to fire on Saracino and his men. Seeing that his men were exposed to the deadly enemy fire, Saracino tried to save them from being wiped out by engaging this machine gun nest and drawing fire to himself. It was while Saracino attempted to throw a hand grenade at the NVA emplacement to silence it that an enemy 51-caliber bullet blew the top of his head off, ending his life. Ultimately, the hidden gun which sprayed death was silenced and the enemy moved out of range, deep inside their well hidden bunker system.
Stoddard and his platoon arrived to finish off the battle and retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades. In doing this, his ARP group came upon Saracino's body. He was found face down in a large ditch in between the long rows of Michelin rubber trees. His body had to be carefully rolled over, as the NVA were lowly enough to booby trap dead American corpses. Aside from Franks' M-16 being swiped, it appeared the NVA tried to steal Frank's boots as trophies of war. Frank was religiously taken off the battlefield by Stoddard and three others. In "Fiddler's Green", Stoddard wrote that when they tried to move Saracino's body to a "Blackhorse Huey (the "BLACK HORSE REGIMENT" was the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, considered one of the best combat units in Vietnam) Franks' head had slipped off the poncho and a chunk of his brains fell out and landed on the infamous "red dirt" of Vietnam. Stoddard made a point of this red dirt, asserting the following: "We soldiers hated that red dirt sometimes more than the enemy. That red dirt seemed to cover every square inch of Vietnam. It would turn into so fine of a powder it was just like covering everything in this room with Johnson's baby powder. That damn red colored dirt was always in your eyes, your mouth and your ears." Robert Topmiller, a combat medic during the 1968 Tet Offensive, would later publish a book entitled "Red Clay On My Boots." Through one of his characters, Stoddard further explained himself: "We didn't want any part of Vietnam going back home with Frank. The war was over for him. His family deserved at least that much. I mean that was about all we could do to honor our friends. to make sure they went home without their bodies covered in that red dirt. Finally I looked at the other three soldiers who were holding each corner of the poncho and said, "it don't mean nothing." It took me many years after I returned from Vietnam before I could ever shed a single tear about anything. It was like I had lost my soul or something." Ironically, "It don't mean nothing" turned out to be the name of another book Stoddard would later publish.
When Stoddard and his fellow ARP's reached a small landing zone, one of four choppers there waiting had a "Blackhorse" patch painted as it's insignia. The group carried Saracino's body to it. Stoddard explained what ensued: As we laid him inside, one of the pilots turned to us and said, "you'll have to take that soldier back to one of the dust off choppers." We looked at him and replied, "he's one of us, he's an ARP, and we want you to take him home!" I think the pilot saw the stern look in our eyes and he talked to his superior over the headset. One of the soldiers told the pilots "Frank arrived in a Blackhorse chopper and by God he is going back in one!" In a moment the pilot told us, "We'd be proud to fly him back." The Blackhorse Huey was just clearing the tree tops by the time we got back to the plantation. That was the last time I ever saw my friend Frank. Fly, Frank, fly, you're leaving this hell on earth." So, what is ""Fiddler's Green" and how does this relate to this story? Stoddard had a close friend of his killed by friendly fire during the war named Chris Cordova. Stoddard contacted his family after the conflict ended, answering many questions to the surviving Cordova's giving them closure. Similarly, Stoddard made contact with Saracino's family as well, connecting with Franks father and sister. Claiming she had a vision of Frank's death, Fran Saracino wanted to know everything about her brother, such as was he in a good mood when he died, was he scared, how did he die, was he wearing a helmet and was he put in a body bag? Although Frank was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, a curiosity of closure over Frank's death never ceased in his sister's mind. The funeral was a closed casket. His sister even wondered if it really was her brother in the coffin. This book answered all questions sought out and brought desperately needed peace and closure to the Saracino's.
What was "Fiddler's Green? Amongst the army, particularly the cavalry soldiers, there is a legend called "Fiddler's Green" where according to this fable all cavalry soldiers go when they die. According to the folklore, it is a beautiful slice of heaven with special green meadows and peaceful valleys replete with a crystal clear fishing pond and grassy knolls. Horses of the cavalry inhabitants leisurely feed and wild game such as antelope and deer run free. Thousands of large white tents are stretched across the meadows floor and a store, or canteen, called "Sutter's Store" stocks supplies and passes out rations of cold ale to all troopers. In terms of weather in "Fiddler's Green", high seventies and always sunny in the day and forty at night, never a rain nor cold spell. It is half way down the astral road to hell and no other branch of service may stop there except the cavalry. Some troopers continue their final journey to hell, but none ever reach there. Once at the gates of Hell, troopers realize their canteen of liquor is empty, and needing a refill, promptly return to "Fiddler's Green.' Frank Saracino has been a resident of this valley since March 20, 1969. Mr. Stoddard intelligently conceived a story that followed a group of soldiers that resided there, showing how these spiritual soldiers can contact family members and see and hear what their relatives are saying and doing on earth. Through the story line it is shown that the hardest part for a new arrival at "The Green" was coming to grips with the fact that one minute they were in a firefight, in a battle such as "Custer's Last Stand" or dying in a hospital bed. The next thing they know, they are being transported to the astral pasture of eternal rest in the back of a wagon being driven by a young cavalry soldier who died in the Civil War. However, by dying, these cavalry soldiers are transported to a warless, safe place, devoid of pain, fear or hunger. This is also the place from where Frank Saracino descends to give his family the truth of his fate, and the comfort that all is well and always will be so.
Needless to say, Stoddard's book goes far beyond the death of Frank Saracino and "Fiddler's Green." There are a number of themes within the plot, many a reality for the Vietnam Veteran regardless of the passage of time. Despite writing this book almost 50 years after the fact, to remember his departed friend Stoddard had to bring back some horrendous memories of carnage, which he expressed as such: "What have I gotten myself into?, he thought suddenly aware that he didn't want to remember the faces of all of his old friends, at least not the blood covered and war torn ones. But it was too late to stop the memories that were flashing faster and faster before his very eyes like endless black and white photos." Any Vietnam Veteran who decides to write a memoir of his Vietnam ordeal will encounter "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD) memories, some very painful to recall. Another point Stoddard made in this book is the difficulty he had in sharing carnage and death in violent combat with non participants. To this, he asserted: "There's an unspoken bond between soldiers-you don't ever share the horrors of war with anybody except another soldier. And even then you don't tell the whole truth, for that would be something no one could comprehend, not even the biggest and strongest of men. One can never explain the stench of death, the horror seen in a friend's eye or a grown man crying like a baby pleading for his very life. And the shakes you get after a firefight, well you just don't talk about it you know." Try as one may, is it possible for any Vietnam Veteran author to truly discuss the aforementioned in book form? Stoddard explains the price an individual will pay for being a soldier and with odors and sounds, elucidating it as such: "There is a smell of fear and a and a smell of death; a certain strange sound a man makes when he sees his friends dying all around him. And it's true what they say about a grown man crying out for his mother or his God. Yes, there is a special look in a soldier's eyes that tells another soldier that he has been there and has been baptized by fire. We call it seeing the tiger." How many history book concerning the Vietnam War will give you that information? None, I venture.
Stoddard brings up the anti war movement, being called a "baby killer" by hippie protesters as he walked in the airport terminal fresh out of Vietnam, as well as what Jane Fonda did and stood for. However, he simplified his role as a soldier in this war, what he believed in and why he fought so fiercely for South Vietnam as follows: "I believed I was doing the right thing. And I believed in my country even if they stopped believing in me. I knew the truth, not what all those protesters were saying. That was complete crap. I saw the faces on the Vietnamese people. I knew the real truth about people wanting to be free. You know they just wanted what we Americans already had. Anyway's, I don't even know if it matters now. In the end I guess we die for our buddies. That's what it's all really about-dying for those rag-tag guys you call your friends." This here is the essence of Frank Saracino's life story and ultimate significance of his death-as well as a theme that pervades just about every Vietnam memoir I have ever encountered. In regard to Jane Fonda, Stoddard remarked: "You'd think I couldn't care anymore. I guess I just lost too many good friends to ever forgive that Fonda person. I even hate talking about the Vietnam War anymore. It seems like most civilians either don't care or don't have enough sense to understand that we soldiers were only doing what the Americans told us to."
As I've already stated, to the astute reader, there are pearls and gems laden throughout this story concerning the Vietnam conflict. Stoddard juxtaposed cleverly the war in Vietnam with the current situation in Iraq with the following anecdote: "It's the politicians that really run the war, not the Army generals. They just follow orders like the rest of us. Look at this mess in Iraq. It's Vietnam all over again. You think the generals are running this war? Hell no! It's the politicians who have everything all screwed up. They tell the generals when they can fight and when they can't, and by God that's when our soldiers get killed for no reason." Anyone who doubts the validity of Stoddard's previous quip may simply read General William Westmoreland's memoir, or the various books put out by Robert McNamara, Lyndon Johnson's former Secretary of Defense and one of the main architects of the Vietnam quagmire. Mr. Stoddard ends this incredible book of historical fiction with a comment that could easily speak for all who served and especially the 58,236 Americans who lost their lives in S.E. Asia. To that, Stoddard eloquently wrote the following: "When we soldiers came home from Vietnam there were no parades for us. Most of the guys found themselves being ashamed of even fighting for their country. That was wrong. What Vietnam was really about were good men like Frank Saracino doing an impossible job as best as they could, No baby killers, just nineteen and twenty year old boys who became men long before their time. " Well said, Jack Stoddard!!!!
U.S.A. Contact: BernWei1@aol.com Title of Review: "Americans in Vietnam: No Baby Killers, Just 19 and 20 Year Old Good Men Doing An Impossible Job!" It is truly amazing how much historic innuendo a reader can discover about America's involvement in Vietnam from a book titled about an old U.S. Cavalry fable. However, this is exactly the case with Jack Stoddard's "Fiddler's Green." I had initially read "What Are They Going to Do, Send Me to Vietnam" and knew there just had to be more from Mr. Stoddard than that. In his initial book, readers discover an array of vividly true accounts composed of a group of frightened young men thrown into the Vietnam War cauldron, perhaps one of America's most ill-conceived military campaigns ever undertaken. Arriving in S.E. Asia with the moniker "FNG", Stoddard began his Vietnam journey as a green, 22-year-old buck sergeant and after almost three full tours of combat duty, went "back to the world" as a battle-hardened veteran. He did not write this book for posterity or financial gains. With designs of leaving a legacy to his family and all who crossed his path, Jack went back 40 years in time to recount the unbearably hot and humid jungles of southeast Asia, dredging up long repressed memories. Organizing these stories into a book, Stoddard vividly described what it was really like to be a grunt in Vietnam. The reader is treated to the entire Vietnam experience, e.g. days of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror, miserable weather, lonesomeness and everything from hand grenades to hemorrhoids. there are terrifying moments such as when Stoddard drove his 50-ton tank, called the "Double Deuce," into enemy infested Khe Sanh to even finding sardonic humor in the anecdote where his new second lieutenant drove his tank straight into the mud where it promptly sank. Many stories were told that never made print in newspapers nor history books. However, one particular story, that of Frank Saracino, a man who paid the ultimate price for his sacrifice, is what "Fiddler's Green" is all about.
Jack Stoddard explained what happened to Saracino in his first book. They had known each other for less than a month while they served together in an elite unit called "the ARP's" (Aero Rifle Platoon) in 1969. Jack was also Saracino's roommate and was with him the day he was killed. As part a search and destroy mission known as "Atlas Wedge", the ARP's searched out, discovered and engaged the enemy outside a small hamlet on the outskirts of a very large rubber plantation owned by a French family, today a household name, e.g. "Michelin." The date was March 20, 1969. After being in Vietnam for nine months, Stoddard had transferred from a tank battalion to the ARP's. Formally having the protection of a tank, going into his first battle as a grunt shielded only by his M-16 and uniform was a bit unnerving. Saracino and Stoddard were air lifted into battle in separate helicopters, and as Stoddard watched his friend leave, he said to him: "See you later, good buddy! Saracino responded by exclaiming: "We'll have a cold one tonight, Jack." Tragically, these were the last words Stoddard ever heard from his friend. Saracino, a squad leader and point man , went ahead first with his particular platoon to do what was known as "BDA" (bomb damage assessment), evaluating the damage done to the enemy by "Arc Light" B-52 bomber strikes 7 miles northwest of Dau Teing. Saracino's platoon came upon the bunkers of a North Vietnamese battalion and promptly assaulted it. As "point man" Saracino was the first and placed in the most exposed position in his "ARP" military formation, being the lead soldier to advance through hostile and unsecured territory. Generally speaking, a point man in Vietnam was frequently the first to take hostile fire. The inherent risks of being point created a need for constant and extreme operational alertness.
Frank Saracino sensed this, and while he directed his fellow ARP's to take cover, he single-handedly assaulted an NVA bunker and destroyed it with a hand grenade. Joined by his platoon, he continuing to advance into the NVA stronghold killing two enemy soldiers that tried to escape from a second fortification. Cleverly disguised in camouflaged bunkers, the NVA suddenly let go a fuselage of fire, pinning down Saracino and his men down with machine gun and antitank rocket fire. Sacrificing his safety, Saracino placed suppressive fire on the NVA, thus endangering himself to a torrent of NVA bullets. This brave action enabled the rest of his ARP platoon to withdraw and remain safe until they could secure a safer location. Following three air strikes at the entrenched enemy, Saracino once again led his men forward and for a second time he became separated. Discovering another enemy bunker, Saracino assaulted it, killing both it's occupants with hand grenades. Attempting to resume his one man fight, he pressed forward to another stronghold. This time, an NVA machine gun nest started to fire on Saracino and his men. Seeing that his men were exposed to the deadly enemy fire, Saracino tried to save them from being wiped out by engaging this machine gun nest and drawing fire to himself. It was while Saracino attempted to throw a hand grenade at the NVA emplacement to silence it that an enemy 51-caliber bullet blew the top of his head off, ending his life. Ultimately, the hidden gun which sprayed death was silenced and the enemy moved out of range, deep inside their well hidden bunker system.
Stoddard and his platoon arrived to finish off the battle and retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades. In doing this, his ARP group came upon Saracino's body. He was found face down in a large ditch in between the long rows of Michelin rubber trees. His body had to be carefully rolled over, as the NVA were lowly enough to booby trap dead American corpses. Aside from Franks' M-16 being swiped, it appeared the NVA tried to steal Frank's boots as trophies of war. Frank was religiously taken off the battlefield by Stoddard and three others. In "Fiddler's Green", Stoddard wrote that when they tried to move Saracino's body to a "Blackhorse Huey (the "BLACK HORSE REGIMENT" was the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, considered one of the best combat units in Vietnam) Franks' head had slipped off the poncho and a chunk of his brains fell out and landed on the infamous "red dirt" of Vietnam. Stoddard made a point of this red dirt, asserting the following: "We soldiers hated that red dirt sometimes more than the enemy. That red dirt seemed to cover every square inch of Vietnam. It would turn into so fine of a powder it was just like covering everything in this room with Johnson's baby powder. That damn red colored dirt was always in your eyes, your mouth and your ears." Robert Topmiller, a combat medic during the 1968 Tet Offensive, would later publish a book entitled "Red Clay On My Boots." Through one of his characters, Stoddard further explained himself: "We didn't want any part of Vietnam going back home with Frank. The war was over for him. His family deserved at least that much. I mean that was about all we could do to honor our friends. to make sure they went home without their bodies covered in that red dirt. Finally I looked at the other three soldiers who were holding each corner of the poncho and said, "it don't mean nothing." It took me many years after I returned from Vietnam before I could ever shed a single tear about anything. It was like I had lost my soul or something." Ironically, "It don't mean nothing" turned out to be the name of another book Stoddard would later publish.
When Stoddard and his fellow ARP's reached a small landing zone, one of four choppers there waiting had a "Blackhorse" patch painted as it's insignia. The group carried Saracino's body to it. Stoddard explained what ensued: As we laid him inside, one of the pilots turned to us and said, "you'll have to take that soldier back to one of the dust off choppers." We looked at him and replied, "he's one of us, he's an ARP, and we want you to take him home!" I think the pilot saw the stern look in our eyes and he talked to his superior over the headset. One of the soldiers told the pilots "Frank arrived in a Blackhorse chopper and by God he is going back in one!" In a moment the pilot told us, "We'd be proud to fly him back." The Blackhorse Huey was just clearing the tree tops by the time we got back to the plantation. That was the last time I ever saw my friend Frank. Fly, Frank, fly, you're leaving this hell on earth." So, what is ""Fiddler's Green" and how does this relate to this story? Stoddard had a close friend of his killed by friendly fire during the war named Chris Cordova. Stoddard contacted his family after the conflict ended, answering many questions to the surviving Cordova's giving them closure. Similarly, Stoddard made contact with Saracino's family as well, connecting with Franks father and sister. Claiming she had a vision of Frank's death, Fran Saracino wanted to know everything about her brother, such as was he in a good mood when he died, was he scared, how did he die, was he wearing a helmet and was he put in a body bag? Although Frank was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, a curiosity of closure over Frank's death never ceased in his sister's mind. The funeral was a closed casket. His sister even wondered if it really was her brother in the coffin. This book answered all questions sought out and brought desperately needed peace and closure to the Saracino's.
What was "Fiddler's Green? Amongst the army, particularly the cavalry soldiers, there is a legend called "Fiddler's Green" where according to this fable all cavalry soldiers go when they die. According to the folklore, it is a beautiful slice of heaven with special green meadows and peaceful valleys replete with a crystal clear fishing pond and grassy knolls. Horses of the cavalry inhabitants leisurely feed and wild game such as antelope and deer run free. Thousands of large white tents are stretched across the meadows floor and a store, or canteen, called "Sutter's Store" stocks supplies and passes out rations of cold ale to all troopers. In terms of weather in "Fiddler's Green", high seventies and always sunny in the day and forty at night, never a rain nor cold spell. It is half way down the astral road to hell and no other branch of service may stop there except the cavalry. Some troopers continue their final journey to hell, but none ever reach there. Once at the gates of Hell, troopers realize their canteen of liquor is empty, and needing a refill, promptly return to "Fiddler's Green.' Frank Saracino has been a resident of this valley since March 20, 1969. Mr. Stoddard intelligently conceived a story that followed a group of soldiers that resided there, showing how these spiritual soldiers can contact family members and see and hear what their relatives are saying and doing on earth. Through the story line it is shown that the hardest part for a new arrival at "The Green" was coming to grips with the fact that one minute they were in a firefight, in a battle such as "Custer's Last Stand" or dying in a hospital bed. The next thing they know, they are being transported to the astral pasture of eternal rest in the back of a wagon being driven by a young cavalry soldier who died in the Civil War. However, by dying, these cavalry soldiers are transported to a warless, safe place, devoid of pain, fear or hunger. This is also the place from where Frank Saracino descends to give his family the truth of his fate, and the comfort that all is well and always will be so.
Needless to say, Stoddard's book goes far beyond the death of Frank Saracino and "Fiddler's Green." There are a number of themes within the plot, many a reality for the Vietnam Veteran regardless of the passage of time. Despite writing this book almost 50 years after the fact, to remember his departed friend Stoddard had to bring back some horrendous memories of carnage, which he expressed as such: "What have I gotten myself into?, he thought suddenly aware that he didn't want to remember the faces of all of his old friends, at least not the blood covered and war torn ones. But it was too late to stop the memories that were flashing faster and faster before his very eyes like endless black and white photos." Any Vietnam Veteran who decides to write a memoir of his Vietnam ordeal will encounter "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD) memories, some very painful to recall. Another point Stoddard made in this book is the difficulty he had in sharing carnage and death in violent combat with non participants. To this, he asserted: "There's an unspoken bond between soldiers-you don't ever share the horrors of war with anybody except another soldier. And even then you don't tell the whole truth, for that would be something no one could comprehend, not even the biggest and strongest of men. One can never explain the stench of death, the horror seen in a friend's eye or a grown man crying like a baby pleading for his very life. And the shakes you get after a firefight, well you just don't talk about it you know." Try as one may, is it possible for any Vietnam Veteran author to truly discuss the aforementioned in book form? Stoddard explains the price an individual will pay for being a soldier and with odors and sounds, elucidating it as such: "There is a smell of fear and a and a smell of death; a certain strange sound a man makes when he sees his friends dying all around him. And it's true what they say about a grown man crying out for his mother or his God. Yes, there is a special look in a soldier's eyes that tells another soldier that he has been there and has been baptized by fire. We call it seeing the tiger." How many history book concerning the Vietnam War will give you that information? None, I venture.
Stoddard brings up the anti war movement, being called a "baby killer" by hippie protesters as he walked in the airport terminal fresh out of Vietnam, as well as what Jane Fonda did and stood for. However, he simplified his role as a soldier in this war, what he believed in and why he fought so fiercely for South Vietnam as follows: "I believed I was doing the right thing. And I believed in my country even if they stopped believing in me. I knew the truth, not what all those protesters were saying. That was complete crap. I saw the faces on the Vietnamese people. I knew the real truth about people wanting to be free. You know they just wanted what we Americans already had. Anyway's, I don't even know if it matters now. In the end I guess we die for our buddies. That's what it's all really about-dying for those rag-tag guys you call your friends." This here is the essence of Frank Saracino's life story and ultimate significance of his death-as well as a theme that pervades just about every Vietnam memoir I have ever encountered. In regard to Jane Fonda, Stoddard remarked: "You'd think I couldn't care anymore. I guess I just lost too many good friends to ever forgive that Fonda person. I even hate talking about the Vietnam War anymore. It seems like most civilians either don't care or don't have enough sense to understand that we soldiers were only doing what the Americans told us to."
As I've already stated, to the astute reader, there are pearls and gems laden throughout this story concerning the Vietnam conflict. Stoddard juxtaposed cleverly the war in Vietnam with the current situation in Iraq with the following anecdote: "It's the politicians that really run the war, not the Army generals. They just follow orders like the rest of us. Look at this mess in Iraq. It's Vietnam all over again. You think the generals are running this war? Hell no! It's the politicians who have everything all screwed up. They tell the generals when they can fight and when they can't, and by God that's when our soldiers get killed for no reason." Anyone who doubts the validity of Stoddard's previous quip may simply read General William Westmoreland's memoir, or the various books put out by Robert McNamara, Lyndon Johnson's former Secretary of Defense and one of the main architects of the Vietnam quagmire. Mr. Stoddard ends this incredible book of historical fiction with a comment that could easily speak for all who served and especially the 58,236 Americans who lost their lives in S.E. Asia. To that, Stoddard eloquently wrote the following: "When we soldiers came home from Vietnam there were no parades for us. Most of the guys found themselves being ashamed of even fighting for their country. That was wrong. What Vietnam was really about were good men like Frank Saracino doing an impossible job as best as they could, No baby killers, just nineteen and twenty year old boys who became men long before their time. " Well said, Jack Stoddard!!!!
March 12, 2020
Pretty drama with classic generation to generation contact and need for each other. Police crime novel of short length but the ending is great. It is apparent that Mr. Gann's writing skill is improving.
March 21, 2008
Probably pulp-fiction of it’s day, but enjoyable.
In it, a criminal named Bruno Felkin flees from the police after a drug-deal gone bad, and ends up hiding on a fishing boat at the wharves.
He wakes up at 4am the next morning to find they are well away to sea, and after some smooth talking, convinces the owner, a first-generation Scandanavian American, to let him stay, and work his way.
Besides, he needs the heat to blow off, and what better hiding place than the sea. Although it is extremely hard work, Bruno finds himself really enjoying it, and even more so, enjoys the fatherly relationship he finds in the old Scandanavian.
The hardships he endures have a redeeming effect on him, but the book persists in avoiding predictability.
In it, a criminal named Bruno Felkin flees from the police after a drug-deal gone bad, and ends up hiding on a fishing boat at the wharves.
He wakes up at 4am the next morning to find they are well away to sea, and after some smooth talking, convinces the owner, a first-generation Scandanavian American, to let him stay, and work his way.
Besides, he needs the heat to blow off, and what better hiding place than the sea. Although it is extremely hard work, Bruno finds himself really enjoying it, and even more so, enjoys the fatherly relationship he finds in the old Scandanavian.
The hardships he endures have a redeeming effect on him, but the book persists in avoiding predictability.
July 12, 2010
A story of redemption done the hard way. It tells of how a very good man can help change some rather wicked people, just by being himself and believing in them.
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