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Viet Man
Viet Man is about the transformation of a young man who
enlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam War, was trained as a
hospital corpsman, was transferred into the Marine Corps, then
sent to Viet Nam where he joined the elite First Recon.
It is a first person narrative of alternating episodes experienced
in the rear and in the bush. In the rear, Doc encounters
a straw-haired mid-western farm boy who shows him how to
prepare a meal of long-rats, and Loopie, a Puerto Rican from
the Bronx who shares a guilt-torn confession that borders on
confabulation. In the bush, Doc experiences the terror of accidentally
releasing a live grenade among his men, of rushing to
rescue a wounded marine, and of sharing a quiet conversation
in a bunker with Trang, a South Vietnamese soldier.
After being assigned to the Recon Dive Team and attending
the Navy diving school in the Philip-pines, he returns to Viet Nam
were he engages in numerous combat dives and river operations.
At the end of his tour, he is processed out of the military.
And upon his return to his hometown as a veteran, he faces
a jarring reception of insolence, indifference, and fragmented
flashbacks. In Viet Man, D.S. Lliteras unlocks the inner mystery of
a man’s combat experience. It is poetic and haunting, authentic
and amusing. It is a story told by a man who ultimately survives
the war and returns to his homeland, but another country will
forever dwell in his soul.
enlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam War, was trained as a
hospital corpsman, was transferred into the Marine Corps, then
sent to Viet Nam where he joined the elite First Recon.
It is a first person narrative of alternating episodes experienced
in the rear and in the bush. In the rear, Doc encounters
a straw-haired mid-western farm boy who shows him how to
prepare a meal of long-rats, and Loopie, a Puerto Rican from
the Bronx who shares a guilt-torn confession that borders on
confabulation. In the bush, Doc experiences the terror of accidentally
releasing a live grenade among his men, of rushing to
rescue a wounded marine, and of sharing a quiet conversation
in a bunker with Trang, a South Vietnamese soldier.
After being assigned to the Recon Dive Team and attending
the Navy diving school in the Philip-pines, he returns to Viet Nam
were he engages in numerous combat dives and river operations.
At the end of his tour, he is processed out of the military.
And upon his return to his hometown as a veteran, he faces
a jarring reception of insolence, indifference, and fragmented
flashbacks. In Viet Man, D.S. Lliteras unlocks the inner mystery of
a man’s combat experience. It is poetic and haunting, authentic
and amusing. It is a story told by a man who ultimately survives
the war and returns to his homeland, but another country will
forever dwell in his soul.
208 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2015
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 24, 2020
War changes people and families. This book captures a bond between father and son. War is filled with young men (at least back then) who were idealists going to war. War impacts that sentiment, rightfully so.
August 14, 2025
I think the may be the best book about the Vietnam war I have ever read. It is very understated and real. No over the top drama, just ordinary people trying to stay alive. A very real glimpse into the lives of American soldiers and their feelings on coming home. I highly recommend this one.
January 10, 2017
A bare bones survival mentality view of a young man coming of age during the war in Viet Nam.
April 26, 2015
`Sentiment revealed weakness, and weakness was a door not to be opened'
D.S. Lliteras has looked at the 20th century and found it wanting. Or rather, the audience for excellent literature has yet to recognize his importance so perhaps it is we, the wanters, who are still lost, searching for a voice to define the last fifty or so years. His credentials are impressive: he has written twelve books since 1992, his first novels were biblical in nature and while they gained accolades from the press it was only when he decided to enter and relate that part of his psyche that was most vulnerable that his books burst into significance. Lliteras joined the US Navy after high school and became a corpsman assigned to the USMC First Reconnaissance Battalion First Marine Division near DaNang, winning a Bronze Star for valor. He was trained as a diver and further endured the Vietnam War in that role. Following his discharge from the USN he gained his BA and MA in Fine Arts from Florida State University and worked as a theatrical director until 1979, resigning to become a merchant sailor. In 1881 he aligned with the USN as a deep sea diving and salvage officer, following which he resigned his naval commission and became a professional firefighter. And yes, all of this is pertinent to the content of this, his newest and most brilliant book.
There are many novels written about all aspects of the Vietnam War - some famous for recreating the atmosphere of that major mistake in US history both in the ill-defined battle ground of Vietnam and in the rebellion by those in the US who either violently protested the war or ran away from it to Canada - but to date this reader (who served in Vietnam from 1968 - 1970 in the same region as the author assigned by the USN to the USMC, etc) has not encountered a novel that breathes the humid musky air of that jungle war so accurately as does Lliteras' VIET MAN: even the title is telling - about the mixed emotions of participating in that war. As a corpsman Lliteras takes us through his arrival in Danang, his preparation for recon search and destroy missions with the Marines, his response to every aspect of that robbed year of service, the terror of near death episodes, the ever-present paranoia of not knowing where the `enemy' was, the physical exhaustion of patrols and combat encounters, yet he also shows a very human aspect of the interdependence among his marines, the humor, the use of drugs and other escape hatches to breathe outside the line of fire if only for moments, and the bonding with men on whom to depend for protection while he provided medical readiness for the results of engagement.
But one aspect (of many) that makes his book so rich and so real is his extraordinarily literate ability to place his descriptions of thoughts poetically while relating the acrid details of the war zone thinking in piercingly penetrating, sharp prose. He compares `Patrol Reports' (set on gray sheets and all in military terminology) with his relating from a corpsman's mind and memory what really happened. This attention to both feelings and observed details is what makes the book more credible - and it is that combination that makes his eventual return to the US to find a country that seems to disregard him as a meaningless non-existent piece of unnecessary reminder dung that we all felt when returning `home' to the country for whom we had placed our lives on hold in a zone of persistent cerebral damage we are still feeling - it is that aspect that has been missing.
What VIET MAN offers us is not only a work worthy of literary accolades, but a tribute to a time when the world was confused and tenuous - and we have never been able to understand why, until now, where between the covers of this book we find our own Wilfred Owen. Highly Recommended.
D.S. Lliteras has looked at the 20th century and found it wanting. Or rather, the audience for excellent literature has yet to recognize his importance so perhaps it is we, the wanters, who are still lost, searching for a voice to define the last fifty or so years. His credentials are impressive: he has written twelve books since 1992, his first novels were biblical in nature and while they gained accolades from the press it was only when he decided to enter and relate that part of his psyche that was most vulnerable that his books burst into significance. Lliteras joined the US Navy after high school and became a corpsman assigned to the USMC First Reconnaissance Battalion First Marine Division near DaNang, winning a Bronze Star for valor. He was trained as a diver and further endured the Vietnam War in that role. Following his discharge from the USN he gained his BA and MA in Fine Arts from Florida State University and worked as a theatrical director until 1979, resigning to become a merchant sailor. In 1881 he aligned with the USN as a deep sea diving and salvage officer, following which he resigned his naval commission and became a professional firefighter. And yes, all of this is pertinent to the content of this, his newest and most brilliant book.
There are many novels written about all aspects of the Vietnam War - some famous for recreating the atmosphere of that major mistake in US history both in the ill-defined battle ground of Vietnam and in the rebellion by those in the US who either violently protested the war or ran away from it to Canada - but to date this reader (who served in Vietnam from 1968 - 1970 in the same region as the author assigned by the USN to the USMC, etc) has not encountered a novel that breathes the humid musky air of that jungle war so accurately as does Lliteras' VIET MAN: even the title is telling - about the mixed emotions of participating in that war. As a corpsman Lliteras takes us through his arrival in Danang, his preparation for recon search and destroy missions with the Marines, his response to every aspect of that robbed year of service, the terror of near death episodes, the ever-present paranoia of not knowing where the `enemy' was, the physical exhaustion of patrols and combat encounters, yet he also shows a very human aspect of the interdependence among his marines, the humor, the use of drugs and other escape hatches to breathe outside the line of fire if only for moments, and the bonding with men on whom to depend for protection while he provided medical readiness for the results of engagement.
But one aspect (of many) that makes his book so rich and so real is his extraordinarily literate ability to place his descriptions of thoughts poetically while relating the acrid details of the war zone thinking in piercingly penetrating, sharp prose. He compares `Patrol Reports' (set on gray sheets and all in military terminology) with his relating from a corpsman's mind and memory what really happened. This attention to both feelings and observed details is what makes the book more credible - and it is that combination that makes his eventual return to the US to find a country that seems to disregard him as a meaningless non-existent piece of unnecessary reminder dung that we all felt when returning `home' to the country for whom we had placed our lives on hold in a zone of persistent cerebral damage we are still feeling - it is that aspect that has been missing.
What VIET MAN offers us is not only a work worthy of literary accolades, but a tribute to a time when the world was confused and tenuous - and we have never been able to understand why, until now, where between the covers of this book we find our own Wilfred Owen. Highly Recommended.
February 24, 2016
Review of "Viet Man" – a book by VietNow member Danny Lliteras.
The first thing you need to know is that, even though this book is listed as "fiction," Danny Lliteras is the real deal. He went to Vietnam, he was in a recon unit, and he lived the stuff he writes about. So when Lliteras writes about Vietnam, he knows firsthand what he's talking about, and he doesn't back away from the hard truths of war.
There are lots of books written about Vietnam, but most are poorly done, and don't leave much of a lasting impression. But "Viet Man" is different, because not only is Lliteras the real deal, he's also a great writer – and this is not his first book about the Vietnam experience. If you're looking for dense, decorative, heavy prose, don't buy this book. But if you're looking for truth, descriptions of real hell, and if you think you might appreciate occasional echoes of Hemingway in the writing style, this is the book for you.
Although "Viet Man" is not a long book (it's relatively short), I realized after the first few pages that this was a book I wanted to read slowly so I could savor every line. OK, not *every* line, but maybe you know what I mean. I wanted the book to last, so I forced myself to only read a few chapters every day. And I only read it at night – usually late at night. Why? Because by the time I got into the "action" part of the book, I felt the book drawing me into a dark place. A place filled with fog. Not the so-called "fog of war" but a place of darkness, fear, and well, just fog. I got lost in it.
The book describes a series of patrols, and goes deep into details, but never bogs down. The narrative moves ahead non-stop. The account of each patrol is punctuated with fear and loathing. Nothing fancy. No heroic prose. No exclamation points. Just straight-ahead great stuff.
Here's an example of a few lines to give you a feel for what I liked about the book:
"Our patrol leader was dangerously aggressive. A crazy New Yorker. A corporal who had no business being in command. He carried a pump shotgun. He talked too loud and too fast. The bush was too foreign for him. Days passed. The weather deteriorated. We ran out of food. The choppers were unable to extract us because of poor weather and visibility. Morale deteriorated. I don't know why. Another day, we were no longer an effective fighting force. On the next day, the weather cleared. But Battalion Headquarters decided not to extract us. We wandered ineffectively. Then one day, our patrol leader started shooting at the bush. No reason. Nowhere to go. The choppers finally came for us."
Doesn't sound too exciting? Don't worry. There are lots of action sequences throughout the book. But whatever the case, when this passage is read in context, in the middle of the book, you'll "get it." If you were in Vietnam, you'll be sure to "get it." And if you weren't in Vietnam, you'll "get it" anyway. Lliteras just lays it out there for us to do with it whatever we want.
"Viet Man" is not filled with self-pity, there's no whining, and Lliteras isn't trying to blame anyone for anything. And he doesn't have all the answers.
What he's written is an engrossing story of a bunch of guys out there doing their jobs for a country that didn't appreciate them – and guys who mostly went home after the war and got on with their lives.
I'm the editor of the VietNow National Magazine, and I've read (and forgotten) more articles, stories, and books on this topic than I can count – but anything written by Danny Lliteras always creates a lasting impression – and "Viet Man" is no exception.
Lliteras *is* a real Viet Man.
The first thing you need to know is that, even though this book is listed as "fiction," Danny Lliteras is the real deal. He went to Vietnam, he was in a recon unit, and he lived the stuff he writes about. So when Lliteras writes about Vietnam, he knows firsthand what he's talking about, and he doesn't back away from the hard truths of war.
There are lots of books written about Vietnam, but most are poorly done, and don't leave much of a lasting impression. But "Viet Man" is different, because not only is Lliteras the real deal, he's also a great writer – and this is not his first book about the Vietnam experience. If you're looking for dense, decorative, heavy prose, don't buy this book. But if you're looking for truth, descriptions of real hell, and if you think you might appreciate occasional echoes of Hemingway in the writing style, this is the book for you.
Although "Viet Man" is not a long book (it's relatively short), I realized after the first few pages that this was a book I wanted to read slowly so I could savor every line. OK, not *every* line, but maybe you know what I mean. I wanted the book to last, so I forced myself to only read a few chapters every day. And I only read it at night – usually late at night. Why? Because by the time I got into the "action" part of the book, I felt the book drawing me into a dark place. A place filled with fog. Not the so-called "fog of war" but a place of darkness, fear, and well, just fog. I got lost in it.
The book describes a series of patrols, and goes deep into details, but never bogs down. The narrative moves ahead non-stop. The account of each patrol is punctuated with fear and loathing. Nothing fancy. No heroic prose. No exclamation points. Just straight-ahead great stuff.
Here's an example of a few lines to give you a feel for what I liked about the book:
"Our patrol leader was dangerously aggressive. A crazy New Yorker. A corporal who had no business being in command. He carried a pump shotgun. He talked too loud and too fast. The bush was too foreign for him. Days passed. The weather deteriorated. We ran out of food. The choppers were unable to extract us because of poor weather and visibility. Morale deteriorated. I don't know why. Another day, we were no longer an effective fighting force. On the next day, the weather cleared. But Battalion Headquarters decided not to extract us. We wandered ineffectively. Then one day, our patrol leader started shooting at the bush. No reason. Nowhere to go. The choppers finally came for us."
Doesn't sound too exciting? Don't worry. There are lots of action sequences throughout the book. But whatever the case, when this passage is read in context, in the middle of the book, you'll "get it." If you were in Vietnam, you'll be sure to "get it." And if you weren't in Vietnam, you'll "get it" anyway. Lliteras just lays it out there for us to do with it whatever we want.
"Viet Man" is not filled with self-pity, there's no whining, and Lliteras isn't trying to blame anyone for anything. And he doesn't have all the answers.
What he's written is an engrossing story of a bunch of guys out there doing their jobs for a country that didn't appreciate them – and guys who mostly went home after the war and got on with their lives.
I'm the editor of the VietNow National Magazine, and I've read (and forgotten) more articles, stories, and books on this topic than I can count – but anything written by Danny Lliteras always creates a lasting impression – and "Viet Man" is no exception.
Lliteras *is* a real Viet Man.
April 28, 2015
Viet Man is a story of a young Navy corpsman who was assigned to the First Recon in Vietnam. The narrative is vivid and gives a realistic view of the war and the way it transformed this young man.
It isn't easy to put down - I read this book in one sitting.
It isn't easy to put down - I read this book in one sitting.
June 18, 2015
A very personal remembrance of the Vietnam war - it felt very real.
Read
March 24, 2018MWSA Review
Small irritations make wonderful essay topics. Almost anyone can describe the annoyance of a faucet dripping somewhere in the wee hours of the morning—or the incessant buzzing of a solitary mosquito seeking dinner at midnight—or the soreness of a nagging hangnail when no manicure scissors are available. Words and images flow. When it comes to agonizing pain that keeps going on day after day, paralyzing fear, or unimaginable loss, however, the story is quite different. Words fail, memories shatter, eloquence dies on the tongue. Somehow there develops a distinct inverse relationship between the depth of our feelings and our ability to remember them and talk about them.
Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the great number of recent novels and memoirs about the Vietnam War. Veterans have finally received approval and encouragement to talk about their experiences, only to find that they cannot easily communicate their feelings to those who were not there with them. When an author succeeds in carrying his readers directly into the jungles, the rice paddies, the strangely impersonal hootches and dusty base camps, the world of drugs and blank-eyed mama-sans, the impact of his words makes us gasp for breath and struggle for understanding.
D. S. Lliteras has managed to do exactly that in his tersely-worded literary novel, Viet Man. His narrator has no name other than “Doc.” He is a navy corpsman; who he was back home doesn’t matter. He is young--just out of high school but equipped with perceptive powers of memory and observation. He arrives in Vietnam with no idea of what the war holds in store for him, but he is determined to take charge of this experience and meet it head on. As readers, we follow him through his first patrols, his first kill, his first visit to the local red light district, the growing recognition of his own mortality. When he describes a scene, his details are specific and honest. We don’t just learn what’s going on; we see it and smell it, feel it and hear it. In peaceful moments he speaks to us in sentences and paragraphs. When danger threatens or fear overwhelms, his mental state retreats into disjointed phrases or single words. We learn about his broken romance back home only when something triggers his own memories. And in the end, we accompany him when he returns stateside, only to find that those at home cannot begin to understand that he now lives in a different world than the one they know.
This is a powerful novel, eloquent while using the simplest of vocabulary and poetic in its clear-eyed imagery. Read it. Your understanding of this tumultuous period of our history will be forever enriched.
Review by Carolyn Schriber, MWSA Reviewer
Small irritations make wonderful essay topics. Almost anyone can describe the annoyance of a faucet dripping somewhere in the wee hours of the morning—or the incessant buzzing of a solitary mosquito seeking dinner at midnight—or the soreness of a nagging hangnail when no manicure scissors are available. Words and images flow. When it comes to agonizing pain that keeps going on day after day, paralyzing fear, or unimaginable loss, however, the story is quite different. Words fail, memories shatter, eloquence dies on the tongue. Somehow there develops a distinct inverse relationship between the depth of our feelings and our ability to remember them and talk about them.
Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the great number of recent novels and memoirs about the Vietnam War. Veterans have finally received approval and encouragement to talk about their experiences, only to find that they cannot easily communicate their feelings to those who were not there with them. When an author succeeds in carrying his readers directly into the jungles, the rice paddies, the strangely impersonal hootches and dusty base camps, the world of drugs and blank-eyed mama-sans, the impact of his words makes us gasp for breath and struggle for understanding.
D. S. Lliteras has managed to do exactly that in his tersely-worded literary novel, Viet Man. His narrator has no name other than “Doc.” He is a navy corpsman; who he was back home doesn’t matter. He is young--just out of high school but equipped with perceptive powers of memory and observation. He arrives in Vietnam with no idea of what the war holds in store for him, but he is determined to take charge of this experience and meet it head on. As readers, we follow him through his first patrols, his first kill, his first visit to the local red light district, the growing recognition of his own mortality. When he describes a scene, his details are specific and honest. We don’t just learn what’s going on; we see it and smell it, feel it and hear it. In peaceful moments he speaks to us in sentences and paragraphs. When danger threatens or fear overwhelms, his mental state retreats into disjointed phrases or single words. We learn about his broken romance back home only when something triggers his own memories. And in the end, we accompany him when he returns stateside, only to find that those at home cannot begin to understand that he now lives in a different world than the one they know.
This is a powerful novel, eloquent while using the simplest of vocabulary and poetic in its clear-eyed imagery. Read it. Your understanding of this tumultuous period of our history will be forever enriched.
Review by Carolyn Schriber, MWSA Reviewer
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews