Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam

by Charles L. Templeton

The true test for surviving war lies in the mind, not on the battlefield. Inspired by the author’s own experiences of US military operations during the Vietnam War, Boot is a debut literary novel that charts the journey of Marine George Orwell Hill, known affectionately as G. O. by his brothers-in-arms, as he comes to grips with the psychological impacts of war in the jungles and rice paddies of Southeast Asia. Faced with military life ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, G. O. must navigate the absurdity of warfare and suppress his humanity to survive psychologically. The war challenges his presuppositions—about the world, about life, about himself—as soon as he lands in Vietnam. And his pondering deep questions about humanity becomes a fruitless task in a situation forcing him to accept life for what it is in every gory, absurd detail. Boot is a credible contribution to new literary fiction about the Vietnam War, combining satire and psychology in historical fiction.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War

329 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

Charles Templeton was born in deep East Texas in 1946. So deep, they had to pipe in the sunshine. His parents were nomads in the Mojave Desert in the fifties where Chuck Yeager taught him how to crush beer cans on his forehead. After being dismissed from the Copyle Lincoln Therapeutic Boarding School for Miscreant Teenage Girls, he attended Sherman High School in Sherman, TX. He was admitted to Austin College after promising to bring back all of the furniture that had disappeared from the office of the president. As the president of the college predicted, Charles found himself in the Marine Corps in 1967. Charles went aboard a Caribbean bound helicopter carrier with his squadron in the Spring of 1968 to prevent the insurgent Cuban communist guerillas from invading Florida. His squadron was so successful that Charles was promoted to corporal and received orders for Vietnam shortly afterward. Charles served as a Marine Corps helicopter crew chief in HMM-265 in Vietnam in 1968 – 69, where he earned his Air Crew wings and flew over 150 missions. He was promoted to Sergeant and received orders for the Presidential Helicopter Squadron when his squadron was ordered to stand down in 1969.

Charles completed his B.A. at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, in 1973 and M.ED. from North Texas State Univ. in 1974 after paying off his excessive parking fines.

After a career in education in Texas and becoming a hundredaire, Charles retired. He moved with the love of his life, Sandra, to Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Charles has three adult daughters and five granddaughters who continue to bring joy, love, and headaches from laughter into his world.

Charles still enjoys Bleu de Hue brownies, a Templetini, and listening to music from the Vietnam era. Life never seems to grow old, just his knees.

Charles is still a voracious reader and lover of the written and wakes up every day, thankful for the gifts he has been given, and looking forward to whatever adventures the day brings. Knowing that whatever happens, it beats ‘shovelin’ shit in the south China Sea.

Reviews

[Píaras Cíonnaoíth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny how mad the world can be sometimes..

Inspired by the author’s own experiences of US military operations during the Vietnam War, Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam by Charles Templeton combines both satire and psychology in this wonderfully written and richly descriptive historical fiction.

There’s no doubt for me that Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam is an exceptionally well-written book. However, it must be said that this story is not for the faint-hearted. The author’s script at times is razor-sharp and will cut deep into the emotions of its reader. There are shocking and intensely graphic scenes. Nevertheless, the themes and outcome are just as affecting in the arresting contemporary landscape when you consider you don’t have to look too far to see the appalling consequences of war even today.

This ‘Sorta Novel’ could only have been written by an individual who experienced war firsthand. Read it and you’ll know what I mean. Highly recommended and a well deserved five stars from me.

[Melissa Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this story. Once the action started, it felt like a rated R version of M*A*S*H with switching army to navy and the war. It felt like a honest and brutal tale of what happens when folks go to war. They talk dirty, sometimes share feelings, build and fight, and try to go back home. If there were to be another war type show, I wouldn’t mind this one being made at all. It also reminds folks that they go through a lot in this, so we should care when they come home. We care, but it’s still not enough.

[Satish Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Boot will take you back to the unvarnished life of combat in Vietnam

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It just so happens that I was stationed in Hue-Phu Bai South Vietnam from May 1966-May 1967 where this book happens to originate for the most part. I was however at the US Army Security Agency’s 8th Radio Research Unit, (after I left renamed the 8th RRFS)and not the Marines. This story is about the Marines, and they were just as F.U. as was the Army.

The boot Marines, Soldiers, Fly Boys and Sailors were all just boys. HelI, I was just about to turn 22 years old when I Dee Deed out of there.

Boot, A Sorta Novel of Vietnam, will keep you smiling, sometimes laughing, but most like me crying because of the sheer stupidity of this f-ing war, men and women on both sides.

[the-librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam is a fantastic and inventive entry into the crowded world of half-fiction, half-memoir experiences of the Vietnam war. This novel is part satire, part biting-criticism, part-reflection-on-the-human-experience, and all heart. There is a genuineness to the story, and the way it is told, that is often lacking in these sorts of novels. It is gripping and even terrifying at times. It is a real human offering a reflection on what it takes to mentally survive a war nobody is particularly excited about experiencing. A really great read!

[Md Monirul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Templeton’s story of Vietnam is both compelling and engaging.

[Peggy Kjelgaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boot: A Sorta Novel of Vietnam by author Charles L. Templeton is a dynamic story about the Vietnam war as seen through the eyes of a marine. It follows the soldier’s experiences from pre-enlistment to returning home. The journey for the reader is somewhat like the authors description of a helicopter’s up and down movement during a descent into a hot zone—"like being on a roller coaster, going from being weightless one moment to feeling like you weigh a thousand pounds the next.” The reader feels the heaviness of harrowing rescue missions as well as the weightlessness of incidents that are light-hearted and at times, even humorous. But, the most captivating part of the story is how the author vividly depicts the relationships between the soldiers.

Many things make Boot a good read. The “marine talk” makes it feel real. The analogies are poignantly entertaining—a personal favorite. The names of all the colorful characters are the perfect solution for helping the reader keep everyone straight. The dialogue keeps the story moving at a perfect pace. The intensity of the rescues keep you on edge and then some far-out tale will have you laughing aloud. Finally, and most importantly, the serious undertones that play out are done exceptionally well, such as fears (of dying and living), racism, and politics.
Author Charles Templeton does an outstanding job of sharing a very difficult time in our nation’s history with clever depictions of reality. He uses personal experience and a hint of humor to write a great novel. I highly recommend this book.

[The Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wars do not just kills, they destroy people's souls. BOOT is a journey into this reality, and sometimes it appears so realistic, it makes me shudder.

Through this novel, we get to travel with George Orwell Hill to Vietnam and we learn first-hand the reasons why wars should not allowed to take place, and that we should all do our best to contribute to peace.

The author wrote this book based on his experiences during the Vietnam War. But more than that, he wrote with a special compassion that shed light onto the humanity of those touched by wars. For that I am very grateful.

A recommended read!

[Ruth Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful twist on the Viet Nam War. Templeton has you roaring with laughter on one page and crying on the next as he examines both the humor, stupidity and deeper issues of combat and war. Making the best of their situation these young warriors struggle with human issues such as racism, rank and honor. Great read. Don't miss it.

[Kelvin Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book

[Jahidul Islam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection

[Gazi Mohammed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Sree Sai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book to read and good inspiration

[Wendy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrill-chasing read. For all of us of this generation, this is a look back from the other side. Pick it up. it's great!

[Michelle Hannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected an intense, action-packed story, and that’s what I got, just not in the way I expected. “Boot” is about a young, naïve, Marine helicopter crew chief from Texas, G. O. Hill. From nail-biting battle scenes to ludicrous sanity-saving escapades, this is a helluva roller-coaster read that doesn’t fail to entertain. What I enjoyed most about this book is meeting the animated array of assorted characters. I grew up overseas in a multi-cultural community and truly enjoy interacting with people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, so does G.O. For me, this book about the Vietnam war was a feel-good read. Like I said, not what I expected.

[Darryl Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absorbing and intimate account if Vietnam.

Shocking, intensely graphic, yet darkly compelling, this is a penetrating and sensitive novel about the stark realities of the war in Vietnam. It is crammed with intimate details woven into the plot to create a gory blood and guts account of one marine's deeply personal experiences that changed his life. Written in the third person narrative, the author includes scenes from a multitude of perspectives.
Although this is a graphic account of warfare, with explicit descriptions, it is also a strongly intimate account of the life experiences of a number of different characters, including those of the enemy.
Related in the form of the vivid memories of the main protagonist, a marine, it also includes military scenes away from the actual conflict and also describes in touching prose, memories removed from the military environment, and the personality changes that war brings to soldiers and people caught in its unpleasant and lingering tentacles of its horror.
Sharp but engaging writing captures images of filth, beauty and the macabre that will prove to be both repulsive but immensely absorbing, and the reader will be left with a similar lingering memory of horror and the unique sense of lost comedy felt by those individuals who experienced the war in all of its aspects.
This is not just a novel of war, but an emotional catharsis that is almost as powerful and intimate as the real experience of a truly bitter conflict that is now a part of history. The deep scars on the human psyche which are not usually recorded in the impersonal details of history books are vividly recorded here in haunting detail.

[Prasad Devangam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boot is not your typical war story. It is reminiscent of Catch 22.

[Verne Rudebusch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A special book, talks about the experience of Marines, talking in battlefield language, with real people on the ground and in the air. The emotions of bullets whizzing, buddies dying, experiencing and personal growth from day one on arrival in Vietnam - there's nothing like it really, really worth the read and the experience.

[Md Atabur · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you maintain your humanity in a war? Read Boot and find your answer.

[Khoniker Musafir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boot presents a vision of the Vietnam War that is grizzly, obscene, and fatal.

[Sayan Roy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a fun, wise and poignant trip through the war that made America modern.

[Moheb Billa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of drug induced hallucinations, paranoid ramblings, and psychological investigations

[Bappa Bhakta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boot is not your Mama’s war story.

[Dk Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow, you will love Boot.

[Dibik Tip Top · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel that takes quite a bit of decoding and deboning in order to devour.

[Md Jahirul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to Vietnam! A world of frightening realism and comic absurdity

[Rumon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed your depiction of “the enemy” and how little they differed from our heroes.

[Muhammad Sohail · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hallucinatory episodes in Boot, remind this reader of William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch.

[Hubab Ahmad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boot provides a look behind the curtains our country has placed around the Vietnam War

[Susmita · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boot in an exciting must-read tale about the insanity of the Vietnam War.