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Ringing True

By Barry Romo (Reviewer)

TDY
Douglas Valentine
iUniverse.com
September 2000
ISBN: 0-595-13366-5

When I was asked to write a review of this book, I wanted to decline, especially so when I discovered that it was an online book. I could not resist when I discovered that the author was Douglas Valentine and he kindly agreed to send me a hard copy.

This book is exciting, and politically and historically correct. I finished it in one reading. TDY is a fictional account of a VVAW member's military experience. Its characterizations ring true. Its exposures of dirty dealing, drug cultivation and drug-running are familiar to most of us. There are some problems, as there will be with any fictionalized story. So don't get yourself in an uproar about a number of mistakes that are contained in this book, like when he talks about Jane Fonda being in Vietnam before 1972 or some of the specific practices of different security agencies. The story in overall historical perspective rings true. This is a must-read.