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Book Reviews: The Vietnam Funny Book

By Pete Zastrow

(AN ANTIDOTE TO INSANITY)

The Vietnam Funny Book is a whole lot of Vietnam and not so much "funny." Any vet who humped the boonies will see the situations he was in; looking back, some of them were outrageously funny but there's the gnawing suspicion that, at the time, they weren't funny at all. While the war may have been a big game to the brass and the politicians, it was damn serious on the ground. Foster understands that and his cartoons show it, but they also demonstrate that time does make a difference.

The cartoons were done while Foster was a member of the 3rd Marines. Hi "Prelude" to the book explains: "Survival forced its dues and EVERYONE paid. Callousness spread along with guts and laughter was a lonely cry in the overcast of stay alive.

"The Vietnam Funny Book was drawn from the cry deep in the throat. It was the monster truth, swallowed, acknowledged, and laughed back up. It was humor, the guardian of the mind. It was an antidote to insanity."

Just one cartoon: the grubby grunt in a foxhole, bullets flying overhead, reading the cigarette pack which says, "Warning: Smoking may be hazardous to your health." What scene could better catch the absurdity of being snatched 10,000 miles from home and put through all kinds of hell while life at home continued absolutely as usual. The divorce between GI's and country couldn't be clearer.

If you're a Vietnam vet, especially a combat vet, you'll chuckle at some of the cartoons; some of them will make you laugh outloud. Some of them will trigger memories you might prefer to forget. If you are not a Vietnam vet you should read the book with someone who is, because the kernel of the book is the simple fact that the cartoons are so true that they hurt.

Distribution is spastic at best; the safest way to get the book is to write to Presidio Press, 31 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94947. Or write VVAW—we have some copies. But get it somewhere. It costs $6.95 but is more valuable than that. These pictures are worth a thousand words, and they may help you, someday, explain what happened in Vietnam to someone else.

Pete Zastrow
VVAW National Office