Book Review: Backtracking in Brown Water
In Backtracking, Rolly Kidder has delivered a brilliant chronicle of a part of the Vietnam conflict with which many may not be familiar. His own tour of duty on the rivers of Vietnam brought him in contact with two sailors and one soldier who would lose their lives there. Forty years later, he revisited Vietnam and began to track down the families of the three men, and evaluate the impact of the loss on those families.
For anyone who served in the Delta, this account will evoke a full spectrum of memories. For those who did not serve there, it presents a superb study of the many facets of the Army and Navy activity in 1969 and 1970. Using his journal entries of the period and interviews with fellow combatants, he builds a compelling picture of what was happening in the Vietnam Delta. His follow-up visit to Vietnam forty years later is deftly presented without taint - neither remorse nor bias.
Kidder's recounting of his visits with the families of the three servicemen is a poignant reminder of the continuing grief, as well as pride, extant amongst many and is a fitting memorial to the Army and Riverine heroes and an honor to those who mourn them.
Captain M. B. Connolly
USN Commander, River Assault Division 132/River Assault Squadron 13, 1969-70. (retired)
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