Title: OUT-OF-COUNTRY: The Untold Story of the Vietnam War
Author: Ron Aigotti
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 9781514410196
Pages: 202
Genre: Fiction / War & Military
Reviewed by: Dan MacIntosh
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Ron Aigotti’s purpose for his book OUT-OF-COUNTRY was to delve into one of the lesser-studied aspects of war – that of those not physically on the frontline. Obviously, the physical actions of war make for the best theater. As they say in the news world, ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’ That’s why there’s the whole big ‘war movie’ genre. Up until recently, though, that genre was largely candy-coated. It wasn’t until more recent films, like Saving Private Ryan, in which war scenes were presented in all their scary glory. Similarly, Aigotti has attempted with his new fiction work to remove the veil of war and its negative, wide reaching impact. Specifically, the Vietnam War.
This book primarily focuses on the work of two characters, doctors Michael Rizzuto and Joe O’Mara. Stationed in Kansas, these two well-meaning physicians are forced to try and help out-of-country patients, while all the while fighting military bureaucracy. Rizzuto is the more military-respectful of the two, whereas O’Mara finds great delight in bucking the system; disrespecting officers and generally existing to highlight all the inherent inefficiencies and cruelties of military life.
While it’s relatively easy for the reader to emphasize with Rizzuto and O’Mara’s plight, it is also difficult not to think of another popular medical comedy/drama, M*A*S*H. Although this older weekly TV program was set in the Korean War, everybody knew its creators were satirizing the Vietnam War. In fact, one can see a lot of Alan Alda’s Hawkeye Pierce’s characteristics in many of O’Mara’s antics. What makes it difficult at times to appreciate Aigotti’s fiction, is M*A*S*H was funnier than this book when it was trying to be funny and more dramatic during its dramatic moments. This is not so much negative criticism against Aigotti’s book but rather an observation of how truly amazing M*A*S*H was – a hard act to follow in this dichotomy of military comedy/drama genre.
One of the issues Aigotti’s book exposes is drug abuse in the military, and the system’s inability – or unwillingness – to address and treat it. Rizzuto becomes attached to one soldier’s drug-addled plight and goes to great lengths to try and save his life. This book also introduces us to a few in the military brass that are more concerned with their career advancement than the welfare of the soldiers they command.
This book will open your eyes to the wide reach of war’s human destruction. Yes, there are many casualties out on the battlefield. However, even those that don’t carry a gun through the jungles of Vietnam, which many poor souls were asked to do during this painful war, many more relatively unseen people suffered because they were involved in this conflict – albeit indirectly.
As a writer, some of Aigotti’s writing is a little rough in places. There are a few spelling errors in this book that a more thorough editing would have caught. Even so, the spirit of Aigotti’s intent comes through clearly. One gets the sense he passionately cares about the characters he has created, as the reader is left convinced that Aigotti has some close connections with veterans of the war.
A book such as this one ought to make us all think a bit more about the impact our current military conflicts have on society. It is not just the guys in uniform travelling around the world to fight our wars. It’s also those left behind, perhaps still living in the U.S., who experience significant life changes due to war. Hopefully, it will cause readers to be more understanding of those involved in the military. We should not discount anybody’s service if, for instance, they didn’t see foreign conflict or shoot a weapon. War, while sometimes a necessary evil, leaves deep wounds far and wide.
