Published: April 04, 2011
Words: 6,314 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781458189912

Short description

A short story of the Vietnam War. After basic training, all soldiers receive advanced training in a specialized field, called an MOS. The designation for the combat infantryman is 11B, or Eleven Bravo according to the phonetic pronunciation. "Eleven Bravo" is the opening short story in a series entitled "LRRP Rangers Vietnam", an irrisistible recreation of the Vietnam combat experience.

Extended description

A short story about the Vietnam War.

From the opening scene in Tiger Village of Fort Polk to the drunken celebration at the conclusion of a torturous "hump" through the jungles of the central highlands, "Eleven Bravo" chronicles the life of the Vietnam infantryman. Fresh from training as an 11B, the MOS for the combat infantry, a young soldier arrives in-country as astronaut Neil Armstrong walks on the surface of the moon, and a month later he is a grizzled veteran who celebrates life to Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze", even as the rock star performs it live at Woodstock.

"Eleven Bravo" is the first volume of a series entitled "LRRP Rangers Vietnam" by RW Holmen, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the bronze star for his role in the firefight depicted in this short story (Volume II, "Here Comes Charlie", is already published). But, this short story is less about patriotism and heroism than it is about the gut-wrenching reality for the Vietnam combat soldier. RW Holmen is the author .. (Read more) A short story about the Vietnam War.

From the opening scene in Tiger Village of Fort Polk to the drunken celebration at the conclusion of a torturous "hump" through the jungles of the central highlands, "Eleven Bravo" chronicles the life of the Vietnam infantryman. Fresh from training as an 11B, the MOS for the combat infantry, a young soldier arrives in-country as astronaut Neil Armstrong walks on the surface of the moon, and a month later he is a grizzled veteran who celebrates life to Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze", even as the rock star performs it live at Woodstock.

"Eleven Bravo" is the first volume of a series entitled "LRRP Rangers Vietnam" by RW Holmen, a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the bronze star for his role in the firefight depicted in this short story (Volume II, "Here Comes Charlie", is already published). But, this short story is less about patriotism and heroism than it is about the gut-wrenching reality for the Vietnam combat soldier. RW Holmen is the author of an acclaimed novel of historical fiction ("A Wretched Man, a novel of Paul the apostle"), and his story-telling craft is on full display in this series of short stories he calls "autobiographical fiction" that are based on true events but with literary embellishment that offers a compelling, even haunting, interpretation of the Vietnam experience.

For veterans, "LRRP Rangers Vietnam", will be a vivid recreation of Vietnam service, for those who lived throught the turbulent sixties, "LRRP Rangers Vietnam" offers meaning and context, to those too young to remember, "LRRP Rangers Vietnam" offers a glimpse into the most controversial war and perplexing period in American history. It all starts with "Eleven Bravo".

"There I was, lying in a spotlight, and I don't mind telling you that my butt muscles were clenched tight. If my nose had been pressed any tighter against mother earth, I would've been breathing worms. There wasn't a goddammed thing I could do except lay still and wait for the AK-47 round that I would never hear or for the Willy Pete to burn out, whichever came first."
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Tags

military, sixties, vietnam, warfare, army, combat, 1969, viet nam, infantry

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Videos

Life as a grunt in the jungles of Viet Nam
This video is based on Super 8 movies filmed in 1969. The author of Eleven Bravo served with an infantry company in the central highlands of Vietnam, and this video shows life while in a secure encampment near a village outside An Khe.

Reviews

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Review by: Sheila Deeth on April 29, 2011 :
“Somehow, I felt abandoned and much farther away than the man on the moon,” says R.W. Holmen in his short story Eleven Bravo. The author conveys that abandonment beautifully, setting the Vietnam war into personal and global context with vivid details and telling comments. Characters and place come to life with the words, dialog is pitch perfect, and there are haunting comments I’ll remember long after the story’s done. From FNG (f** new guy) to savvy vet in twenty-three days, from one land to another with various stops for training along the way, from safety to horror, the author shares the experiences of war, bringing sight, scent, and sound into stunning perspective. Climbing in mud with eighty-pound packs, fools on the march while the “fool killer” trails, clearing brush with machetes, arranging mines… the bond and the folly of immortal combat ring loud and clear from the page, and the story’s told with all the realism, language and pathos of experience.
Eleven Bravo is the first in a series of Vietnam vignettes, autobiographical fiction based on true events and bound by story arc into literary gems. The writing is confident and clear, hauntingly honest, brutally true. The story completes a young man’s transformation and leaves the reader eager for the next installment. If this piece is anything to go by, this will be an excellent series of honest depiction and wise commentary, and I’m humbled to have read this first chapter.
Disclosure: I was given a free ecopy of this story by the author in exchange for an honest review.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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