Books like American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

To me, this was a story about two halves of an amazing life. If this was a review of Colonel Day the man, then obviously he merits five stars. His absolutist personality worked wonders in the military and clearly drove him to achieve unthinkable levels of heroism while simultaneously inspiring a devoted, almost fanatical group of warriors who fought with him in Korea and Vietnam. The stories of his POW experience were honestly hard to read and I know that I would not have been able to withstand the scantest portion of the brutal punishment he endured. He wanted to return with honor and that he did. He continued his principled life after the war as he fought for causes and people he believed in including the battle over whether veterans were entitled to free health care for a lifetime. This was shocking to me as I thought it was guaranteed myself. Of course, his ire was directed at President Clinton and that is understandable considering his history but some president was going to have to deal with exploding costs, he just was the first one in line. I believe that budgetary outlays for the pentagon are originated and approved by congressional action; congress was Republican controlled at the time so as always, I think the story is more nuanced than the book lets on.That gets me to the writing. There is a place for hagiographies in our literary culture and books of this sort if approached the right way can be quite enjoyably. This book was written in a blunt, take no prisoners style and this really worked well for the first two thirds of the book where the focus was on flying, combat, and other "band of brothers" type material. The sequences in Vietnam read like adventure fiction and was really done. Where this militaristic style of writing tends to bog the narrative down is where there is naturally going to be more nuance and opaqueness. In Colonel Day's world this would occur as he made transition back to the civilian world. In this world writing with such fawning adoration can grow tiresome. To me, Colonel Day came across as bit of boor in the post war years. He punched guy out in a bar, held grudges against veterans who did not hold up his personal standard of honor, refused to stop using offensive racial terms Vietnamese (many of whom may have fought for South Vietnam), and engaged in the notoriously dirty world of politics (while naively expecting it to be as honorable as combat.) I can't blame him considering the pain he endured but I cant help but think of another veteran who went through unmentionable torture at the hands of the Japanese in World War II but lived most of his post-war years with grace and humility and even wanted to meet his former torturers not for a chance at vengeance, but out of a desire to forgive. I'm speaking of course of Louis Zamperini. I think a more accomplished writer could have built more complexity into the story of Colonel Day by exploring the tension between his honorable purposes and his never-ending desire for retribution and score settling. Overall, this was a solid look at the life of man who was a warrior. He lived for battle and honor every day of his life.