Books like Acceptable Loss: Point Man Vietnam

From The Red Badge of Courage onwards, there are many awe-inspiring books on war; quite a few great ones on the Vietnam war, in fact. I've found that the great ones seem to strive for something epic--the writing itself being so beautiful or horrifying that the work of art stands on its own, or the book carries a message of some kind that ennobles the book, or even the writer. Kregg does something else, and I think it is some of the most remarkable writing I've ever read. He writes the war through the eyes of the unimaginably courageous, yet humble 19-2o year old kid that he was. He writes about no higher purpose, no grand political scheme, simply what it was like to be a kid who sought war as a kind of rite of passage, and found himself in a chaotic world. His writing is narrowed down to battles and comrades and a few encounters with rear echelon folks. You get a sense of a war in which no territory is really won; only positions taken and then abandoned, enemies killed and brothers-in-arms as well. Kregg never dehumanizes the enemy, but describes himself and his fellows as simply men who strove to survive, strove to protect each other at any cost. I've never read a book that gave a truer window into the world of young men on the "front" lines in Vietnam - except there really weren't any real front lines."Disclaimer" - it is easy to stand by this review because I'm honored to call Kregg a friend. His humility is genuine--the nineteen year old kid he writes about is so much the man he is today. Only more so.