Dear Donna, It’s only 45 Hours from Bien Hoa: Stories from the Vietnam War.
Douglas Neralich.
1st Books Library, 2002.
As reviewed by Ted Odenwald
Douglas “Doc” Neralich has created a succinct, incisive, and moving collage of his experiences as a medic with the 36th Engineer Battalion in Vinh Long, Vietnam. Interweaving short stories, brief anecdotes, and poetry, “Doc” views the war in 1970-71 through his own eyes—as a 22-year-old elementary school teacher, drafted and then trained to be a front-line attendant to the sick, injured, and wounded. Though much decorated, Neralich claims not to have been a hero; but from between the lines emerges an inadvertently heroic figure, who is dedicated to serving and protecting the young men around him—administering medications, suturing light wounds, providing first aid to stabilize the seriously wounded. Perhaps just as impressive was the way in which he let the responsibility of his job take hold of him: respected because of his education and his knowledge of medicine, he realized that he had to be a moral compass for his comrades; to remain ever-ready and alert, he refused alcohol and drugs, which were tempting mental escape routes. He refused to follow the leads of wily EM’s who were profiting from such illicit ventures as black marketing Army materiel, money changing, and organizing prostitution rings.
The stories range widely in their tones. “A Christmas Pig” is the most celebratory piece, as Doc is asked to assist some industrious, homesick Hispanic troops, who are obsessed with roasting a pig for their holiday meal. Their machinations are worthy of a “M.A.S.H.” episode—the most hilarious action being Doc’s having to ascertain the pig’s health with a rectal thermometer. “1001 Asses” is perversely humorous as the medics are ordered to administer gamma globulin inoculations within a three-hour period to all thousand men who had eaten at the battalion mess. Doc describes the only-in-the- military assembly line procedure, carried off to perfection, from the painted footprints , the cattle-lines, the pants-dropping, to the quick, painful injections—only to have an arrogant, blowhard of a non-com take credit for the entire operation. There is much bitterness in “A Walk in the Sun,” as a platoon is ordered out on a supposed patrol, which was actually designed to allow a gung-ho officer to test his AK-47, purchased in the black market. Juxtaposed to this foolish and risky “adventure” is the tragic death of an innocent village child, run over by an uncaring American trucker.
Neralich knows that some will question his reasons for resurrecting memories of Vietnam, but he insists that these writings are therapeutic for him—the applying of a salve to an open wound rather than the picking at a scab. Clearly the Vietnam experience is very much a part of him. He alludes to his inevitable haunting in the title story as his longing to return home and readjust leads to a series of flashbacks of several anguished moments when he struggled to save the wounded—or when he and fellow servicemen returning from the war zone were mocked and jeered by peaceniks. The power of “Passage” lies in its juxtaposition of scenes: as Doc walks with his daughter, collecting shells in Island Beach State Park, he returns to the horrors of the Mekong Delta in a stream-of-consciousness series triggered by simple events.
Dear Donna…. is a book about personal healing. It is also a part of a long-term healing process. As “Doc” wanders through a wide variety of experiences during and after the war, he reaffirms that he did the right things: he served his country loyally; he provided physical assistance and moral direction to his fellow servicemen; he remained grounded by his love of his family. Yes, he is an American hero, and his story should be heard.
Editor’s note: Doug Neralich is a Wyckoff resident and his wife Donna contributed most of the illustrations.
Ted Odenwald and his wife, Shirley have lived in Oakland for 40 years. He taught HS English at Glen Rock High School for all of those years plus one more. Now he is enjoying time spent with his family, singing in the North Jersey Chorus and quenching his wanderlust. Ted is also the Worship Leader at the Ramapo Valley Baptist Church in Oakland.