KAMIKAZE PEACOCK AND OINK
Coming of Age in an Unfunny War
A Review of Peter J. Fournier's Book
"Kamikaze Peacocks and Oink" was sent to me by the publisher for a review. In the press release it was mentioned that it contained "humor in uniform", so I was expecting a book full of short funny stories about GIs similar to what you might find in Readers Digest. This was not the case. In fact there were only a couple of spots in the book where I actually found myself laughing aloud. The second part of the book title "Coming of age in an unfunny war" lets you know right away you will be reading about Vietnam.
The author, Peter J. Fournier, joined the Army in February of 1964. He enlisted for four years hoping this would be the way to stay out of a close-combat career field that he might be stuck in, if he took his chances with the draft.
I started reading the book the evening it arrived and I wound up not going to bed until the wee, small hours of the morning after I had finished the entire writing. I am not a Vietnam veteran but I lived on military bases all through the 1960s and the early 1970s because my father was career Navy. I counted among my friends young Sailors and GIs who were experiencing the same blunt trauma of civilian-to-military life conversion that the author went through during an extremely unpopular war that also had a draft.
Private Fournier had some college before enlisting in the Army. Because of his high test scores he got into the Intelligence game with the Army. The book follows him through basic training and his technical school prior to being stationed at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. If you have been to the Philippines even post-Vietnam, you will enjoy this section of the book. I must tell you right up front the book is not politically correct by 2005 military standards.
During my time at Clark AB I came to believe the Air Force and its sister services condoned drunken debauchery. Mr. Fournier's book goes into great depth in explaining just how some of those types of activities were carried out. I would not leave this book laying around for your children to pick up and read. You may have to explain some things to them you would rather not, especially if they think you participate in some of these socially delicate activities while you were stationed in the same theater of operation.
To stave off being rotated into Vietnam, Private Fournier volunteered for Vietnamese language school, thinking this "little war" would be over before he graduated. Private Fournier would go on to serve two tours in Vietnam, take a direct commission to be an officer and safely separate from the Army after four years as a Captain.
Unlike most Vietnam era books I have read, this one is not about combat. There is only one hostile fire story in the book. Because Fournier spoke both Vietnamese and French he was able to move within and among the local South Vietnamese people. His descriptions of the people and the country make you want to go and see both. He makes you realize there was more to Vietnam then just gunfire and things being destroyed. It takes you half way into the book to find out what the Peacocks have to do with the story and that Oink is a three legged dog who contracts a sexually transmitted disease.
In one chapter Lieutenant Fournier realizes the Army has Field Manuals for everything except for WACs (Women's Army Corps) and he proceeds to write one. I feel sure that female readers of this book will most likely not appreciate this part of the story, especially if the female reader, is a current or former military veteran. This however is not a reason to keep a person from enjoying Fournier's entertaining adventures about a war that saw a little bit of unusual humor.
The book may be obtained at the Kamikaze Peacocks and Oink website
or call 1-866-GET-OINK.