Far from our hillskate lyrics

Far From Our Hills is the story of one man s descent into the conflicting values of the Vietnam War the war that forever after changed America The year is 1968 The war in Vietnam is at its height Luke Tuttle a young intelligence officer from rural America is part of a massive effort to stop North Vietnamese supplies moving down the Ho Chi Minh Trail into South Vietnam He and his crew fly endless hours searching for truck convoys but the initiative Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara s famed electronic wall isn t working Supplies and men are pouring through Tet happens Hue happens The Battle for Saigon happens The GI on the ground the grunt slogging through the rice paddies and the jungles and the mountains is facing ever increasing odds and Luke wants to understand what s going wrong and somehow naively to fix it Missions dangerous and futile provide the bones of the story and alternate with Luke s life on the ground in wide open Thailand where he s stationed where marijuana is as common as cigarettes and sex beckons Eventually he meets Lonnie an American college student home in Bangkok for the summer who s as opposed to the war as he is They fall in love and make plans for their future and it seems like Luke has finally found a safe place But the ugly reality of the war is inescapable and inserts itself into the middle of their relationship and then into his crew and the results leave him devastated and bitter Far From Our Hills A Story from the War in VietnamFar from Our Hills R V Bartlett s first novel may be a healing component for those who have reflected on their military government or corporate service hoping their decisions helped fulfill a mission while minimizing collateral damage Too often it is only decades later we find that the collateral damage is to ourselves and those we love. Book far from our hills review To say that Mr Barlett captured the emotional and intellectual angst many of us face during times of challenge is understating the book s premise In his first novel he finds explores and shares the feelings many of us can identify with and who perpetually attempt to resolve or rationalize in our hearts and minds Voltaire said Liberty of thought is the life of the soul Perhaps through the eyes of Luke Tuttle the novel s young intel officer from upstate New York we can be liberated from our past and previous confined thinking to let our souls become even alive Full disclosure I know Raymond Bartlett personally as Buzz and have always appreciated him for being an outstanding writer editor and strategic and tactical team contributor I admire my friends who have become authors and are willing to share their heartfelt and deeply personal insights Thank you Buzz I do hope there will be another soon L Darryl Armstrong 9798988315919