Calhoun, William

Kerrey, Bob

English

U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons

Naval War College ReviewVolume 57Number 2 Spring Article 232004When I Was a Young Man: A MemoirWilliam CalhounBob KerreyFollow this and additional works at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-reviewThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Naval War College Review by an authorized editor of U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons. For more information, please contactrepository.inquiries@usnwc.edu.Recommended CitationCalhoun, William and Kerrey, Bob (2004) "When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir," Naval War College Review: Vol. 57 : No. 2 , Article23.Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol57/iss2/23is a political leader? Explanations ofthese quirks provide colorful insightinto this man’s character.Violence is a pervasive theme of Arafat’slife. Despite his professed commitmentto the peace process, Arafat is a demon-strated man of violence, the Rubinscharge, well connected to global terror-ism. The Rubins present strong evi-dence that Arafat not only has a longhistory of duplicity in terrorist eventsbut in many cases personally plotted,encouraged, and triggered the violencehimself. As early as the mid-1970s, thePalestinian Liberation Army had a re-cord of involvement in skyjackings,bombings, assassinations, and murders.Arafat learned from experience, despitewhat world leaders told him, that vio-lence paid.Overall, the Rubins evince abhorrenceof Arafat. It appears there really is littleto like about the man. Among othertraits, in the Rubins’ view, he is petty,arrogant, megalomaniacal, and disin-genuous. The Rubins carefully placeevidential anecdotes to support theirportrayal. Typical is Arafat’s purportedresponse to the question of why he liedso much—“I would kill for Palestine, soyou don’t want me to lie for Palestine?”The book keeps his deplorable traits inplain sight, as a policeman would say,“where it can’t hurt you.” Howevermuch one would just want him to goaway, his prominent role in contempo-rary Middle Eastern affairs cannot beignored.This book performs a valuable serviceas a primer on the characters, organiza-tions, and connections in the shadowyworld of Middle Eastern terrorism andIslamic radicalism. A short but usefulglossary and chronology further helpone make these associations.This is a pure biography. It is impres-sively documented with thoughtfulanalysis, deliberately focused on YasirArafat. It is not intended as a history ofthe Middle East, the Arab-Israeli con-flict, or Israel. However, for readerswho are already certain about Arafat’scharacter, the Rubins’ account may sur-pass even the most critical assessments.C. J. KRISINGERHeadquarters, Air Mobility CommandScott Air Force Base, IllinoisKerrey, Bob. When I Was a Young Man: A Mem-oir. New York: Harcourt, 2002. 270pp. $26Bob Kerrey’s absorbing memoir tellsthe story of his coming of age in theMidwest and his loss of innocence inVietnam, where he was grievouslywounded. Congressional Medal ofHonor recipient, former governor andsenator from Nebraska, Kerrey opensand closes his book by describing hisefforts to keep a promise he made to hisdying father—to learn how his father’sbrother died in World War II. He statesthat he wanted this work to be abouthis father and his uncle but that thestory he ended up telling “is not thestory I intended to tell.”Kerrey first recounts his vintage child-hood in Lincoln, Nebraska, and earninghis pharmacology degree at the Univer-sity of Nebraska. In 1966, knowing hewould likely be drafted, and inspired byHerman Wouk’s The Caine Mutiny,Kerrey joined the Navy and entered Of-ficer Candidate School. Once commis-sioned, he volunteered for underwaterdemolition team training, and aftercompletion, he was selected for theB O O K R E V I E W S 1 8 9C:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2004.vpMonday, March 29, 2004 8:30:04 AMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen1Calhoun and Kerrey: When I Was a Young Man: A MemoirPublished by U.S. Naval War College Digital Commons, 2004Navy’s new special-mission SEAL (sea,air, land) combat teams.After more arduous training in weap-ons and tactics, Kerrey was soon sent toVietnam. He writes, “To say that Ibarely had a clue about what I was do-ing in Vietnam understates the case.”He led two SEAL missions in Vietnamin early 1969 that redefined and trans-formed his life. In the first mission, heled his six-man squad at night into thesmall village of Thanh Phong, wherehigh-level Vietcong were suspected ofmeeting. The resulting firefight, inwhich women and children were killed,caused Kerrey to feel “a sickness in myheart for what we had done.” He states,“The young, innocent, man who wentinto Vietnam died that night. . . . I hadbecome someone I did not recognize.”On his next mission, just over twoweeks later, his right foot was nearly en-tirely blown off. Kerrey writes, “Withdifficulty I pulled myself upright so Icould direct my men.” He tied off hismangled leg with a tourniquet and in-jected himself with morphine. His warhad lasted barely two months.Kerrey had much of his right leg ampu-tated. He then started the long andpainful process of recovery at the Phila-delphia Naval Hospital. He chose Phila-delphia because it was the farthest fromhis home and the people he knew. Hewanted to recover alone, and he “didnot want to have to answer questionsabout what I had done in the war.”While there, Kerrey also learned that hehad been submitted for the Medal ofHonor for his last mission. Not feelingdeserving, he was told by friends that“no one ever does,” and that he must“accept this award for everyone whoshould have been recognized but wasnot.” Kerrey’s chronicle of his recoverywith other critically wounded is per-haps the most poignant and memorableportion of this eloquent memoir. Hewas discharged from the Navy in De-cember 1969, determined to make themost of his second chance and “beginhis second life with gratitude.”Kerrey’s candid and moving story startsand ends with a quest, but he does notoffer a neat resolution for the anguishcaused by his violence in Vietnam. Al-though unable to find out enough in-formation about his uncle’s death in thePhilippines in 1944, he was perhapsable to keep his promise to his fatherafter all, by honoring his uncle as a sol-dier “who should have been recognizedbut was not.” Kerrey was also able tocome to terms with his experiences dur-ing the war. Kerrey’s spare and haunt-ing story is a meaningful addition to theliterature of war.WILLIAM CALHOUNNaval War College1 9 0 N A V A L W A R C O L L E G E R E V I E WC:\WIP\NWCR\NWC Review Spring 2004.vpMonday, March 29, 2004 8:30:04 AMColor profile: DisabledComposite  Default screen2Naval War College Review, Vol. 57 [2004], No. 2, Art. 23https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol57/iss2/23

When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir

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When I Was a Young Man: A Memoir

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