Blog Post November 2025
This is my November blog for the faithful of you who find my books at the least entertaining. Actually, many of you who send me your comments and post your reviews on Amazon have revealed your recognition of the deeper messages these stories carry. God knows I spent many a night sitting around campfires with buddies, listening to gut-wrenching stories about their experiences in Vietnam.
These were my brothers, and I listened to them reveal stories they later refused to let me write as non-fiction. Thus came novels—fiction in which their stories play a vital part—which takes me to Reaford’s MVP and a British reviewer’s uncanny insight into the very heart of that story.
The review is posted by the reader in Britian who recognized the true revelations buried beneath the somewhat fanciful story called Raeford’s MVP. Yes, it is racy and entertaining, but this man saw the surface story as the emperor’s clothes and merely a way of telling a much deeper story about the human condition, the reality of war, brotherhood, and the true angst of Vietnam War Veterans. At the very heart of it though, as this man clearly wrote in his review, it is a story about love.
Billy Coker, an oversexed kid from rural Mississippi, is my banner bearer for this story that probes deeply into the experiences of veterans experiencing Post Traumatic Stress. And if you are suddenly thinking “NO! PTSD isn’t something I want to read about.” Think Again.
Read the reviews. I don’t think the subject of PTSD could have been better exhibited without showing it through both the uproarious humor and the agony of my character, Billy Coker. Reader comments about crying and laughing out loud on the same page are real.
This book tells the story of PTSD in a way that draws in readers and shows them the heart-wrenching truth in an entertaining manner that holds their interests. Billy was a loyal soldier who took care of his men, only to be left searching for meaning in his experiences after he left Vietnam. And unlike where failure is all too often the case, in the end Billy finds redemption through love.
Because I know you must be asking, here’s the review from my reader in the UK: Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 August 2024 and Posted on Amazon.com.
“5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, meaningful, funny, painful
This is a story of physical and emotional trauma, both of which are cured by love. The main character is just cool enough to be tolerated at the fringe of the coolest beings in his high school year. He’s also sensitive enough to despise them and empathize with those who definitely don’t fit the model. He’s friendly with one plain, overweight, girl but limits his friendliness to ensure that it doesn’t wreck his “cool enough” status. This cynicism is offset by an awareness and self-disapproval of his behavior and a complete ignorance that what he offers is more than enough and even highly valued.
His strength of character and empathy for those close around him are further challenged and developed in Vietnam. He’s brave to the point of heroism, selfless and committed to his group and, ultimately, these qualities lead to self-isolation in the aftermath of his service.
There are periods in the book when it seems unrelievedly dark and hopeless, and I found I had to read it slowly, in small bites. The sensitivity and empathy are choked by cynicism and an extreme sense of personal unworthiness that can be hard to take.
A long time ago, I read a book called “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance”. It left a mark on me and this book has, too. It has a similar narrative quality with a sense of personal agony that, perversely, illuminates the story rather than choking it. It’s so well written. It describes issues which we still struggle with today and probably always will. And through it all, there’s a love that is selfless, unrestrained in its quality yet restrained in its application – a most “loving” sort of love.
It’s one of the very best books I’ve read, and I hope everyone who sees it on the shelf picks it up and also reads it.”
Share this with a friend and send me your comments. Meanwhile, here’s a link to the book on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Raefords-MVP-Vietnam-War-Book-ebook/dp/B01ANXHX80
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