Title: Blood on China Beach: My Story as a Brain Surgeon in Vietnam
Author: Paul J. Pitlyk
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1475959437
Pages: 254
Genre: Chinese Biographies/Vietnam War Biographies/Medical Professional Biographies
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina
Hollywood Book Reviews
The horrors of war can plague the minds of those who are forced to live it day in and day out. As Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” Yet it is not only the soldiers who have to live with the consequences of war. Sometimes it involves the men and women who provide aid, comfort and help to the soldiers caught in the fight. In author Paul J. Pitlyk’s book Blood on China Beach: My Story as a Brain Surgeon in Vietnam, the author takes readers through a personal story of giving up a comfortable life in small town America in order to attempt to save lives in the jungles of Vietnam.
This book is a massive study of the year-long tour of duty the author endured as a surgeon operating on the wounded soldiers of the Vietnam War. The gristly details of the life of a surgeon play out on the outskirts of the battlefields of Vietnam as the many readers of this genre often see the soldiers going into the helicopters, whisked off of the battlefield and delivered to surgeons and doctors such as the author, who must work tirelessly to save as many lives as possible. From the psychological toll the war had on the author and the soldiers he operated on, to the gory truth and professional circumstances of his experience during and after the war, this book doesn’t hold back in the least bit.
This was a well written, impactful and truthful read that as a reader I both respected and identified with immediately. From the struggles with confidence and searching for one’s path in life, to the hardships and struggles in one’s profession, it was easy to identify with the author’s inner struggles. Yet it was the heart of the book that took the most impact and emotional toll for the reader, as the author’s experiences during his year in Vietnam serving his country and helping save as many lives as possible that truly gained the readers’ attention and keep them in the moment of each page.
This was a book written for those with an interest in history, the psychological impact of experiencing war and anyone interested in neurosurgery or taking one’s experience into the battlefields of war overseas. As a history buff, it was interesting to see the impact that particular era of time had on not only the soldiers involved in the fighting, but the people such as the author who worked so hard to save the lives of those wounded.
This was an engaging read from the first page. A story that felt both personal and yet seemed to encompass the era and the psychological toll of the Vietnam War all at once, as the author did a masterful job of conveying his experiences there to the reader. Author and neurosurgeon Paul J. Pitlyk showcases the struggles in Vietnam operating on soldiers, Vietnamese citizens and more, including some of the heartbreaking and gristly operations performed there, and in the process showcases the heartbreaking struggle so many people endured during that war. Now is the perfect time for readers to pick up their own copy of Blood on China Beach and read a truly one of a kind biography.