SERGEANT BACK AGAIN 30th Anniversary Edition

284 Pages·2010·1.4 MB·English

by  Charles Coleman

SERGEANT BACK
AGAIN

30th Anniversary Edition

A Novel by

Charles Coleman

╬
PTSD PRESS
ii
Dedicated
to
Andy Collins

who

“. . . learnt me how the [Cherokee] Indian bears pain. He lets his body
mind go to sleep, and with his sprit mind, he moves out of his body and
sees the pain—instead of feeling the pain.
The body mind only feels body pain. The spirit mind only feels
spirit pain. So I let my body mind sleep.”

From “The Dog Star,”
The Education of Little Tree,
by Forrest Carter,
University of New Mexico Press, 1976

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In Memoriam

Francis G. Reilly, M.D.

Lt. Robert Charles Kimmel

v
CREDITS & COPYRIGHT

Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reprint the following
lyrics:

“The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” words and music by Tom Blackburn and
George Burns. Copyright 1954 by Wonderland Music Co., Inc. Reprinted by
permission.

“The Ballad of the Green Berets,” by Barry Sadler and Robin Moore. Copyright
1963, 1965, 1966 by Music, Music, Music, Inc.

“Crystal Blue Persuasion,” by Tommy James, Mike Vale, and Ed Gray.
Copyright 1969 by Big Seven Music Corp.

“I Shall Be Released,” by Bob Dylan. Copyright 1967 by Dwarf Music. Used by
permission. All right reserved.
Cover Photo by PFC John Olson. National Archives, ARC Identifier 531449 /
Local Identifier 111-SC-640456.
Cover Design and Graphics by Melinda Fine.
The excerpt beginning “There‟s more than a nation . . . ,” is loosely adapted
from the poem, “Tu Do Street,” from Dien Cai Dau © 1988 by Yusef
Komunyakaa and reprinted with permission by Wesleyan University Press.
Language Translation Services provided by CHICLE, North Carolina.
SERGEANT BACK AGAIN. Copyright © 1980, by Charles A. Coleman, Jr.
All rights reserved. First published in the United States of America by Harper &
Row, Publishers, New York, 1980. ISBN 0-06-010864-9.

SERGEANT BACK AGAIN—30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION. Copyright ©
2010, by Charles A. Coleman, Jr. Published by PTSD Press. ISBN 1450526942.
ENA 145052694244.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission by the author except in cases of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles, syllabi, curriculum, essays, and reviews.

All trade names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
vi
Disclaimer

Some settings and descriptions of persons, places, things (and
chronology) have been intentionally altered to insure the privacy of those
individuals on whom this story is based and dedicated. Names of the
characters have been changed from their real names—and in some cases
their ranks, tours of duty, assignments and locations—to protect their
real identities, which is why Sergeant Back Again was published as
“fiction.”
Any association with a real person, place or thing is completely
coincidental and not intended by the author, except for the names of
those individuals in the public domain.

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viii
Table of Contents

Sergeant Back Again—30th Anniversary Edition

FOREWORD xi
MEDIC! xiii
AFTERWORDS xv-xxiii
HUDSON REVIEW xxv-xxvii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR xxix-xxx

Sergeant Back Again—The Novel (With Revisions)

1. IN-CHAMBERS 1-8
2. CAPTAIN SORKOFSKY 9-18
3. EVERY SOLDIER‟S RESPONSIBILITY 19-26
4. GOODBYE MISTER COLLINS 27-32
5. INCIDENT AT CAFÉ de L‟ORANGE 33-56
6. THE PACT 57-72
7. A MAN‟S NO GOOD ONCE HE‟S BROKEN 73-80
8. LIKE A HOI CHANH 81-96
9. PATELLA 97-118
10. THESE ARE MEN. AMERICA‟S BEST 119-140
11. LAND OF THE LOTUS EATERS 141-154
12. REMEMBRANCES OF THINGS PRESENT 155-170
13. HANOI HEARTS 171-188
14. REMEMBER THE ALAMO! 189-206
15. WAR ORPHANS 207-216
16. SERGEANT BACK AGAIN 217-226
17. THE CATALOGUE OF CHAMELEONS 227-244
18. MAGIC GLUE 245-250

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