The Redcatcher Express

Book excerpt: The Redcatcher Express is the author's Vietnam War memoirs. Drafted and sent to fight in the war, the author, a musician by trade, is thwarted in his attempts to get into an Army band. He is assigned to Recon Platoon E 4/ 12 of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade where he endures the adversity of war. The situation worsens when he is picked to be "point man" for Recon. At the forefront of battle, the author begins to feel that he is losing his senses. His prayers are answered when a reporter for the Stars and Stripes writes a story about his musical background. The Commanding General of the 199th reads the story and commissions the author to recruit members for a band to entertain the troops and raise the morale. He organizes The Redcatcher Express, and the band, consisting of American GIs, becomes popular with the troops. He later discovers that raising the morale is instrumental in raising the enemy body count in the 199th's war campaign as well.