Well Done, Those Men

In this intensely personal account, Barry Heard draws on his own experiences as a young conscript, along with those of his comrades to look back at life before, during, and after the Vietnam War. The result is a sympathetic vision of a group of young men who were sent off to war completely unprepared for the emotional and psychological impact it would have on them. It is also a vivid and searingly honest portrayal of the author’s post-war, slow-motion breakdown, and how he dealt with it.Well Done, Those Men attempts to make sense of what Vietnam did to the soldiers who fought there. It deals with the comic absurdity of their military training and the horror of the war they fought, and is unforgettably moving in recounting what happened to Barry and his comrades when they returned home to Australia.

"As devastating as Heard’s account of the war undoubtedly is, it’s the last third of the book - wherein he returns to a country that seems embarrassed to acknowledge his existence, and tries to deal with his shattered psyche with little support from an uncomprehending family and an ever-decreasing number of friends - that packs the biggest emotional wallop... (However) he manages to elicit laughs amidst the tragedy.’ -- The Courier Mail

Barry Heard was conscripted in Australia’s first national service ballot, and served in Vietnam as an infantryman and radio operator. After completing his national service he returned home, where he found himself unable to settle down. He had ten different jobs in his first ten years back, worked as a teacher for a further ten years, and then held several mid-managerial posts before succumbing to a devastating breakdown due to severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Since recovering, Barry Heard has decided to concentrate on his writing. His first book, Well Done, Those Men, dealt mainly with his Vietnam War-related experiences. He lives with his family in rural Victoria. Barry Heard was conscripted in Australia’s first national service ballot, and served in Vietnam as an infantryman and radio operator. After completing his national service he returned home, where he found himself unable to settle down. He had ten different jobs in his first ten years back, worked as a teacher for a further ten years, and then held several mid-managerial posts before succumbing to a devastating breakdown due to severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Since recovering, Barry Heard has decided to concentrate on his writing. His first book, Well Done, Those Men, dealt mainly with his Vietnam War-related experiences. He lives with his family in rural Victoria.

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