When Can I Stop Running?

2020 Rave Review Review Book Club awards: BOOK OF THE YEAR

The year is 1970, and the story follows the two soldiers - impressionable Detroit teenagers - during their long night in a Listening Post ('LP'), some 400 meters beyond the bunker line of the new firebase. Their assignment as a "human early warning system" is to listen for enemy activity and forewarn the base of any potential dangers. As they were new to the "Iron Triangle" and its reputation, little did they know that units before them lost dozens of soldiers in this nightly high-risk task and referred to those assigned as "bait for the enemy" and "sacrificial lambs." As he sat in the pitch-black tropical jungle - with visibility at less than two feet - John's imagination took hold throughout the agonizing night and, at times, transported him back to some of his most vivid childhood memories - innocent but equally terrifying at the time. As kids, we instinctively run fast to escape imaginary or perceived danger. Still, as soldiers, men are trained to conquer their fears and develop the confidence to stand their ground and fight. It's time to stop, as running is no longer an option.

Review by Gary F Jones:

This is a long short story or novella about a young man's response to fear from when he was 7 years old until he was in Vietnam in the early 1970s. The story alternates back and forth between things that scared him as he grew up in Detroit and the things that terrify him in the jungle of the Iron Triangle in Vietnam. The tales are engaging and pleasant to read. However, he got into more frightening situations as he was growing up than I even came close to.