The Sweet War Man: A Novel
by Paul Barcelo

The Sweet War-Man is Dead and Rotten;

Sweet Chucks, beat not the bones of the burried

When he breathed, he was a Man.

Don Adriano De Armado,

A Fantastical Spaniard

LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST

SHAKESPEARE

I read this passage while a college student at Northeastern in 1967. It's been mine ever since!

More Description

As Second Lieutenant RANDY THAYER begins his Army training, ANDREA TREMBLAY is willing to accept him as a soldier, but doesn't want him to go to war. Randy seeks the answer to why men follow the profession of arms. In seeking this quest, he has chosen to be one of the new charioteers, a rotary wing pilot in the war known as the Helicopter War, Vietnam. To keep him from her own fears of war, Andrea tries to enlist his support in a climb to power in her father's industrial company. Can the security of luxury entice Randy from his middle class background? Each faces different challenges, which slowly begins to pull them apart. Can their relationship survive? Randy is caught in the Army's downsizing from the fading war. Andrea, aligned with her father, faces challenges of introducing new products into the conservative Tremblay family, entrenched in their stagnant interests. FAITH BECKWERTH, the neighborhood girl, vies for Randy's affection with an iron-willed determination. She supports his beliefs, listens to him, and supports him in his times of fear and need. Yet, Randy is still drawn to Andrea, and the physical pleasure of their love.