The time is the 1960s, the war is Vietnam, and the place is a remote US signal intelligence spy base in the boondocks of Northeastern Thailand, but much of the rest is the same. A bunch of brainy, irreverent, rambunctious, unmilitary draftees battle by-the-book lifers with results that are by turns humorous and grimly ironic. The draftees are spooks, not docs, and the mission of the 7th RRFS at Ramasun Station is figuring out just what is going on in Southeast Asia, not saving lives. Still the clash of "too smart for their own good" underdogs with bureaucratic, cement-headed superiors is a common element. "Tales of Ramasun" and "Tales of Ramasun II" by M H Burton contain a total of 24 short stories that run the gamut for high-spirited hijinks to bloody tragedy. In the end, as in M*A*S*H, the downtrodden dedicated draftees of the 7th get their mission done in spite of interference by meddling, officious brass hats. You'll also learn a good deal of spying 'tradecraft' and military history from Mr. Burton's tales, and you'll find out what rural Thailand and Laos were like nearly 50 years ago. This is a piece of Vietnam War history that I have not seen covered in any other book and I'm not the only one who thinks so. See the attached file for a review of "Tales of Ramasun" by the Military Writers Society of America (MWSA).
aapromoramareview.doc
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