Looking for a hero : Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper and the Vietnam War / Peter Maslowski and Don Winslow.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 509-597) and index.

Print version record.

Widely acclaimed as the Vietnam War's most highly decorated soldier, Joe Ronnie Hooper in many ways serves as a symbol for that conflict. His troubled, tempestuous life paralleled the upheavals in American society during the 1960s and 1970s, and his desperate quest to prove his manhood was uncomfortably akin to the macho image projected by three successive presidents in their "tough" policy in Southeast Asia. Looking for a Hero extracts the real Joe Hooper from the welter of lies and myths that swirl around his story; in doing so, the book uncovers not only the complicated truth about an American hero but also the story of how Hooper's war was lost in Vietnam, not at home. Extensive interviews with friends, fellow soldiers, and family members reveal Hooper as a complex, gifted, and disturbed man. They also expose the flaws in his most famous and treasured accomplishment: earning the Medal of Honor. In the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies that mar Hooper's medal of honor file, authors Peter Maslowski and Don Winslow find a painful reflection of the army's inability to be honest with itself and the American public, with all the dire consequences that this dishonesty ultimately entailed. In the inextricably linked stories of Hooper and the Vietnam War, the nature of that deceit, and of America's defeat, becomes clear.

Machine derived contents note: <h2>Contents</h2> -- Prologue 000 -- Chapter 1 000 -- Chapter 2 000 -- Chapter 3 000 -- Chapter 4 000 -- Chapter 5 000 -- Chapter 6 000 -- Chapter 7 000 -- Chapter 8 000 -- Chapter 9 000 -- Chapter 10 000 -- Chapter 11 000 -- Chapter 12 000 -- Chapter 13 000 -- Chapter 14 000 -- Epilogue 000 -- Appendix. Joe Ronnie Hooper's Medals 000 -- Acknowledgments 000 -- A Few Words concerning the Text 000 -- Abbreviations and Acronyms 000 -- Notes 000 -- Bibliographic Essay 000 -- Index 000.

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