Shabbos in Vietnam

Aish.com has an interesting excerpt on their website from Shaindy Perl’s Loyal Soldier. The book is about Army Captain Hank (Zvi) Webb’s experience in Vietnam, and how he “began serving his true Commander-in-Chief”.

From the Aish article:

Generally, the men on base were given the day off on Sunday. They would go out to a nearby beach, grill hamburgers and play volleyball. I decided to request that I be given the day off on Saturday instead of Sunday. Of course, in the case of a firefight, or other military emergency, I would join the other men in the field, but at least when things were peaceful, I would be able to rest on Shabbos.

[My boss] looked at me with an amused smile. “Webb,” he said in his deep Southern drawl, “I had a Jew-boy neighbor who lived next door, and he was Orthodox, mind you. Every Saturday, the two of us would mow the lawn together. So I figure, if that Orthodox Jew-boy could mow the lawn on Saturday, there’s no reason why you can’t come in and push a pencil on Saturday.”

Knowing my rights as a soldier, I proceeded to make the biggest mistake of my career and blurted out: “Sir, with all due respect to your rank, I think there’s a higher authority than you.

Read the full article on Aish.com or order the book on Amazon.com.

I just saw this book for the first time last month when I was in a Judaica store in Brooklyn. I put is on my Amazon wish list as soon as I got home. I’d love to hear from anyone who has read the book. Leave a comment below if you have.