Book Review: Body Count

Book Review: 'Body Count' by William Turner Huggett

4 / 5 Stars

'Body Count' was first published in hardback in 1973 by G. P. Puttnam; this Dell paperback version (445 pp) was issued in October 1983.

'Body Count' was the only novel published by William Turner Huggett (1939 - 2004). Huggett served in the Vietnam War as a Marine, and was awarded the Bronze Star. After leaving the Marines he became a well-regarded maritime lawyer in South Florida. Huggett died at age 65 of a brain hemorrhage, on the eve of a major trial involving a boiler explosion on the cruise ship SS Norway in 2003 that killed four crewmembers.

'Body Count' is set in 1969. As the novel opens Lieutenant Chris Hawkins takes command of Delta Company, Second Battalion, Seventh Regiment, Third Marine Division. Hawkins, who gave up his PhD program in order to volunteer for duty in Vietnam, is 'green' and thus something of a hazard to himself and his men. He is forced to quickly learn that much of his training in the US has not prepared him for the way the war is waged in-country.

The rest of the company is a cross section of American society: Hispanic and black men from the inner city, white men from small towns and rural areas, and an American Indian who (inevitably) is called Chief. Some of these men are cowards, some of them are brave, and all of them are counting off the days until they can leave Vietnam.

As the novel unfolds, Delta Company will learn whether Lieutenant Hawkins can become a capable officer and leader. But the learning curve is steep; forays against the NVA will leave little time for the Lieutenant to learn how to keep himself, and his men, alive.........

At 445 pages, 'Body Count' is a lengthy book, but for the most part it's very readable, more so than novels of equivalent length, such as Sand in the Wind and The 13th Valley. The author uses short chapters to continuously move the narrative from one member of the Company to another. The scenes of combat action, while highly convincing, are comparatively rare, with much of the novel devoted to covering the peculiar nature of duty away from the front lines. 

While not being polemical, author Huggett lays clear the conflicts between the 'rear echelon motherfuckers' (REMF) who were (are indeed still are, as the 'fobbits' plaguing our bases in the Middle East) the bane of the combat soldier. He also makes plain the drawbacks imposed on the American effort by the tendency of the brass to see the war as something to be Managed from the comfort of their air-conditioned offices, or while circling overhead in helicopters.

The books suffers from a few too many segments in which Huggett explores the ramifications of the Peace Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the racial conflicts in the States for the men serving in Vietnam. I found these segments to be overly labored, and likely reflecting a decision by the author to give his novel a more expansive point of view than that expected of a simple combat narrative.

The closing chapter, which takes place in the A-Shau Valley, delivers authentic battle action and will reward those readers who are willing to stay with 'Body Count' through its slower passages.

Summing up, 'Body Count' is a sold four-star Vietnam War novel. Copies of the hardbound edition and the paperback edition can be had for affordable prices, and are worth picking up.