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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 19 customer reviews )
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9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 youth and maturity Oct 12, 2008
By David W. Straight
After reading the first couple of chapters of Bazzett's autobiography, I ordered the prequel (Reed City Boy) and the sequel (Pinhead) from Amazon. This is a well-written work about Bazzett's life in the US Army--in the Army Security Agency. It's about his time in boot camp, in specialty training, and on bases in Turkey and Germany. The one thing he does not talk about is his duties and work for the ASA (like the CIA, NSA, NRO, etc, you sign non-disclosure agreements and are likely to be given dire warnings about revealing anything). That would have been interesting, to be sure, but in the book you find that not having the details therein doesn't bother you all that much. What is more important are the friendships, the non-technical life, and the Bazzett's maturation.
There are plenty of books about combat soldiers in Vietnam, Iraq, WW II, such as Del Vecchio's powerful novel The 13th Valley. There's the classic See Here, Private Hargrove, largely about US Army basic training in WW II. Experiencing war as a combat soldier certainly lends itself to more drama. But the majority of soldiers in the past 50 years have never had a shot fired at them by an enemy--yet they serve now and have served their country. Marion Hargrove was trained as a cook, Tim Bazzett was trained in Morse code and other unnamed skills. So for the "average" person in the Army, Soldier Boy is probably more representative of Army life than, say, Audie Murphy's To Hell and Back.
Bazzett is a wonderful storyteller, and he never hesitates to poke fun at himself and his mistakes (which many people writing autobiographies have a hard time doing). Bazzett starts off very unsure of himself, and quite immature. You get the feeling that he might not have been ideal combat material. But he had skills and abilities that the Army found useful. Without Bazzett's saying so directly, you seem him grow--becoming less unsure of himself, fitting comfortably into barracks life (moreso than many other trainees), and maturing. This is not to say that boyish pranks in the barracks are put aside, but rather that Bazzett comes to understand himself and who he is. He doesn't yet know where he wants to go--that will probably be written about in Pinhead. There's a wonderful introduction by his 88-year-old mother, who is a bit dismayed by some of the language in the book. So you get a fine, well-written tale of army life here--enjoyable, an excelent read.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Best ASA book I've ever read! Feb 02, 2010
By R. Lynn
This book brought back so many memories I found it very difficult to put it down. Like Tim, I served in the Army Security Agency back in the 1960s. He gave a very vivid and real view of army life, especially basic training. He has a great writing style and an excellent memory after all these years. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who has ever served in the army (or any service for that matter).
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Soldier Boy, At Play in the ASA Sep 05, 2009
By J. Richard Dawson
I've just finished reading Soldier Boy. I was in the ASA about the time Tim was and his desdcription of Basic Training, Fort Devens and his assignments overseas brought back many memories both good and bad. His description of the places he went especially in the DC area was right on. I spent many nights in those beer joints. Anyone who was in the ASA would really appreciate what Tim has written. It is also a good read for anyone who is interested in what it was like during the Cold War. We were there for all of you even if we didn't quite understand why we were doing what we did.
Rick Dawson
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Growing up in the Army Security Agency Aug 28, 2008
By M.A. Kruchkov
This is a memoir of coming of age in the Army Security Agency (ASA) in the mid-1960s, told in the unvarnished vernacular of almost every ditty-bopper it was ever my pleasure to meet. (i.e. it's PG-13) The action of the book plays against the backdrop of Fort Lost in the Woods, Misery; Fort Devens, MA; TUSLOG Det 4, Sinop, Turkey; and Field Station Rothwesten, Germany. While I was never assigned to any of those units, the things that defined the sense of place in the book were nevertheless very familiar. The cold and drafty, World War II clap-board barracks with open bays; pneumatic injection guns slicing their way through the arm of unsuspecting inductees who wouldn't hold still; working "pots and pans" on KP; eating at the "Roach Coach;" not getting live ammo on guard duty; shift work; mid flicks; FTA; flaming carbon paper from six-ply; cars with more passengers than you can get sardines in a can; tooth powder, the ONLY purpose of which was--not to keep your teeth clean: you used toothpaste for that like everybody else--but to be displayed at inspections, because that was what it called for in the regs, and many, many more familiar commonplaces of life in ASA at that time. Reading the book was like taking a trip home to see the places where I grew up.
If any of the things that I mentioned above stir up old memories, then you'll want to read Bazzett's memoir. You can never go home again, but you can bask in the memory of what it was like. I only gave it four stars because it is not a novel. It would have made a good one.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
For former ASA soliders Aug 01, 2007
By Richard G. Matheson
"Rg of the 77th"
For those of us that were at Fort Lost in the Woods, Mo, Fort Devens, Turkey and Rothwesten, Germany or any part of that you will recognize yourself in this book. This is a growing of age personal account of that time and places that I shared. This is a book for those of us that served, laughed, drank, learned and matured in the agency.
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