Good, bad or indifferent, much has been said about the experience of the American soldier in the Vietnam War. But less so through a Vietnamese lens.
Albany Law School professor James Redwood started writing about Vietnam more than 25 years ago through fictional short stories. Last year, Redwood was awarded with the Notre Dame Review Short Fiction Prize for his story “Love Beneath the Napalm.” In August, Notre Dame Press published a collection of his short fiction in a book with the same title as his prize-winning story.
Redwood, a 64-year-old Glenmont resident, said he was “stunned” and “honored” upon hearing his story was selected for the prize, which recognizes authors that haven’t published a full-length book. Previously, his work had been published in literary journals including Virginia Quarterly Review, Kenyon Review, TriQuarterly and the Notre Dame Review.
Redwood first arrived in Vietnam in 1972, but not on the battlefield. For two years, he taught English in Saigon at various schools and universities. There wasn’t “any real organized program” for him to go through, Redwood said.
“I simply wrote to some Vietnamese schools and universities and I basically asked them … if I showed up, would you be willing to hire me to teach English?” he said.
Redwood became aware of Vietnam in the early 1960s, and as America’s involvement in the war increased he also grew more focused on the country. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in English, he signed up to join the Peace Corps.
He was scheduled to travel to South Korea, but ultimately he wanted to go to Vietnam. But the Peace Corps wasn’t in Vietnam at the time because of the war. Redwood considers himself lucky, too, because he was in the draft’s first lottery for the war and had a “very high” lottery number that keep him from being drafted.
“I wasn’t in the military and I was very fortunate, because the people that served in the military with great honor and distinction experienced things I can only begin to image,” he said. “I also had the exquisite opportunity to get to know some Vietnamese people really closely … and that was something that soldiers couldn’t do.”
On April 22, 1975, he returned to Saigon to help some of his friends escape as North Vietnamese troops closed in, spending 24 hours in the panicked scene.
“It took me a while to get to the point that I actually wanted to start writing about it,” he said. “I am not sure exactly how it evolved, but I wish I had done it earlier.”
The collection of stories in Redwood’s book “Love Beneath the Napalm,” stretches across several settings, including the former imperial capital of Hue at the end of the Nguyen Dynasty, Hanoi after the American pullout from Vietnam, the Chinese invasion of Vietnam in 1979, contemporary San Francisco and even Schenectady, where his award-winning story is set.
“Love Beneath the Napalm” is the story of Vietnamese man scarred by napalm who ends up working in a Schenectady restaurant, and the reactions others have toward him.
Vietnam has heavily influenced his writing, but Redwood believes it’s a subject whose complexity Americans should tackle.
“Vietnam is problematic and it is difficult for us to really deal with what happened there, because we lost the war. That was something that was new in the American experience,” Redwood said. “If we looked at it a little more objectively the reality is most countries have lost some wars and won some wars.”
As the Vietnam War begins to fade from the American conscience, he believes it is also important for people to not forget it.
“I think you learn more from your mistakes than your successes sometimes,” he said.
Redwood is working on a sequel to a mystery novel and has no plans to slow down writing as he continues his other passion and career in law. Writing fiction, he said, sort of keeps him going throughout his days.
“It helps to get me up in the morning as I make the coffee and think about this stuff,” he said.
For information on Redwood or to purchase his book, visit his website at www.jamesdredwood.com.