This man has such an interesting story to tell and I could not get through it fast enough. Donohue's story is really an incredible one and the narrator did so much to bring this story to life. I think that the only thing that could have made this story better is if the author himself read the book and spoke about his own experiences. I have heard that this one is going to be made into a movie, and I really look forward to seeing his story brought to the big screen because I know it will be a good one.

This is a great non-fiction read. A true story of a regular working-class guy, doing his best to bring joy to friends in need. Simple, moving, and humorous... this book is a great adventure, told through the eyes of of an unlikely hero at the end of the 1960's.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. John "Chick" Donahue was out having beers with his buddies. They decided that it would be great to take a beer run to Vietnam to deliver beer to their buddy and give him support from home. But who would be nuts enough to do it? Chick. The true story shows Chick's journey and crazy stunt. Soon to be made into a movie. Great audiobook.

Excellent book! With all of the negativity surrounding the Vietnam War, one would imagine that it is hard to sell a book that takes place during that time period. This book however doesn't highlight the bad, it highlights the good. It shows how even in the midst of a war, friendship and humanity remain a constant. While the story seems fantastical, it is truly an epic journey of one man on a mission to bring support and comradery to his friends. Chickie is going to emerge as the poster boy of the Vietnam War after this book. Highly recommend to everyone.

I know this really happened, but it seems so unbelievable and by the end you’ll feel much better than when you started the book and realized its about the Vietnam War. After a night of talking and drinking, it was decided that Chickie Donohue, a merchant marine, would head to Vietnam with good beer and messages to soldiers from the New York neighborhood. Yes, it is a macho book but the message he took to surprised soldiers from the Inwood gang in the US. It’s was an experience to counterbalance the protests that were so common, but on his return, he realized that the protesters “were at least trying to stop this madness.” The story moves from the humorous to sadness and always filled with the outrageous. And Donohue also lets the reader know what happened to the guys. The narration of the audio version is done perfectly. Soon to be a movie

Great story!!! It’s almost like sitting down in an Irish pub and a guy says, “so let me tell you about the time I went to Vietnam on a merchant ship just to take some beer to my buddies—and ended up witnessing one of the war’s biggest battles.” It’s a tale that is so wild, it has to be true, if only because no one could make it up. I really enjoyed the narrator also, he was very easy to understand.

A true tall tale--Apocalypse Now if Williard's long journey into darkness was just so he give Colonel Kurtz an American beer. The criticism of the war is more than fair, but has been done better in so many other works on Vietnam and feels almost tacked on here to give this amusing scenario a more serious tone. That said, Donohue was brave and wreckless and that's compelling enough.

I never realized just how little I knew about the Vietnam War until I listed to this audio book over the weekend. What starts off as a hilarious, unbelievable tale about showing support for their neighborhood boys serving in Vietnam by bringing them beer in the middle of a combat zone, quickly develops into a thought provoking, gut-wrenching tale of surviving the Tet Offensive and making peace with the complexity moral quandary of supporting troops and supporting ant-war protests. My partner and I laughed until we cried each time we started the story back up again, with him begging me to turn it back on even when driving ridiculously short distances. I highly recommend this audio book if you need an escape from the world roday.

What an inspiring story. Chick Donohue made a brave, maybe crazy, trip to Vietnam to visit and encourage his friends who were serving during the Vietnam war. He wrote his tale well and the narrator does a great job reading it to the listener. Our library doesn’t get much circulation from audio books, but it most certainly will own a copy of this book when it is republished.
I learned a lot about the Tet Offensive. I was in junior high when it happened and all I knew of it was by watching it on television. This was a good history lesson and a good story of the young men who served and of Chick who dared to go and tell his buddies they were loved and respected.

Never underestimate the power of a scheme concocted by a group of young guys in a bar. Chick is hanging out in his neighborhood bar reminiscing and discussing their buddies who are in far off Vietnam. All agree it would be great to buy those guys a beer and Chick does one better. He is a merchant mariner and ex-marine so he hops aboard a supply ship with a bunch of cold beer and thinks he will find everyone on the list and give them a cold beer and thanks. He has incredible good luck in finding most of them (blame it on his Irish roots) and is able to talk his way out of more than one setback (again, blame it on his Irish roots). He finds himself in foxholes, hitching ride after ride from military who are convinced he is CIA and is in Saigon as the V.C. take over the city. The sheer audacity of Chick's story and funnier moments balance nicely against the more horrific scenes of war.
To my great surprise, this memoir full of war stories, testosterone and beer will have a wider audience who will have a greater appreciation for the job that cost so many lives in a war we realized too late that we couldn't win. The audio narration was spot on. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

Funny, heartfelt, adventurous memoir of friendship and war. Excellent for readers interested in history told in a thrilling way from someone who lives life on the edge, sneaking as a civilian into a war just to show his friends how much he cares and supports them. Brilliant storytelling, a barroom tale for the ages!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting story with a great narrator to boot. I admit that I was first drawn in by the title of the book, but soon found myself intensely interested in this brave ( although rather insane) trip across the world. A great read, and one that I will be recommending to others.

Love history? Memoirs? Nonfiction that reads like fiction? Have I got the book for you! "The Greatest Beer Run Ever: a memoir of friendship, loyalty and war" by John (Chick) Donohue. It's an unbeliebable, this can't be true type of book. In 1967, 26 year-old John Donohue—was out with friends, drinking in a NYC bar, thinking about friends who were serving in Vietnam. What could they do to help from NYC?
One neighborhood patriot came up with an inspired, crazy idea. Someone should sneak into Vietnam, track down their buddies there, give them messages of support from back home, and share a few laughs over a can of beer.
It would be the Greatest Beer Run Ever.
One man was up for the challenge—a U. S. Marine Corps veteran turned merchant mariner who wasn’t about to desert his buddies on the front lines when they needed him.
Chick volunteered and the Greatest Beer Run happened.
It's being made into a movie, written and directed by Peter Farrelly, who won two Academy Awards for Green Book. Book comes out in November, 2020

1967. After a former Vietnam veteran volunteers to return to that war torn country to deliver beer and good cheer to his pals, John “Chickie” Donohue finds himself up against extreme challenges, dangers, and the occasional dumb luck. Filled with deep devotion and extreme loyalty, this is a fascinating and somewhat insane story of friendship, allegiance, and heroism. This is my first audiobook download.