There Were No Flowers by William Meffert is a book that caught my attention from the start. It is a tale brimming with not only the horrors of war, but the generational connection between father and son, the fight to overcome trauma, and the ability of the human soul to love. This book is an honest and poignant look into a time period we frequently only hear about in a history textbook. Meffert brings to life the entire spectrum of his war experience – the battle wounds and the wounded themselves. I could not help but be mesmerized by his experiences and insights into humanity during a time that tested one’s soul to the edge.

I received this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

“There Were No Flowers” came to me through Net Galley in return for an honest review. Thanks to NG , the author and publisher for for the opportunity to read the book.

The book is the story of a boy, the son of a country doctor in Iowa who also becomes a doctor and of his time spent at a field hospital in Viet Nam. “ There Were No Flowers” begins with young Meffert’s formative years following his father on his rounds seeing* his devotIon and service to his patients. Watching his father do surgery in the bedroom, barns and fields for his rural, and poor , patients and seeing the way his father was treated by members of the community solidified the boy and man to do medicine. The early pages of the books recount scenes that ifixed in young William the dedication determination and fortitude he would need in medical school and in Viet-Nam.
These heartwarming chapters are in stark contrast to those gentle times. Readers should be warned that the content of what Dr. Maffert experienced serving as a surgeon in evacuation hospitals , often under fire and always under pressure are not easy to read? Indeed, they are graphic and disturbing. Descriptions of the horrible wounds the doctors saw and the extensive surgeries they performed while literally standing in puddles of blood will make anyone question sending their off children off to war. It certainly did for Doctor Waffert. He began to wonder whether is was a good idea to try to save men whose horribly mutilating wounds would forever doom them to lives of dependence.. But his oath as a doctor and courage of those injured men kept him going.
Parenthetically, I recall. a Viet Nam vet I knew, who had lost one arm and part of one leg, and most of the other. His days were filled with pain, he drank a lot and fell often. He would often laugh it off because he did not want anyone’s pity. But everyone who knew him, even a little could see the anger in his eyes.) He learned why his father like so many veterans of WW2 did not open up about their. experiences. They saw things that they knew their families could not comprehend.
The final chapters recount how the author accompanied by his son returned to Viet-Nam , saw again where the field hospital was located, now a four lane highway. He speaks warmly of the Vietnamese he met and they , like he, were filled with sorrow that so many soldiers suffered and died for reasons that overwhelmed humanity.
The author is a medical man and not an author, so the writing os often inelegant, though certainly heartfelt. There are repetitive moments in different chapters. But all the book is very much worth reading,
This is a moving book and very much worth reading. It is not easy reading, though and once again, I warn of the graphic detail that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished.