The Cat from Hué, by John Laurence

Title: The Cat from Hué: A Vietnam War Story
Author: John Laurence
Publisher: Public Affairs, New York, 2002
ISBN - 1-891620-31-2

Summary:
John Laurence, a radio reporter, finds himself working in TV for the first time in the hottest assignment on Earth: South Vietnam. We follow his path from being a rookie CBS TV reporter during the initial stages of the mass deployment of US troops in 1965 through to the Tet Offensive of 1968, which he largely spends reporting from the front line in the battle of Huế, from the defence of the MACV compound in the first few days of the battle, through to the final sweep along the fortress walls a fortnight later. And on his final day in the citadel, he crosses paths with an indomitable stray kitten, who has survived a mortar barrage that killed the Vietnamese family he belonged to. On a whim, Laurence rescues him, buttoning him up in his shirt pocket, which the kitten rips to shreds, eventually escaping whilst they are in the Huey taking them out of Huế. The wounded Marines on board watch astonished as the kitten, unperturbed by the open doors and the slipstream, perches himself on the co-pilot’s shoulder so he can get a better view, while the dumbfounded pilot remarks “What’s this war coming to?”

Thoughts:
By the late 1960s, Laurence was one of the top journalists in Vietnam, and his reports had repercussions all the way back to Washington. He provides a unique window on the war, and there is a lot of combat in this book. We also get to see the world of his mates like Sean Flynn, Tim Page and Michael Herr, who he hung out with at Frankie’s House from 1965 to 1967, at his own room at the Continental Hotel, and at Flynn’s and Page’s apartment on Tu Do Street from 1968. The growing kitten’s arrival in Saigon has an impact on this little scene, with him being totally unphased by Laurence’s wild guests, and establishing himself as the master of Laurence’s hotel room, randomly attacking anyone who he thought was out of line. His nemesis was Tim Page, with whom the cat had a crazy ongoing war: it is described as like watching Daffy Duck taking on Bugs Bunny. Mèo (the cat) also establishes himself as the master of the Continental, wandering out along the balcony ledge to terrorise other hotel guests in their sleep at night and steal food off their plates in the restaurant. The Vietnamese staff start calling him the VC Cat.

I immensely enjoyed reading this book, and rate it with the best of the journalistic works concerning the war. It has the same broad scope as Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie, offering a tableau of the war, and is just as impactful as Michael Herr’s Dispatches. It also provides a useful complement to Tim Page’s Frankie’s House, showing just what a toll the war took on Page, in addition to the deaths of friends like Dana Stone and Sean Flynn. Its 848 pages flew by, leaving me wanting more.

Rating: *****

This is one I haven't read yet, and really want to now even more!