This is an excellent page turner. Every page has something of interest for the Male reader. Female readers might be interested in American Warrior but the intended audience is obviously Males and Males with some familiarity with the US Military. This is a memoir so O’Neal is writing his own story from his point of view. He writes about US Foreign Policy from his own personal experience and so provides valuable insight into multiple motivations for overall policy actions. All the best memoirs do this. There are no sources cited or footnotes.
O’Neal spends a lot of time dealing with his spiritual interests by he which means his Native American roots as well his time living among the Indigenous people of Central & South America and Cambodia. The end of the book covers his completion of a Sun Dance and Vision Quest. In these he cleanses his body and recovers his spiritual balance and strength. Much of the book goes over how he was unable to cope in the nonmilitary environment and so had to take self-care in ways that needed asking for other people’s assistance. This is good book for people dealing with PTSD or veterans coping with multiple traumas.
O’Neal has an impressive appreciation of the native people’s culture, medical knowledge, and hunting prowess. He says that while living in the Peruvian highlands with a indigenous tribe he helped kill a rogue leopard for them that was dragging off their children. After shooting the animal they removed the eyetooth incisor, put it on a gold chain and gave it to him. He says it’s one of the few souvenirs he has kept through all the years. He learned how to use curare as well well as defeat it.
O’Neal entered Vietnam in last years of the war after being assigned with the 173rd airborne and then went back as a LRRP. He qualified as a Army Ranger, did extensive troop training missions then joined Special Forces. He also spent years with the Golden Knights Army parachute team. I had never heard of this book before, but am glad it fell into my lap accidentally. Not a collection of battle stories but a rounded out account of a man’s military life and reflections on what it taught him and didn’t teach him. Another book to add to my list of exceptional military accounts. ( )