Found in a number of war books in the garrison city of Townsville , in the one above, was the loosely inserted photograph of a crouched soldier posing with a rifle and what looks like a cullender , a kitchen utensil used to drain fluids from food , on his head .
The author , Gary McKay, served in South Viet Nam in 1971, where he was badly wounded and awarded the Military Cross for gallantry.
According to the blurb, he interviewed more than 100 veterans and their families to build up a picture of their war.
He spoke to nurses and doctors, Qantas cabin crew and pilots, men who had served with the Army, Navy and Air Force, in helicopters, armoured units , maintenance divisions , destroyers , on the gun line , units attached to American forces and ships carrying troops.
This resulted in a most interesting book , published by Allen and Unwin.
McKay also wrote In Good Company and Delta Four and Sleeping With Your Ears Open : On Patrol with the Australian SAS .
Bullets, Beans and Bandages was first published in l992 as Vietnam Fragments.
There was another inclusion , a Queensland Health Public Patients' Charter pamphlet , in The Accidental Guerrilla, fighting small wars in the midst of a big one , published by Scribe, Melbourne.
Written by David Kilcullen, a former Australian Army officer and one of the world's most influential experts on guerrilla warfare, the wide ranging volume includes extensive coverage of the INTERFET force which went into East Timor.
(VIetnam . Guerrillas. Books .)
