Looking for a hero : Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper and the Vietnam War
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [509]-597) and index.

"Widely acclaimed as the Vietnam War's most highly decorated soldier, Joe Ronnie Hooper in many ways serves as a symbol for that conflict. His troubled, tempestuous life paralleled the upheavals in American society during the 1960s and 1970s, and his desperate quest to prove his manhood was uncomfortably akin to the macho image projected by three successive presidents in their 'tough' policy in Southeast Asia. This book extracts the real Joe Hooper from the welter of lies and myths that swirl around his story; in doing so, the book uncovers not only the complicated truth about a complex, gifted, and disturbed man, but also the story of how Hooper's war was lost in Vietnam, not at home. In the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies that mar Hooper's medal of honor file, the authors find a painful reflection of the army's inability to be honest with itself and the American public"--From publisher description.