Reviews

This poignant update of the Agent Orange controversy combines military history with medical and human drama. Admiral Zumwalt was the naval leader who ordered the chemical defoliant to be used along Vietnamese rivers. His own son became exposed to the agent, developed multiple cancers, and fathered a retarded child. Pekkanen has spliced together numerous reminiscences from both Zumwalts, other family members, and friends into a readable stream-of-consciousness account of the family's experiences. Like all good biographers, he lets his subjects tell more about themselves than they intend. The ``dual autobiography'' which results is realistic and touching without being mawkish. BOMC featured alternate. Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Jr. ordered the Agent Orange defoliation during the Vietnam war, in part to protect sailors such as his son, Elmo III, who was involved in the riverine aspect of fighting. Years later, the son developed two kinds of terminal cancer, and his own son, Russell, was discovered to have a severe learning disability. This agonizing story is related here largely by the two men themselves, but also by their wives, former comrades in battle and others. Elmo III's harrowing journey through chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant (while maintaining a full-time law practice) are recounted in detail. When this book was written, Elmo Zumwalt III was still ``beating the odds,'' as Pekkanen puts it. Photos. BOMC alternate. (September 30)