Anonymous
Posted February 23, 2003
Ghosts In The Wire is a poignant, comic walk down the memory lane of a man riding out the string of pain, grit, and love that formed 'his' Vietnam War. His first thought, as the Jet's wheels kiss the runway back in the 'world' is who 'today' is walking point back in the Nam? Lieutenant Don 'Wildman' Rast returns home to Louisiana, his family, the bucolic LSU Campus, familiar Baton Rouge streets and finds he doesn't know anyone anymore. Pieces no longer fit: people speak English but 'hear' Sanskrit. Like a Thomas Wolfe vignette, Rast tells a story of loss and closure, journey and search, wonder and doubt. Keeping his ghosts locked in the attic, Rast opts for continued military service. Assigned to garrison duty at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, newly promoted Captain Rast, company commander of Service Battery, 8th Battalion, performs his duties in an exceptional manner, much to the amazement of the Top Brass who have squirreled Rast into the oddly efficient basket in the officer-making maze of the 'Green Machine'. Wildman calms his spirit in abstract painting and solitude. He traipses on the edges of experience with an assortment of local and loco Apache tribe people, haunted Nam Vets pining for an honorable exit from the Army, and hippie travelers and mystics from back home in the Bayou. Ghosts In The Wire is a magnificent memoir of a time that made no sense, of a time when a Nam brother had to gather his senses, pocket some memories, burn others, and figure out who he was, what he was, where he was coming from and where in hell he was heading. The book is written in an exquisite, epic poetical cadence of love, human comedy, war, honor and duty that reads like a great novel, forming a picture of identity with the reader that will linger long after completion. There is wisdom and mystery in this exceptional book. Franklin D. Rast wrestles with existential angst but gives an answer. i urge veterans and hippies, soldiers and civilians, to read this book. Bob Lupo, author, A Buffalo's Revenge, and Extremities-4.
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Posted June 12, 2000
Franklin D. Rast's 'Ghosts In The Wire' begins in March of 1970, as the Delta jet bringing him home from Vietnam is landing smoothly at the Shreveport airport. This decorated warrior then takes us on a one-year personal journey, clearly showing the reader what the returning soldier from the war experienced. He paints a vivid portrait of American life during that time, centered around garrison life of soldiers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, who had been in the war zone and were waiting to get out of the Army. This book is an eye-opener for anyone not old enough to remember that time in United States history, and for those who never served in the military. This talented author deserves a standing ovation for telling it like it was in a most refreshing and enjoyable way. Diana J. Dell, author, 'A Saigon Party: And Other Vietnam War Short Stories,' and 'Memories Are Like Clouds.'
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