4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Between television, movies, books and video games I've seen some really harsh realities (and exaggerations) of war. Grueling, crushing boot camp is followed by scary, nearly-suicidal warfare where brothers die and heroes are made, then people return to their home as entirely different, sometimes ruined people. However, the lighter, more realistic side to the military is rarely shown. M*A*S*H is the closest experience I had with anything war-related that isn't entirely heroic or depressing.
That all changed when I picked up The Final FIGMO by Daniel Gough, an autobiography about Daniel's 10 year career in the Air Force. Although his older brother joined the Air Force, Daniel did so as an almost last resort. It was the mid 1960s and the Vietnam war had been raging for years, so Daniel expected it but certainly wasn't looking forward to it. Daniel's hilarious military stories begin with his attempt to join the Navy, where he was denied because the Captain who interviewed him assumed he was a protest-loving, Vietnam-war-hating communist merely because of the college he attended. After being accepted to the Air Force (by the skin of his teeth!) he dreamed of the possibilities of Hawaii or California, but ended up stationed at Altus Air Force in Altus, Oklahoma.
From here, the rest of the 250+ pages are filled with all sorts of stories from Daniel's time in Officer Training School to his lucky release 10 years later. Told almost entirely in chronological order, the stories all easily flow into one another. Even with over 250 pages of the stories I never felt bored and didn't want to put the book down, something that books a quarter of that length often fail to do. While Daniel almost always worked in supply positions (ordering supplies, ensuring supplies are where they need to be and on-hand so that they're easily accessible when needed), he did so in all sorts of places and with varying specialities. This includes the required year "in country" (in Vietnam), where he worked with the "Jolly Green Giants" rescue unit who would fly HH53 helicopters to downed aircraft and rescue the folks in them. His job there was to ensure every helicopter was flight-ready ASAP no matter what it took, and that drive extended to creatively ordering paper plates using an urgent downed aircraft code for a barbecue!
I was really amazed at how well Daniel managed to keep things fresh. His topics are varied, his writing is entertaining and he's as snarky and sarcastic as one could ever want to be. The Final FIGMO is also the first autobiography I've ever read that ended with the hint of a sequel, and it's one that I want to read! Unfortunately, the book did need some editing work - for the most part there were errors on average every 5-10 pages, but there were a couple patches where there were one or two errors per page. None are major - "women" instead of "woman" or a missing closing quotation mark - but they were the only flaws throughout an otherwise excellent autobiography.
While I should only give the book 3 stars for the errors, I just can't do it. I'd give it 3.5 if I could, but I just can't in good conscience deduct a full star from such an excellent title. When I review a short story collection I make notes about my favorite stories, and looking back on my notes now they're more full than any other such book I've ever reviewed. As such, my official review of The Final FIGMO by Daniel Gough is 4 out of 4 stars. If you like autobiographies, if you've ever been interested in an inside-look at the military (especially the Air Force), if you're a fellow sarcastic human being or if you've ever had a crappy job, I highly recommend the book. For those who want an action-packed book filled with heroism in the face of impossible odds, maybe this isn't the book for you (unless that "heroism in the face of impossible odds" includes somehow finding a way to keep 1,500 bags perfectly stocked at all times).
******
The Final FIGMO
View: on Bookshelves
Like CataclysmicKnight's review? Post a comment saying so!
