Book Review: Reflections of Valour
Reflections of Valour. James Elsener, Ledger Publishing, Inc., May 26, 2021, Paperback and eBook, 256 pages.
Review by Gerry Souter.
Reflections of Valour is a Vietnam War novel and the story of a United States Marine John Briggs, a volunteer who joined, served, and deployed. His death was officially recorded on the black granite Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Panel 15-E, which lists those deaths in February 1967.
The story begins with John’s former girlfriend, Brenda, tracing her fingers over the carved letters of his name on “The Wall.” Just touching the cold stone makes her feel like she’s holding him, telling him everything would be all right. They would have a life together. How many times had this scenario taken place along The Wall with its 57,000-war dead etched on its polished surface? How many times had those promises not been kept?
She came to Washington at the urging of her husband, Jay, who thought their sons should see all the historical monuments. At the pretense of shopping, she manages to have some time alone with the black stone edifice that snaked away into the overcast chill. She uses a pencil to transfer his name to a piece of paper, taking away with her a piece of Johnny Briggs and memories that threatened to run in rivulets from her wet eyes.
This prologue leads into the book’s structure. When the two first met, Brenda was the attractive daughter of doting parents, and John was a fit and good-looking young man with a Marine Corps anchor, globe, and eagle tattoo on one arm. After sleeping on the beach, he and his dozing buddy were returning to US Marine Camp Lejeune, dressed in their scruffy civvies. This was a different sort of boy than Brenda Kiley, a 21-year-old Political Science Major, was accustomed to.
While this sounds like a huge cliché, their dialogues and various fish-out-of-water exchanges build Brenda and John’s relationship into a believable exploration, leading to a deeper understanding and eventual love. He was a soldier boy to her college friends—but not someone they could push around.
Elsener handles their growing relationship in fits and starts while always attempting to see the other side. Even John admits to her, “You’re the adult in this relationship.”
James Elsener’s writing style is entertaining, straightforward, and based on his own experiences as an artillery radio operator during the Vietnam War. His handling of the lovers’ conundrum with a factual deus ex machina brings a catch in the throat rather than a groan.