The Military Dimension

The Military Dimension and The Military Dimension Mark II; by David Drake (Baen Books. 07/91 for Mark I; 12/95 for Mark II. Cover artist John Rheaume for Mark I and Newell Covers and John Pierrard for Mark II. ISBN 0-671-72054-6 for Mark I and 0-671-87697-X for Mark II).

Welcome to the War Zone: Drake outlines some autobiographical notes, before, during and after his Vietnam experience. He also talks about being a soldier...

When they say that war changes a man, they're being euphemistic. War makes a man insane by civilian standards. When the man comes back, he may return to civilian norms again. After a while.

I'm not proud of many of the things that happened in Nam. I'm not proud of some of the things I did myself. But the men I served with were, for the most part, doing the best job they could with the cards they'd been dealt. I'm proud of them, and I'm proud to have been among them.

Anybody's got a right to criticize the things that happened. But don't criticize the men who did them unless you've been in their shoes. Ever since I came back, the object of my military fiction has been to put somebody as normal as you, or as I was, into a war zone.

Rescue Mission: What happens when the people you are trying to rescue are as bad as the enemy? Collaborators have been found in every war. Innocent victims of Stockholm syndrome or cooperative enemies?

The Dancer in the Flames: Drake takes a horror story idea and tosses it into the horror of war. I seem to recall that there were a lot of American Civil War tales that involved ghosts and the like; I'm surprised that I haven't encountered more such from other (more recent) wars. Reads like a classic Twilight Zone episode.

Arclight: All that reading of H.P. Lovecraft and writing of Lovecraft/Derleth pastiches is put to good use here. Also, I detect a hint of "Monsters from the Id!"

Band of Brothers: Looking at the bonds between soldiers in a unit. I heard an utterly ludicrous story on NPR this week which seemed to be faulting the US Army credo of "leave no man behind" as "costing" too much. They don't seem to realize that things like that is what allows people to make it through things like the hell of combat (or fighting fires, etc.) to begin with!

Firefight: In this story, US soldiers in Vietnam encounter a primal horror older than their civilization, or that of the people we usually think of as living in that country.

Contact: The US Air Force zaps a UFO. The Viet Cong and the US ground forces both race to the site, not knowing what lies there. A unit commander makes a decision between saving his soldiers and obeying orders.

As Our Strength Lessens: A story set in Keith Laumer's Bolo series. Drake does a good job of bringing the Bolo to life and a good job with the somewhat vague and sometimes contradictory background of the series.

Best of Luck: A cheap good luck piece turns out to be the real thing when a soldier in Vietnam has an unexpected encounter with an odd creature during a firefight.

The Guardroom: Possibly the weakest entry in the book. Part of either a theme anthology or a shared-world anthology, so possibly I would have enjoyed it more had it been part of that collection.

The Last Battalion: All those tabloid tales you read about Nazi flying saucers are true! True, I tell you! A pretty odd background/backstory, but Drake makes it all work.

Something Had to be Done: A good example of why a military uses the draft is not a good idea. You never know who...or what...is going to be drafted!

The Tank Lords: An entry from Drake's most famous creation, Hammer's Slammers. A platoon of the Hammer's vehicles is sent to a castle. The lady of the castle is attracted to a member of the detachment. Toss in an interesting main character (that I hope Drake uses again some day) and you've got a good entry into that series.

The End: As with Rescue Mission, part of The Fleet series. Peace is called with the Weasels and some are trying to ride the glory of the Headhunters.

The Way We Die: Not a science fiction story. The major incidents of the story are based on real events from Drake's time in Vietnam.

Afterword: One War Later: Drake talks about the (first) Gulf War. Time for another edition of the book?

Made up of: Introduction: Welcome to the War Zone; Rescue Mission; The Dancer in the Flames; Arclight; Band of Brothers; Firefight; Contact!; As Our Strength Lessens (Mark II only); Best of Luck; The Guardroom; The Last Battalion; Something Had to be Done; The Tank Lords; The End (Mark II only); The Way We Die; Afterword: One War Later (Mark II only).

Counts as 16 entries in the 2007 Short Story Project (collection completed).