Last Day in Vietnam: A Memory

AUTHOR: Eisner, Will

ARTIST: Will Eisner (illustrator)

PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 2000

Publication History

Last Day in Vietnam: A Memory was published as a graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics. Will Eisner intended it to be a recollection of his travels while working for the U.S. Army as a consultant and editor for its illustrated training manuals. Already well-respected within the comics community, Eisner released a number of graphic novels in the last few years of his life, and Dark Horse was one of the publishers that introduced readers to some of his work. The book also allowed Dark Horse to introduce a war title into its publishing line.

Plot

Last Day in Vietnam: A Memory includes Eisner’s recollections of traveling through Asia while gaining information for his work for the U.S. Army maintenance manual PS Magazine. The magazine grew out of his original work with the Army during his service in World War II. The Army considered his work significant to its training, and he was given free rein to create, illustrate, and edit Joe Dope posters. After World War II, this form of illustrated training evolved into PS Magazine. During fact-finding trips to South Korea in 1954 and Vietnam in 1967 Eisner heard or witnessed the stories that became the plots for Last Day in Vietnam. As Eisner said, the stories in the book were arranged “by personal importance, rather than chronology.”

“Last Day in Vietnam,” the first story, is told from the second-person perspective and has an almost dreamlike quality at times. A major who serves as an escort gives the reader a tour of a firebase in Vietnam. The major motions the reader to a jeep, then comments that the reader is classified as a brigadier (one star) general; thus, travel is easily obtained. The dialogue is the usual sort of idle chatter in which people engage while traveling.

As the helicopter flies along, the major notes that this is his last duty and last day in Vietnam. He then describes the moments that led him to this point in time. He also notes that he had been in the National Guard and then was assigned to headquarters for the duration of his time in Vietnam. He comments on the fighting spirit and capabilities of the Vietnamese. He notes that the goal of the war is to stop the expansion of communism. After the helicopter lands at the firebase, the reader is escorted to the ordnance shack, meets the commander, and sees the interrogation of prisoners. The base is attacked, and the major worries that he will not be able to escape. Only after a mad dash to the last helicopter and the ensuing panic does the major realize that he is going home.

The second vignette is entitled “The Periphery.” In the story, a Vietnamese waiter tells of a group of reporters talking about the fighting in the country and the wider picture of the war effort. Two reporters come in from the field and join the discussion; one talks about the Battle of Khe Sanh, and the other simply drinks. At the end of the story, the waiter informs the reader that the son of the silent reporter was killed at Khe Sanh; the discussion of war thus becomes personal instead of theoretical.

The third story, “The Casualty,” is a wordless story told from the perspective of a wounded U.S. serviceman. He thinks about how he was enjoying the sights of Saigon, hiring a woman for sexual pleasure. She placed a live grenade under his bed, which exploded, injuring him. He seems to swear off women and heads back to base, but he meets another lovely Vietnamese woman and walks off with her in the last panel.

In “A Dull Day in Korea,” a young American officer talks about the boredom of garrison duty along the demilitarized zone. The officer describes his boredom, his abusive father, and his love of hunting. This gives him the idea of shooting at a Korean woman who is gathering wood for a fire. His first shot misses. As he sets up his second shot, he is stopped by a sergeant, who scolds the officer for attempting such an act.

“Hard Duty” shows an enlisted man who is mean and physically strong. He longs for action and complains loudly about being in a maintenance area after a tour in combat. Finally, he begs the reader to come with him on his “hard duty”: a trip to an orphanage. While he serves as a jungle gym for the children, the woman who runs the orphanage notes that the children are of mixed race and that no one comes to play with them except for the soldier, who is “such a gentle person.”

The final story, and the most personal for Eisner, is “A Purple Heart for George.” George, the main character, is a clerk in a stateside unit who becomes inebriated every weekend, laments the fact that he is not serving in a combat unit, and types a request for transfer. Only his bunkmates, who try to stop the letter, know of his actions. As they get ready to leave, they instruct a new man to intercept the letter. However, in one set of panels, the officer in charge reads the request, signs it, and mails it. After the two friends come back and look for George, they find out his request was not intercepted and that he was transferred. In the last two panels, the two are informed that George was killed in combat not long after arriving. They lament his death, while another asks for his personal information to write his obituary for the camp newspaper.

Characters

•The major is an escort in the first story. His intent was to join the National Guard to gain extra money for his family, but he ends up in the Army. His observations on the war are not unlike the conventional wisdom of the day: The Americans are better equipped and have righteousness on their side. He discusses the body counts of the day and asserts that U.S. leadership should consider a “nuke Hanoi” campaign in order to stop communism. He talks of strenuous camp life when picking up reconnaissance troops, but he fears he will be killed during an artillery attack at the firebase.

•The waiter is an overlooked storyteller of the Vietnam War. The people of Saigon saw the war from both sides. Civilians often became shields or targets. The waiter notes that for some Americans, the war is academic and does not seem to affect them personally.

•The wounded GI is betrayed by a prostitute in Saigon; she detonates a grenade beneath his bed. He is later seen walking off with another Vietnamese woman.

•George is a clerk at a stateside base. When drinking, his courage builds and he wishes to be transferred to a combat unit. In the end, his inexperience costs him his life.

Artistic Style

Eisner illustrated and colored Last Day in Vietnam, using color, layout, and detail to convey his perceptions of war. Eisner’s use of sepia tones is a metaphor for the confusion of the war and represents a rejection of the black-and-white political view held by many of his contemporaries. Actions flow together in panels with undefined borders, giving the stories a type of ethereal, dreamlike feel. The story “The Casualty” uses images in place of dialogue to convey the pleasures and pains of military life. Eisner’s use of facial expressions to convey the emotions of combat lends a sense of realism to the stories that is absent from most war comics. Eisner’s attention to detail—be it the drunken, slovenly appearance of George or the dressed-to-regulation lieutenant in “A Dull Day in Korea”—adds further realism to the stories. In fact, the only cartoonlike depiction in the book comes in “Hard Duty,” in which the rough-and-tumble sergeant is able to straighten out metal tubing. This juxtaposes his physical strength with his soft spot for the children in the orphanage.

Themes

Conflict is the major theme of Last Day in Vietnam, whether it be internal or external. The reader is exposed to conflicting ideals in the stories, as Eisner illustrates that war and the politics underpinning it are not always black and white. In addition, the stories often illustrate the conflict between differing cultures and societies. The conflict between right and wrong in the international sense is also conveyed in the stories, as when the major discusses what strategies should be used in order to win the war. The reporter who writes of the conflict may see the war through different and biased eyes if a family member is involved. Finally, Eisner examines the conflict between the necessity of appearing strong while in combat and the suppression of emotion and compassion. “A Dull Day in Korea” and “Hard Duty” illustrate a type of conflict different from what one might expect when engaging the topic of war. The stories present conflict in myriad ways, including in realms of sex, love, and family. Ultimately, the stories indicate that war has an impact on everyone in society, soldiers and noncombatants alike. In all of the stories, Eisner’s Last Day in Vietnam seeks to demonstrate how war provokes both physical and emotional conflict.

Impact

Last Day in Vietnam deals with the human aspect of war and violence. Unlike many of the war-themed comics of the 1950’s, which commended valor, self-sacrifice, and the glory of war, Eisner’s text shows alternative emotions, such as fear and compassion. The work represents a bridge between antiwar comics such as Frontline Combat (1951-1954) and Two-Fisted Tales (1950-1955) from EC Comics and Blazing Combat (1965-1966) from Warren Publishing. Eisner’s recollections were gleaned from actual trips to combat zones, thus offering a glimpse of the combat life of an earlier time. The release of Last Day in Vietnam came at a time when war-themed comics were reassessing the wars that took place in the middle of the twentieth century, a time when most Americans assumed that wars in which the United States was involved were just. The book came out just before the wave of war comics created in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Further Reading

Kubert, Joe. Dong Xoai, Vietnam 1965 (2010).

Lomax, Don. Vietnam Journal (2002).

Sacco, Joe. Safe Area Goražde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 (2000).

Bibliography

Andelman, Bob. Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Milwaukie, Ore.: M Press, 2005.

Couch, N. C. Christopher, and Stephen Weiner. The Will Eisner Companion: The Pioneering Spirit of the Father of the Graphic Novel. New York: DC Comics, 2004.

Eisner, Will. A Pictorial Arsenal of America’s Combat Weapons. New York: Sterling, 1960.