Wizard 6 Reviews

 
A close friend recently asked me if I might enjoy getting a sneak peak at a new book that was being published. Always looking for new reading material I accepted before ever knowing of what the book was based upon. Something I rarely do...

"Wizard 6", written by Dr. Douglas Bey and describes the everyday trials and tribulations of the medical support troops during Dr. Bey's 1969 -1970 tour of duty in Vietnam. While serving with the 1st Infantry Division, Bey compiled a daily journal of thoughts and antidotes. Dr. Bey served as Division Psychiatrist. "Wizard 6'' was Bey's radio call name.

Upon returning to the States Beys notes put on the shelf and began to collect a little dust. A few years ago Bey began to painstakingly transcribe those notes with graphic honesty. While I was reading "Wizard 6" I was amazed at how the author seems to pull the reader right into the situation at hand. "Wizard 6" not only, describes the daily military life Dr. Bey endured with his military support unit but also deals with 'the social, as well as, the psychiatric side, as well.

Dr. Bey and his medical team treated people with a wide range of coping mechanisms, including counter phobic reactions, self-medication with drugs and/or alcohol (just to name a few). Bey's team saw some four hundred causalities per month. Causalities resulted from combat stress, bed wetters, sleepwalkers, c-4 toxicity, cerebral malaria, a case of pseudologia fantasticia, and other cases that were unique to  the military as well as Vietnam.

"Wizard 6" is full of characters like the Vietnam equivalent to Klinger from the popular television series M*A*S*H*, a killer dentist, soldiers addicted to killing, passive aggressive payoff for officers who mistreated their men, and the ways men coped with the bizarre, often boring time spent in Vietnam. "Wizard 6" will bring back distant memories of the Vietnam War era, but also has an application to today's troops serving in not only Iraq and Afghanistan, but elsewhere as well.

Bey warns that today's terrorists think they have learned a lesson from Vietnam-namely to draw out the conflict and hope that the anti-war forces at home will force a withdrawal of United States troops. Bey feels strongly that it is vitally important that we maintain a united front against the enemy by continuing to support our troops and our government  until our objectives are achieved.

Dr. Douglas Bey has been in private practice in Normal, Illinois from 1970 until present. He is board certified in Psychiatry.

I found myself thoroughly enjoying "Wizard 6". This book provides a far different glimpse into the Vietnam War and it's aftermath. Bey's comparisons between his Vietnam era experiences and that of today's troops both in the field and returning home bring up amazing similarities. Bey took the extra effort to make. "Wizard 6" VERY easy to understand. In my opinion ,""Wizard 6" is 'a MUST read!

Steve Zarley - Z Bits book review featured in "Adventure Sports Outdoors" April 2006 issue