European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 29, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Vietnam novel digs deep into soldiers soul cw2 by Layne Heath William Morrow 361 pp., $19.95 Mike Genalo Ayne Heath served two Tours in Vietnam As a helicopter Pilot. Now he has joined the growing ranks of veterans who have authored books mirroring their life experience. In his first Book �?ocw2,�?T�?T Heath recounts the Vietnam War As seen through the eyes of copter Pilot Billie Roark. For the most part helicopter pilots were warrant officers which is where Heath got the title for his Book. While it is technically considered a work of fiction it is obvious that this is the Case Only because the characters Are fictional. It is a narrative of events that Only a Veteran of Vietnam could write and the Story is All too True. There Are no rambos Here no Hollywood Type heroes. Only a group of Young men doing their Job on a Day to Day basis As they were trained to do. Roark comes to combat As a Young idealistic american ready to right All the wrongs of the world. As with most of his Peers however he becomes jaded Early in his first tour. Heath vividly describes the daily existence of the helicopter pilots and their Crews their and author la tie Heath As a helicopter Pilot in Vietnam in 1969. Justement to life in Vietnam with its hardships and Lack of amenities their fear of nighttime attacks by sappers and ultimately the trauma of the death of their friends and colleagues. Idealism and duty soon come in a Distant second to the need to survive. A regulations were made in offices rules were made in the Jungle and in the Jungle there were Only two survive and take care of each other Quot Heath writes. For most one tour in Vietnam was enough. They were Young men Many fresh out of High school. All they had Learned and done during some of their most impressionable years was to kill or be Kiu cd. Now the realization that they were returning to society was a frightening thought. A the was 20 years old and his life had passed the Pinnacle a Heath writes of a combat vet about to be rotated Home. A a a what am i going to be after this a he said with a cigarette shuddering Between his lips. A what a anybody going to be after this a a Roark returns to the United states after his first tour to be greeted with that same sense of alienation. He feels out of place and uncomfortable. He has a sense that he has left something incomplete. He volunteers for a second term. But he goes Back to a Vietnam radically different from the one he had left. No longer was it a Battle Aga Fitt the common enemy and the elements. The american military seemed to be its own worse enemy and at War with itself. There is rampant drug use from smoking marijuana openly to popping pills on guard duty. Dragging has become almost a daily Way of life As officers live in fear of their subordinates As much As they do the Viet Cong. Roark also questions the conduct of the War. The United states is trying to extricate itself from the War and a  is in full swing. There Are too Many sorties where they Are not allowed to fire upon the enemy. Only the Joy of flying and the sense of oneness Between the pilots and their choppers had remained unchanged. Roarks hidden Side his sense of single mindedness and Mission culminates in a Surprise ending to a fast moving narrative. Driven by his need to finish his assignment regardless of the personal Cost Roarks sentiments Are summed up by Heath a the fact is that at the Bottom rung where the killing takes place War is As personal As it Ever  Taralo la a stars and str Paa Stah it mar in the new York Bureau. Tha Book la available Al Sara and str Paa books toss. A Romance Queen gets message wrong message from Nam by Danielle steel Dela Corte 389 pp., $21.95 Marc Leepson this Romance novel Danielle steels 25th, tells the Ultra melodramatic Story of Blond Beautiful Paxton Andrews. She s a Headstrong woman we re told More than once whose life takes adventurous turns after she leaves her Hometown of Savannah ga., for the University of California Berkeley. She encounters a tall dark and handsome Quot strangers and has passionate affairs with three Manly soldiers. But she becomes a War victim when her first two boyfriends pay the ultimate Price in Vietnam and the Viet Cong capture the third. The Book fails miserably in every Way. For one thing steel does not come close to evoking any sense of place. The Story is set mainly in Savannah Berkeley and Saigon. But you get no feel for the physical locations. The Way steel works these places May As Well be Saskatoon Boston and Sarawak. The characters in these non places have nothing to do with real life. They Are cartoon cutouts who speak a dialogue that went out with hoop skirts. The plot is ridiculously implausible our heroine sees More action in Vietnam than a squad of real grunts did. Then she miraculously finds her Boyfriend in Saigon the Day before the City Falls to the communists. A the had survived by Wiles and horrors she could t have dared to think of Quot steel gushes. Quot and now by sheer Miracle by nothing More than Chance or the hand of god he had found  within minutes of their unbelievable Chance meeting the lovers Board one of the last helicopters out of Saigon. Steels knowledge of the War would barely earn a passing Grade in a High school history class. She a figured out the difference Between an m-16 and an ak-47 and some other military facts. But a Little knowledge is dangerous. I counted at least 11 mistakes of fact involving the military and Vietnam steel also fails miserably in her depiction of Vietnam veterans a group she refers to several times with pity dripping condescension. Here a one of her wrongheaded generalizations Quot they came Back but they did no to want to go Home they did no to know where to go or what to do or w hat would happen when they got  Here a a message to Danielle steel from one of the Many Vietnam veterans who Defi Danielle steel nicely wanted to come Home and who had a pretty Good idea what to do when he got Here your Vietnam novel May have been written with the Best of intentions but it has As much to do with real life As your grossly inaccurate statement about All vets. Next time stick to your old bodice ripping format.  Sun. Tha Book is available Ai Stara and Stripe bookstores. Page 8 c sunday july 29, 1990