This is a story about a Rhode Island native, Jim Squadrito, who served as a combat medic in Vietnam. One of the lucky ones who made it home (more than 1300 did not), Squadrito was nonetheless left psychologically devastated.
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This is a story about a Rhode Island native, Jim Squadrito, who served as a combat medic in Vietnam. One of the lucky ones who made it home (more than 1300 did not), Squadrito was nonetheless left psychologically devastated.
A basketball standout at Bryant College, Squadrito partied his way through school and came up short on academic credits. He was drafted into the Army and, after limited training as a medic, was sent to 3 different war arenas in Vietnam. His book, "Dance of the Chameleon," written with Arlene Violet, is an eyewitness account of both heroic and shameful events that occurred during that war. Rampant drug use among soldiers, trafficking of young Vietnamese girls, ill-trained officers, and woefully-prepared medics (including himself) were common realities during the war.
Squadrito recounts stories of soldiers whom he had to patch up who shot themselves to get sent home, of dead soldiers who were shot by friendly fire in retaliation for their attempts to discipline troops, and racial infighting that mirrored the conflicts of the civil rights movement raging stateside. Arms trafficking and artifact smuggling were standard crimes perpetrated by officers and soldiers. Fortunately, these inglorious realities were counterbalanced by acts of self-sacrifice and heroism.
After leaving the service, Jim had a difficult time holding down a job, moving through close to a dozen jobs in less than 3 years. A chance encounter during the Blizzard of ’78, when he offered hospitality to two men stranded on the road, got him back to the path of self-reconciliation and job stability.
In talking to other Vietnam vets, he gradually healed and wrote this book using notes he took right after the war. It is his hope that it will be a source of healing for comrades who may not have yet recovered from the ravages of that war.
"Dance of the Chameleon" is now available at Barrington Books as well as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. A book reading and signing will be held at Barrington Books from 3 to 4:30 p.m., this Friday, Dec. 18.