REVIEWS

"A coming of age story at times as wry as JD Salinger, Soldier Boy is an open door to the very human antics and testosterone driven activities of young men serving in the military ... The story is strong ... A fine meal of Americana and a very entertaining read."

Grady Harp, M.D.,
Co-author of War Songs: Metaphors in Clay and Poetry from the Vietnam Experience 

"For the 'average' person in the army, Soldier Boy is probably more representative of army life than, say, Audie Murphy's To Hell and Back. Bazzett is a wonderful storyteller, and he never hesitates to poke fun at himself and his mistakes (which many people writing autobiographies have a hard time doing) ... A fine, well-written tale ... Enjoyable, an excellent read."

David W Straight, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, University of Tennesee Knoxville

"An Everyman story for those who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s ... Soldier Boy is a memoir, sometimes a highly personal one, a coming of age [tale], told with complete candor, laying out everything for all to see - good, bad, silly, sad - every emotion laid bare. Bazzett doesn’t try to defend his actions too much, and he doesn’t mince around with his faults either ... Soldier Boy will motivate your bones and stir your soul. It's well-crafted, invigorating, interesting, and fun! Great fun, that should not be missed!"

Lou Novacheck
BlogCritics Magazine

"It's really intriguing to get another perspective on what we all did as Cold Warriors, long, long ago ... I very much enjoyed Soldier Boy."

Leslie Woodhead
OBE, award-winning documentary film maker and author of the memoir, My Life as a Spy

"Written with honesty and intelligence and humor, Soldier Boy is a book full of fantastic details and spot-on memories ... The introduction by the author's mother is priceless, and the pictures add a special resonance to a special book ... [Bazzett] has done a tremendous job!"

Stella Suberman
author of the WWII memoir, When It Was Our War: A Soldier's Wife on the Home Front

"I greatly enjoyed Soldier Boy! Speaking as one of only a few Brits who served alongside ASA in Europe, it was especially evocative. There are few from here who remember eating and enjoying SOS, and fewer still who will admit to sampling the dangerous delights of Hamburg ... I look forward to [Bazzett's] next."

Geoffrey Elliott
OBE, author of From Siberia with Love and co-author of the JSSL history, Secret Classrooms

"Bazzett's story is anything but dry military history .. I was so impressed by the sheer degree of his recall and the graphic quality of his memories ... And he purposely avoids the smoke and mirrors of his trade. Instead he recreates the experience of army life essentially through the eyes of the boy he was in the 60s ... A lot has changed in army life and the intelligence business since those days, which makes this a book for nostalgic septuagenarians, and for their grandchildren, who will enjoy learning about grampa's wild youth in Uncle Sam's army ... But this is far more than just a story about the US Army ... [It's] simply a helluva good story!"

Harry Shukman
Emeritus Fellow, St. Antony's College, Oxford, author of War or Revolution and co-author of Secret Classrooms

"I enjoyed [Bazzett's] stories, which brought back memories about my career, which tracked almost the same as his through SP5, before I went to OCS and changed direction a bit ... Good reading!"

Major General Rod Isler
US Army (ret.)

"The pictures are all too familiar - old German barracks, gasthauses, [and] quite a graphic description of beer processing at The Deuce ... I see why people buy it ...[Soldier Boy] passes muster!"

Col Wolfgang W.E. Samuel
USAF (ret.), author of the acclaimed memoir, German Boy, and I Always Wanted to Fly

"Soldier Boy transcends time and binds the sense of service to America during the transforming 1960s. I feel like I know and have come to like Tim Bazzett, even though I have never met him. Now that's an effective memoir!"

Quang X. Pham
CEO, former USMC pilot, and author of the acclaimed memoir,
A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey

"I greatly enjoyed Soldier Boy. [Bazzett] has a rare talent - I've seldom encountered the like in fifty years of college teaching: the ability to keep the reader moving forward!"

Paul Fussell
author of the WWII memoir, Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic, and The Great War and Modern Memory, winner of both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award

"Plucked strings of memory with anyone who 'suffered' through years of army life -- or navy life for that matter."

Jim Crees
Pioneer News Network

"I will highly recommend this book to any and every old ASA buddy I can track down, as well as to anyone who simply wants to know how a boy turns into a man. If you served, you will live it all over again. If you didn't, here's what it was like. A great read!"

LTC Chuck Squires
US Army (ret.), former Defense Attache,
US Embassy Bishkek, Kirgyzstan - and former ASA ditty-bopper

"I read Soldier Boy with great enjoyment. Never mind that it doesn't have a war in it - it has a very likeable and convincing soldier ... A gift for detail and keeping the narrative moving. Well done."

Samuel Hynes
author of the classic WWII memoir, Flights of Passage

"Bazzett, who wrote the completely charming Reed City Boy, has an insouciant approach to his own life, [which] he makes his way through with wit and humor and more than a bit of brazenness ... His look at his army days is unvarnished. He remembers everything ..."

Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli
Traverse City Record-Eagle

"I read Soldier Boy ... My main impression was that [Bazzzett is] a hell of a nice guy, raised in a family of kind and caring people, and who raised his family in the same way ... A remarkable achievement. Lord knows where this writing thing came from, but obviously he's got it. In spades."

James Crumley
author of The Right Madness
and the cult classic ASA novel, One to Count Cadence

"Tim Bazzett's book should be a required read for any ASA veteran ... A touching and honest memoir that will make you veterans smile ... Reading this book will make most of you say, 'Holy Cow! I'd forgotten that and now it triggers my memory bank of old buddies' ... Forts Leonard Wood, Devens and Meade, then Turkey and Germany. It's all there in a whimsical style, with chicken crap and Mickey Mouse events scattered throughout the book."

Elder R.C. Green
1SG, US Army (ret.),
and editor of the ASA Turkey veterans' newsletter,
Days of Our Lives

"I'm still laughing my ass off ... classic!"

Capt. William Sims, USAF (ret.)
author of Somalia Diary

"Soldier Boy brought back memories of my own service as a young enlisted soldier in the early 1960s ... A world full of adventure and camaraderie only those who have served far from home in the military understand ... If you want a good read, this is a book well worth your time. I enjoyed it."

Col. Henry W. Neill, Jr.
US Army (ret.)

"A delightful read, and a recommended one for any veteran or for a family member. It's true to life, our life, as we experienced the good and bad times of our military service ... [Bazzett] got it correct!"

Vern Greunke
ASALIVES.com Webmaster,
and author of Beller's Fellars: Letters from Viet Nam, 1966-1967

"A truly affectionate snapshot of a genuinely more innocent and gentle time ... A very funny service narrative that many with armed forces experience will automatically identify with. I am passing the book on to my father, who is a veteran of World War II ... I'm spreading the word, and look forward to the third installment!"

Dr. Neil A. Patten
Ferris State University Professor of Communications

"I really enjoyed reading Soldier Boy. It brought back memories, since all of the services have something in common."

Darryl Ponicsan
author of The Last Detail and Cinderella Liberty

"I found it a real treat to read about the 'male' side of the military. Soldier Boy's honesty is simply mind-blowing - fantastic!"

Helen Gilbert
author of the memoir, "Okay, Girls - Man Your Bunks!" Tales from the Life of a WWII Navy WAVE

"Soldier Boy is one of those rare gems where, you sit down in the afternoon intending to only read a few pages, and you find yourself finishing that same evening. The detail and the humor that mark each page make it a book that transcends the military memoir and transforms it into a universal coming of age story...If you've been in the military, you'll instantly smile at the recognition of shared experience, and if you haven't, it just might make you feel as if you had."

Johnny Rico
author of the 2007 military memoir, Blood Makes the Grass Grow Greener: A Year in the Desert with Team America

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