Silver Medalist in Literary Fiction, 2020 Military Writers Society of America Awards
Brendan Leary, assigned to an Air Force photo squadron an hour from L.A., thinks he has it made. But when the U.S. invades Cambodia and he joins his buddies who march in protest, he is shipped off to an obscure air base in upcountry Thailand. There, he finds himself flying at night over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in a secret war that turns the mountains of Laos into a napalm-scorched moonscape. As the emotional vise tightens, his moral fiber crumbles and he sinks ever deeper into a netherworld of drugs, sex, and booze.
When a visit by Nixon looms, Brendan dreams up an all-squadron bicycle race to build morale, win hearts and minds in rural Thailand, and make him and his underpaid buddies a pile of money. The Big Buddha Bicycle Race is a last gasp of hope that turns into a unifying adventure-until the stakes turn out to be far higher than anyone imagined.
The Big Buddha Bicycle Race is a new take on the Vietnam War. A caper on the surface, it is also a tribute to the complex culture and history of Southeast Asia and a sober remembrance of those groups who have been erased from American history-the brash active-duty soldiers who risked prison by taking part in the GI antiwar movement, the gutsy air commandos who risked death night after night flying over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the people of Laos, whose lives and land were devastated in ways that have yet to be fully acknowledged in Western accounts of the war.

As a Vietnam War visit from President Nixon looms, an American squadron leader facing his own internal conflict dreams up a bicycle race to boost morale. As the stakes get higher, the plot becomes a tribute to the complex culture and history of Southeast Asia, the GI antiwar protesters, secret air commandos, and the Laotian people.

About the Author
Terence A. Harkin served with the 601st Photo Flight at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, during the latter years of the Vietnam War. He went on to spend twenty-five years as a Hollywood cameraman (M*A*S*H, From Here to Eternity, Seinfeld). He has returned many times to Thailand and Laos, living in Buddhist monasteries, interviewing veterans on both sides of the conflict, and trekking the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Reviews
"An excellent, thoughtful book about the Vietnam War." * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *
"This work is a brilliant companion to the most iconic depictions of life in a war zone, including Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Robert Altman's film M*A*S*H, and Barry Levinson's Good Morning, Vietnam." * Military Writers Society of America *
"Postmodern and poetic, heartfelt and compassionate, full of sad longing and dawning awareness."
"A love song to Southeast Asia, sung through the absurd horrors of war."


Awards
Winner of Military Writers Society of America Awards 2020.



Book Information
ISBN 9780804012003
Author Terence A. Harkin
Format Paperback
Page Count 400
Imprint Swallow Press
Publisher Ohio University Press