Blood Chit Reviews
Grady Smith's book will not be an easy read for anyone who was there..  There are too many images of the brutality of war for it to be enjoyed casually.  Sometimes, however, we need a reminder of why we work to stop war.  I recommend this book highly to those who were there, and especially to those who were not.
Jim Schmidt
101st Airborne, Vietnam 1971-1972
“Vietnam Veterans Against the War” Spring, 2015 (vol 45, no. 1)
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Full of action, psychological insights and tenderness, Blood Chit by Grady Smith stays in your mind and your heart long after you finish the last page.  The book is frighteningly realistic and a must read in order to begin to understand what war can do to all of us.
Loyd Little
Special Forces A Teams, Vietnam
Winner, Pen Hemingway Award for Parthian Shot
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In Blood Chit, Grady Smith delivers a Vietnam war novel that is both haunted and haunting in its gritty realism.  The writing is crisp and visual, the pace captivating and relentless.  A rare and meaningful book, Blood Chit is a great accomplishment by a gifted writer.  Do yourself a favor: Read it!
Jim Mathews
Air National Guard: two tours in Iraq
Winner, Katherine Anne Porter Prize for his short story collection, Last Known Position
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Grady Smith has written a story as old as war itself, the story of the other part of war--the part that never leaves you and sometimes overtakes you--and he tells it well.  Chuck Paxton’s is the story of many combat veterans who carry their war with them every day, regardless of the war.  Smith is a gifted story-teller and a skilled writer with the ability to allow us to imagine the unimaginable.  Blood Chit is as ‘real’ as it gets.  Chuck Paxton takes his place among the pantheon of warfare’s hero/victims.
Mike McDonell
Marine platoon leader, I Corps, Vietnam
Currently teaching writing, critical reading and Vietnam War literature at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort
Co-Founder,The Memorial Day Writers' Project
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