The Wizard

Few things brought a smile to the faces of ground troops in Vietnam more than the voice of Airman First Class Adrian Cronauer bellowing “Good Morning Vietnam!” over the AFRS Radio. Cronauer’s sarcastic and irreverent vignettes of the war may have irked his superiors but enlisted men loved it. “Charlie Company, Ist Battalion Flower Power Division enjoyed a surprise of fifty gallons of strawberry ice cream mysteriously misdelivered to them instead of the officer’s club. No doubt the work of the Wizard!” was an example. Cronauer got severe heat from the brass when he announced the unexpected arrival of Peter, Paul, and Mary at Fire Base Rushmore in the highlands, something that had even surprised them. He proclaimed it was only a rumor. “Ask the Wizard if you want the truth,” he said when questioned as to where he got his facts. Whether fact or fiction, the Wizard got credit for wonderous deeds. He had hoped his nickname would never surface when he got back to the states and settled at Ft. Hood, Texas. Fate had other ideas. A pugilistic priest, Father Phillip Keaveny, would start Declan O’Sullivan on the path to its rebirth. Along the way, he would rediscover a lost faith and find the love of his life.