YEAR OF THE DOVE

Diaries of a medico in Vietnam

by Dave Wilkie

reviewed by Mike Crowl

When the NZ Government funded a number of health professionals to go to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, (via the Colombo Plan), Wilkie, an anaesthetist, made a somewhat spur-of-the moment decision to join them. Not long divorced, he settled his nearly-grown up children with friends, and set off, without much idea what was ahead. His year in Vietnam was not only culturally eye-opening, but also affected a personal relationship at home, as he fell in love with one of the Kiwi nurses in the unit. What he has presented here is the thirty-year old diary of his time in Vietnam, broken up into sections with brief introductions. It is full of detail of the people and place, much of it intriguing and absorbing, as well as some that must have seemed interesting at the time, but three decades on has lost its punch. (Wilkie confesses to being an "inveterate diarist.") There are innumerable photographs included, though a number are printed too small for the detail to be clear. As might be expected, Wilkie's own personality and behaviour pervade the book, a personality seen somewhat obliquely, requiring a reading between the lines. He also adds an introduction and afterview, to round out the picture of his life since this adventurous time. This was not an isolated adventure: since his Vietnam trip, Dave Wilkie has had involvement as an anaesthetist with more than one war-torn country, as well as considerable experience in hospitals here and abroad. If you enjoy the scatter-shot version of life that diaries provide, you'll certainly enjoy this.

Published by Quoin Press, Christchurch 1998

Back to the Index