Short Synopsis
In We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Doug Bradley and Craig Werner place popular music at the heart of the American experience in Vietnam.

Full Synopsis
For a Kentucky rifleman who spent his tour trudging through Vietnam's Central Highlands, it was Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." For a "tunnel rat" who blew smoke into the Viet Cong's underground tunnels, it was Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." For a black marine distraught over the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., it was Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools." And for countless other Vietnam vets, it was "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die," "Who'll Stop the Rain," or the song that gives this book its title.

In We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Doug Bradley and Craig Werner place popular music at the heart of the American experience in Vietnam. They explore how and why U.S. troops turned to music as a way of connecting to each other and the World back home and of coping with the complexities of the war they had been sent to fight. They also demonstrate that music was important for every group of Vietnam veterans—black and white, Latino and Native American, men and women, officers and "grunts"—whose personal reflections drive the book's narrative.

"Sean Runnette does a very good job narrating . . . When he is narrating a soldier’s memories, he conveys their emotions well, especially the individuals with a sense of humor." ---Exit, pursued by a bear

"Doug Bradley and Craig Werner's account of music's connection to the Vietnam War is intimate and deeply informative, with a scope that encompasses both the war itself and the way that music has helped raise awareness of veterans' issues long after its end. . . . Nuanced and frequently moving." ---Rolling Stone

"A fascinating history of music connected to the Vietnam War. Highly recommended" ---Choice

"If you want to understand what it felt like, outside of combat itself, to live through and be part of the Vietnam War, read this book. Then, go listen to the music. I did both and I urge you to do the same." ---Karl Marlantes, author of What It's Like to Go to War


"Bradley and Werner understand more kinds of music, more songs, and more troops of more kinds than anyone else who's written about the American military experience in Vietnam." ---Dave Marsh, author of The Heart of Rock and Soul