In a sense, Dispatches is as much a counter-journalistic work, as much as it is anti-war novel. While the narrative is firmly rooted in Herr's role as a wartime journalist, he also bends the rules of what is traditionally expected of objective reporting. He is always quick to interject his opinion, uses expletives liberally, and has admitted to fabricating several characters that appear throughout the novel. Given this, Dispatches cannot be considered a straightforward work of factual nonfiction, but rather a hallmark work in the Creative Fiction genre. Nonetheless, Dispatches still offers an incredibly valid and personal testimony of the life and death of soldiers during the Vietnam War.
In breaking with traditional journalism, Herr sought to eschew the comforts enjoyed by other writers posted in Vietnam. Instead, he lived near the front lines in the same accommodations as the soldiers. He experienced the air raids, the sleepless nights, and the fear that the Viet Cong would strike at any moment. As a result, Herr bonded with a great number of soldiers and grew to sympathize with their position. He meet soldiers that were drafted against their wills, soldiers with wives back home, and soldiers that were deeply frightened of dying. Comparing this to the rationale for engaging in the combat, Herr comes to believe that the war in Vietnam is a morally corrupt venture lead by as increasingly incompetent command.
At the same time, Herr does not shy away from condemning the atrocities committed by American soldiers. He details horrible interrogation tactics, and insinuates that rape is prevalent. At one particularly upsetting point, he describes the way in which soldiers position the bodies of dead Vietnamese women in order to take photographs. In this sense, Herr is critical of the entire American military operation, from the Chiefs of Staff to the lowly "grunts" who follow their orders.
Herr also directs criticism towards other media outlets. He suggests that outlets like The New York Times and NBC simply recite the soundbites that they are given by media personnel hired by the military. In a meeting with one such officer, Herr notes how vapid and devoid of content everything that the man says is. In contrast to this, Herr suggests that we must critically interrogate all information that is given to us. We must search for the lies and mis-directions and all the hidden agendas. Only through this process is it possible to come near to understanding what actually happened in Vietnam. Yet some of Herr's closest friends in Vietnam are also journalists. He offers glowing and overtly favorable depictions of Sean Flynn, Tim Page and Dana Stone. With these men, Herr found camaraderie and kinship. They sent hours circled around marijuana joints listening to rock and roll. It is with great pains that Herr describes the conditions under which Dana Stone and Tim Page disappeared and were never found again.
The presence of drugs and rock and roll in Dispatches is also worth noting. Herr is very candid, even proud, of the drugs he and his companions consumed during the war. As he suggests, marijuana was on one hand a social practice, but also one of the only ways to relax in the incredibly stressful Vietnam conditions. While the drug was strictly policed back in the United States of America, it was widely used in Vietnam, along with harder drugs such as heroin. This, along with rock and roll, offered the soldiers a means of protest against the military establishment. Protest songs by the Mothers of Invention, the Grateful Dead and the Mamas and the Papas are described by Herr, and its easy to see how they would resonate with the soldiers in Vietnam. In this sense, Herr presents a valuable portrayal of the American cultural practices during the Vietnam war.
After the publication of Dispatches in 1977, Herr worked on the legendary film Apocalypse Now in 1979. Both the film and novel offer a unique and valuable portrayal of the Vietnam War that differs greatly from traditional accounts. For these contributions, Dispatches remains an essential work of the Vietnam era.
