Vietnam, 1969. The Army wants the truth. Just not necessarily the true version.
Private Rollo Tolliver thinks he may have found one of the safest jobs in Vietnam: Army photographer for the Public Information Office.
There's only one problem.
He doesn't know how to use the camera.
Rollo soon discovers that taking the picture is the easy part. Surviving the officers, censorship, questionable assignments, stolen jeeps, incriminating photographs, and the Army's remarkable ability to turn chaos into paperwork—that takes real skill.
Fortunately, Rollo knows how to hustle.
Alongside an unforgettable collection of characters, Rollo bluffs, bargains, and improvises his way through a war where appearances matter, the truth is negotiable, and the right photograph can be more dangerous than a loaded weapon.
The war is real. The photographs are questionable. And Rollo Tolliver just wants to make it to R&R.
For Rollo, that means Tokyo—neon lights, beautiful women, cold drinks, and a few precious days when Vietnam seems a world away.
But R&R never lasts forever.
Inspired by author Gerald R. Smith's own service in Vietnam, R&R brings an insider's perspective to the camaraderie, bureaucracy, and absurdity of military life during the Vietnam War.
Funny, irreverent, and unexpectedly moving, R&R is a character-driven historical military novel about friendship, survival, and the strange things ordinary soldiers do to stay sane during wartime.
For readers who love the irreverent military humor of M*A*S*H and the bureaucratic madness of Catch-22, R&R takes readers behind the camera and beyond the official story—to a side of the Vietnam War rarely seen.
