Author guest post from Bob Armstrong.

In the spring of 2021 the Department of Veterans Affairs discontinued Bob Armstrong’s prescription for Vicodin. Under the VA’s rules and regulations, the veteran has a right to seek a review of any decision regarding his medical care through a written appeal. In most cases, when disputing a decision on the use of narcotic pain medicine, the veteran turns in a brief one or two-page appeal asking that his or her prescription be renewed. Armstrong felt a more detailed explanation was in order. He spent 18 months writing up this 90,000 word appeal. Despite this effort, the VA denied his appeal. 

Given the massive publicity over the past two decades surrounding the opioid crisis in the United States, Armstrong believes his viewpoint merits public attention. This book is a copy of his appeal with some additional material at the end. Armstrong admits he is prone to exaggeration and satire, but that, he claims, is because he is Off His Med.

The title for this memoir, No Exit from Vietnam, is captured by the author himself when he writes:

Since I returned from the war I don’t believe there has been a single day in my life without a passing thought about Vietnam. A story in the newspaper, a flash across the TV screen, a visit to the VA, a conversation with a friend, pho soup in Little Saigon, the tri-colored bumper sticker on the car in front of me, the panhandler on the corner holding out his “Vietnam Veteran” cardboard sign, a ride with the taxi driver from Da Nang now living in the same small town on the Oregon coast where I live, or the Coast Guard helicopter turning in the wind. Or a police chopper. Or the hospital’s ambulance chopper. Doesn’t matter. In my head, a rippling, thumping sound of rotor blades, a Huey with a door gunner blasting away, 500 rounds per minute. 

Order your copy here.