John Rowe (20 March 1936 – 9 November 2017) was an Australian author who wrote numerous war novels about his experiences in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

.Classic Australian Works
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Early life and military

John Rowe, a former professional career

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

, was educated at Sydney Grammar School and was a 1957 graduate of the

Royal Military College, Duntroon lit: Learning promotes strength , established = , type = Military college , chancellor = , head_label = Commandant , head = Brigadier Ana Duncan , principal = , city = Campbell , state ...

. Rowe started his active military service in 1958 fighting in four wars, including the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

, Kashmir,

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, and

. Promoted to Major, by 1968 Maj. John Rowe served as an exchange officer with the American

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and th ...

and served with the

173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team The 173rd Airborne Brigade ("Sky Soldiers") is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for E ...

and the

1st Australian Task Force The 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) was a brigade-sized formation which commanded Australian and New Zealand Army units deployed to South Vietnam between 1966 and 1972. 1 ATF was based in a rubber plantation at Nui Dat, north of Bà Rịa ...

Author

*Over the course of his career, Rowe wrote six published novels and a Time-Life history book on Australian soldiers in the Vietnam War. *In 1968, Maj. John Rowe wrote his first novel on the

while serving in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, with the

. The book "Count Your Dead" was published by

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

. An article on Rowe's book written by John Miles called "Soldier’s Bitter Vietnam Book" was later published in a 16 August 1968 newspaper article for

The Adelaide Advertiser ''The Advertiser'' is a daily tabloid format newspaper based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named ''The South Australian Advertiser'' on 12 July 1858, *In 2003, "Count Your Dead" was selected by the Sydney University Press for inclusion in their Classic Works series of 25 books by Australian authors both living and dead. *In 2012,

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...

beat writer Peter Pierce wrote an article on Rowe's book "Count Your Dead" called "Kill by Kill, Name by Name". Pierce states that Rowe condemned the vacillations and complacency of Australian politics including the foreign relations and the dependence on its major allies. Rowe resigned from the army after the book was published and returned to Australia. *Author John Rowe is an author entry in reference book "Who’s Who of Australian Writers" and

Oxford Companions ''Oxford Companions'' is a book series published by Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates ...

book series; the 2nd Edition of "The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature"

Published books

* ''Count Your Dead'' (1968) Publisher:

* ''McCabe PM'' (1972) Publisher

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middl ...

* ''The Chocolate Crucifix'' (1972) Publisher

Wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonl ...

* ''The Warlords'' (1978) Publisher

* ''The Aswan Solution'' (1979) Publisher: Knopf Doubleday * ''The Jewish Solution'' (1980) Publisher:

Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. Currently, the company publishes in the fields ...

Rinehart & Winston - * ''Long Live the King'' (1984) Publisher Stein & Day * ''Long Live the King'' (1984) Publisher Rigby * ''Vietnam, the Australian experience'' (1987) Publisher Time-Life

References

External links

Bibliography
at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, John 1936 births 2017 deaths Australian writers Australian military personnel of the Vietnam War Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates