Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam FROM THE PUBLISHER
More than twenty-five years after the official end of the Vietnam War, Dear America allows us to witness the war firsthand through the eyes of the men and women who served in Vietnam. In this collection of more than 200 letters, they share their first impressions of the rigors of life in the bush, their longing for home and family, their emotions over the conduct of the war, and their ache at the loss of a friend in battle.
FROM THE CRITICS
David Halberstam
An overwhelmingly eloquent book of the purest and most simple writing on Vietnam.
Boston Globe
Not a history book, not a war novel....Dear America is a book of truth.
Bob Herbert
Always an extremely moving read, but I think never more than now.
Publishers Weekly
This is a poignant collection of letters and poems, mostly to loved ones back home, written by soldiers while serving in Vietnam. Ordered roughly by a typical GI's year of service (arrival ``in-country,'' leave, etc.), the selections range from brave and philosophical to raging and grief-stricken. ``Last Letters,'' the chapter containing missives sent by men shortly before their deaths, is particularly haunting. ``This book provides valuable insight into what `grunts' went through,'' PW stated. Major ad/promo. February
KLIATT
Originally published in 1985, this collection of over 200 letters still provides a moving account of the war in Vietnam. In 1988, an HBO film starring Tom Berenger, Kathleen Turner, and Robert DeNiro, among over two dozen other actors, featured readings of these real letters from soldiers as newsreels, home movies, and music from the era provided a backdrop. David Halberstam says, "An overwhelmingly eloquent book of the purest and most simple writing on Vietnam," and the Boston Globe review states, "Not a history book, not a war novel, Dear America is a book of truth." In the 2002 introduction to this edition, Senator John McCain writes: Dear America tells another story, at once uplifting and tragic: how young Americans, proud and scared, lived, suffered, and died for their country and their convictions in a war as distant from the United States as the Western front was near the homelands of the Allied troops in its trenches (during the Great War). The light that shines through the words in this volume, radiating from the fog of war, illuminates the conscience and character of America. A proud and triumphant nation, now engaged in a new struggle for freedom, we remember. Powerful primary source material for history classes and students. Category: History & Geography. KLIATT Codes: SA*ﾽExceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 1985, Norton, 328p., , Norwood, MA
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