About the Book
The human experience of war is so hard to grasp – the camaraderie, the fear, the smell, the pain. The Boys of ’67: Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam helped better to understand the soul-altering experience of combat by focusing attention on a single group of men as they navigated the trials and tribulations of the Vietnam War. Transformation stood at the center of the story – the transformation of young men into soldiers and then into warriors. It was a transformation that all too often had a dark side, leaving men emotionally and spiritually battered for years to come.
What is so often forgotten, and its effects universally misunderstood, is that these men were not alone – nor were they alone in their transformation. For each man, there were women and families who loved them. Women and families who sent young men to war, but welcomed home someone new, different, darker. Our Story Has Never Been Told looks at the lives of these women and families, using the same research and compelling storytelling methods employed in The Boys of ’67. Told using stories gathered from the women themselves Andy Wiest reveals who these wives, girlfriends and mothers were, how they experienced
the war and how their hopes and dreams changed as America entered perhaps its greatest ever period of social change.
Much of this engrossing book will focus on the lives of the soldiers and their families after the soldiers returned home. The experiences are quite varied, ranging from marital bliss to bitter self destruction. The vast majority of Charlie Company veterans returned home suffering from some level of posttraumatic stress. Wives and families had sent happy, idealistic young men to war, and all too often welcomed home emotionally dark, drunk, abusive men whom they no longer recognized. Some wives stood by their men through homelessness, alcohol abuse, and physical abuse. Others couldn’t stand the pain and left the loves of their lives forever. Some reclaimed their loved ones from the brink of oblivion. Some only had memories to cherish. Some nursed husbands who would never walk again.
Focusing on a distinct, but very diverse, group of women and families, Our Story Has Never Been Told does something completely new in the field of military history – it lays bare the tale of how war interacts with real life. Based mainly on interviews, letters, and recordings Our Story makes for gripping reading – full of tales of struggle, failure, and redemption. All over the world, veterans and their families are alone dealing with issues that are central to this work. Our Story is the conclusion to so many books that are out there already – it is the universal postscript to war.
Table of Contents:
Prologue
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Women of Charlie Company
Chapter 2: Marriage and Training
Chapter 3: Wartime
Chapter 4: Days of Terror
Chapter 5: Loss
Chapter 6: War’s End and Homecoming
Chapter 7: Living with Vietnam
Conclusion
Afterword
Cast of Characters
About the Author :
Dr Andrew Wiest is Professor of History at the University of Southern Mississippi and is also the founding director of the Center for the Study of War and Society. After attending the University of Southern Mississippi for his undergraduate and masters degrees, Dr Wiest went on to receive his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago in 1990. Specializing in the study of World War I and Vietnam, he has served as a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Warfighting Strategy in the United States Air Force Air War College. Since 1992 Dr Wiest has been active in
international education, developing the award-winning Vietnam Study Abroad Program.
A widely published author, Wiest’s titles include Vietnam’s Forgotten Army: Heroism and Betrayal in the ARVN (New York University), which won the Society for Military History’s Distinguished Book Award; America and the Vietnam War (Routledge); Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land (Osprey); and Passchendaele and the Royal Navy (Greenwood Press). Additionally Dr Wiest has appeared in and consulted on several historical documentaries for the History Channel, Granada Television, PBS, the BBC, and for Lucasfilm. Wiest lives in Hattiesburg with his wife Jill and their three children Abigail, Luke and Wyatt.
Review :
"A painful yet impressive account of the effects of war on the families left behind." --Kirkus
"This is a serious book and as such deserves a dedicated effort to fully understand and absorb." --IPMS/USA
"This book chronicles the Vietnam War thought the perspectives and experiences of the families and loved ones left behind." --Military Heritage
"[The wives'] reminiscences unfold, along with Wiest's perspectives, in an oral-history style. "When I spoke to these women, they had been alone for so long and their experiences had been invisible for so long, that they were sure they didn't have a story to tell.... They do. Collecting their and their husbands' voices is commendable." --Military Times
"This book is poignant, well-written and researched, and at time both uplifting and depressing. It is not an easy read, but it's a fascinating one." --Army Magazine
"Reading Charlie Company's Journey Home might provide an eye-opening lesson for the average American. Today's society often overlooks or takes its all-volunteer armed forces for granted.In comparison, the men of Charlie Company were almost entirely made up of draftees whose lives were involuntarily disrupted by military service. The difference in self-sacrifice is incalculable and Wiest shows it." --VVA Veteran
"Wiest writes well and with empathy for what the women went through. This is a novel look at the Vietnam War's legacy that speaks to the experiences of military families today." --Publishers Weekly
"Wiest has written an important work about veterans and their courageous spouses, preserving their stories for us to analyze and reflect upon." --Washington Independent Review of Books
"Wiest provides a compassionate look at how the conflict impacted these individuals to the present day. Although specific to this Vietnam experience, readers will appreciate the common threads that run through the sacrifices of military duty during conflict ... Although there are plenty of other works that discuss the home front, the uniqueness here lies in the cohesive yet distinctive experiences of the Charlie Company itself, offering a deeper understanding of the soldiers through the actions of their wives during their year away ... Historians, military spouses, and those impacted by Vietnam will find this work sensitive, familiar, and uplifting." --Library Journal
"Written with such compelling narratives, you immerse instantly into one family after another. Unlike tales of war that end with a peace treaty, these battles continue decades later with haunting re-occurrence. The victories are for those that overcome." --Seattle Book Review
"This is a book for the casualties and survivors of that war-including the men, women, and children who loved them." --Clarion-Ledger / Hattiesburg American
