The Marine and the Flower Child

"The story of a Marine overseas and his girl back home in New York. Their letters encompass a first hand look at the Vietnam War and the love forged during a year apart ... The journey toward this book began 50 years ago, with the hundreds of letters Mac and I wrote to each other. While packing for a cross-country move, I opened the box containing those letters and rediscovered the people we were then. Memories flooded back. I shared the stories with friends. Family members convinced me to use these letters as the foundation for a book, which would tell our story and relay a history of 1968-1970 from a first hand perspective. I was able to access information from Mac's USMC records and other research sources, which helped me to better understand the things he'd alluded to in his letters. It was like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. Facts, time and perspective joined to give me a bigger, clearer picture of those eventful years. I've learned that life must be lived forward, but understood by looking back.'--