andrea hartley

Visit Vietnam, see it through the eyes of a 19-year-old boy-turned-soldier, a gentle, fun-loving soul thrust into an unfamiliar world. This true memoir focuses one man's story of love found amidst terrible hatred, of laughter amidst the backdrop of war, of courage discovered, and the numbing of mind and soul. It was a whirlwind of the unbelievable and the unthinkable; it was a nightmare which held a dream.  

The purpose of this memoir is to tell another side of the tragic story of Vietnam. Through Bryant's eyes, we see the beautiful landscape of the country and we experience the inviting beach, refreshing water, gorgeous sunsets. We step back in history and meet the natives, dine with them according to their customs of that day. We see the terrible poverty and abuse that some of them endure, in sharp contrast with some of the experiences of the privileged wealthy. We meet the woman Bryant falls in love with and marries, who was born of a Vietnamese mother and French father. We experience their courtship and wedding in the midst of war. He introduces us to some good American soldiers and some very bad American soldiers and the heinous tactics of the enemy soldiers. We laugh with him and we cry with him as he shares his recollection of his true experiences we discover a dream amidst the nightmare.