kathryn watson quigg

"I could not put the book down and read it cover to cover in one sitting. Any veteran, spouse, or friend of a veteran, for or against our involvement in Vietnam, knows the importance of Mail Call." -Lt. Col. Jim Dyer, US Army, retired

In 1968 Jay Fox is a young marine attack pilot in Vietnam and Ashley Beth Justice is a college freshman in North Carolina when they meet each other by chance, through letters.

Ashley Beth, naive and totally separated from the Vietnam War, begins her letter-writing as a way to personally contribute to the war effort. Having recently moved away from her small hometown, shes beginning to see the world from a new perspective.

Jay, in the midst of bombing runs each evening, has purposefully distanced himself from any close relationships, but theres something about Ashley Beths innocent and forthright manner that compels him to answer her letters.

The reality of the war hits home for Ashley Beth when Jay describes his plane almost colliding with another after a dangerous bombing run. The stakes are higher now-the disagreements, more intense; the flirtations, more significant.

Even amid the bloodshed in Vietnam and the civil unrest at home, Jay and Ashley Beth dare to dream of a life together while struggling to understand the war and themselves in To Any Soldier.