I grew up in Northern California on a horse ranch raising and training Appaloosas. Got thrown off a few times. I started my first business when I was sixteen painting houses. Fell off the ladder a few times. Went to college. Started another business. Got married. Started more businesses. Had three great kids. Moved to Hollywood to make movies. Made a few and taught myself how to write. Spent a good many years traveling the world - 56 Countries. Now, an expat living in Thailand writing novels. Life's good.
A Letter From The Author
My goal for the Airmen Series was to write a story about the entire history of the Vietnam War. As the generations that fought and participated in the war pass into history, I did not want the lessons learned to be forgotten. Young soldiers and their loved ones paid dearly for those lessons. We, as Americans, made some terrible mistakes and we need to do better. How can we learn from history if the stories are forgotten?
I spent ten years researching the Vietnam War before I started writing the first book. I went to Vietnam three times to visit the battlefields, talk with the veterans, and study the culture. I desired to do justice to the men and women that fought and sacrificed in the war. They deserved the truth. They deserved to be remembered.
I considered writing non-fiction but decided against it. There were already hundreds of non-fiction books and documentaries about the war, many of them quite good. I wanted to do something different. I knew it was going to be a long series. I wanted to write characters that the reader could follow through American involvement in WWII, Indochina, and Vietnam Wars which lasted thirty years - 1945-1975. I needed characters that had viewed different parts of the wars to create a complete version of history. I used real people when I could find them and fictional or composite characters to fill in the gaps.
The Vietnam War is a painful memory for many. Close friends, fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters were lost. Many were seriously wounded. Many were unknowingly poisoned. I don't pull any punches when I write. I tell my stories the way I believe they would have happened. But I also believe it is easier for some to remember when the stories are fiction. They can tell themselves it's not real and that may help cushion the blow as they come to terms with their past and find peace. I have no desire to hurt anyone but I do believe we should remember the sacrifices that were made. Hopefully, those that were there can share their memories with their friends and families, so they are not forgotten.