Title: Marble Mountain Memoirs
Author: Robert Romaniello
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Joe Epley
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1479265454
A diagnosis of Stage Four Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2005 linked to Agent Orange 35 years ago in Vietnam triggers a trip back into the depths of a young man's soul and into the depths of the soul of America at war.
Title: Thirty Days with My Father: Finding Peace from Wartime PTSD
Author: Christal Presley, Phd
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Cathryn J. Prince
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0757316468
A soldier's return home from war is often just the beginning of another, more internalized battle. In her memoir, Presley recounts 30 days of interviews with her Vietnam veteran father—conversations in which she attempts to understand her father, his PTSD, and her own lifetime of vicarious traumas. Each day is given a chapter, and each chapter concludes with a "Journal" entry that revisits Presley's tumultuous childhood memories. What emerges from this format is a harrowing portrait of the past's ability to haunt the present; Presley's descriptions of the troubled child she was blend all too easily into the confused and searching adult she becomes. In some cases, she is compelled to go to a Veterans Affairs hospital and even to Vietnam. The book's division into 30 days feels increasingly forced and fragmented with the passing of each chapter. Such a story is, by its very nature, fractured, and by the end of the book Presley's father is no less tormented than he was at Day One. Yet Presley has found stability in her father's story, and her willingness to share it—and her own revelations—will be appreciated by readers who deal with any form of wartime PTSD.
Title: Still Having Fun
Author: Candace George Thompson
Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir
Reviewer: Joyce M. Gilmour
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1937763625
This remarkable biography of a military marriage which lasted from 1941 until 2007 includes everything from letters written in war zones to photographs that chronicle the lives and romance of Rex and Bettie George. Written by their daughter, Candace George Thompson, after their deaths, "Still Having Fun" is a moving testament to the character and resilience of American military families.
Title: Tunesmith Chronicles: A Musical History Tour
Author: Lem Genovese
Genre: Memoir/Autobiography/Creative Nonfiction
Reviewer: Joyce Faulkner
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B009EUCI7A
The lessons and legacy from our war in Indochina are the stuff of contradiction. There are plenty of negatives should one decide to walk down that misbegotten road. It has been paved with bitterness, resentment, distrust, propaganda and scapegoating which have made it smoother and far easier to tread upon with each passing decade. The far more difficult journey is not found on a marked highway and is much harder to locate. An honest, fact based journal is not just needed should this path be chosen, it should be demanded by our posterity. Veterans from all combat zones need to better understand that responsibility to aid in the process of sharing wisdom, encouraging understanding and healing.
Title: Listen for the Whispers: Coping with Grief and Learning to Live Again
Author: Kim Kluxen Meredith
Genre: Spiritual/Religious
Reviewer: E Franklin Evans
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1934980471
“The whine of the sirens pierced deeply into my soul…” After a tragic one-car accident, a young mother catapults from an idyllic life to one filled with grief and uncertainty. By listening to the guiding whispers within her, Kim Kluxen Meredith’s journey from unfathomable heartache to a life once again filled with love and laughter is the inspiring story of hope for everyone who has experienced the loss of someone beloved to them.