My father was a Vietnam vet and a double amputee, and The Inherited War is a collection of stories from our lives together. My intention in writing about it is to tell how the Vietnam War affected my dad and how he, in turn, affected his family. It’s my father’s story, seen through my eyes; it’s also the story of my life, in which my dad is a principal character.

My dad was a disabled Vietnam vet.  He was bound to a wheelchair, having lost his legs in a double claymore mine blast somewhere in the jungles of Cambodia. Even though his physical wounds were obvious, as a child I never thought of him as disabled. He drove a pick-up truck with hand controls, hunted and fished, drove an ATV, mowed our grass and did chores around the house. He was a carpenter, a welder and a gunsmith. He could find a way to do anything he wanted to do.