Carry Me Home

by John M Del Vecchio

Overview

In this powerful and poignant epic, Del Vecchio transports the soldiers of the Viet Nam experience to their final battlefield—the home front. High Meadow Farm, in the fertile hill country of central Pennsylvania, would be their salvation. In Viet Nam they had fought side by side, brothers in arms. Now in the face of personal tragedy and bureaucratic deception, they would create a more enduring allegiance, an alliance of the spirit and the soil. "Carry Me Home" is the remarkable story of their struggle to find each other and themselves, a saga spanning fifteen years—fifteen years lost in a wilderness called America. In its scope, breadth, and brilliance, "Carry Me Home" is much more than a novel about Viet Nam and Viet Nam veterans. It is a testament to history and hope, to hometowns and homecomings, to love and loss, to faith and family. It is a novel about two decades in our collective lives and the cleansing of our spirit—an inspiring and unforgettable novel about America itself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944353018
Publisher:	Warriors Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/18/2013
Pages:	752
Sales rank:	918,679
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

John M. Del Vecchio was drafted in 1969 shortly after graduating from Lafayette College with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and minor emphasis in Civil Engineering. In 1970 he volunteered for Viet Nam where he served as a combat correspondent for the 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile); in 1971 he was awarded a Bronze Star for Heroism in Ground Combat. Along with The 13th Valley, Del Vecchio is the author of For the Sake of All Living Things, Carry Me Home, Darkness Falls, numerous articles and papers including the widely quoted, "The Importance of Story"; the forward for Wounds Of War and the afterword for Code Word: Geronimo. His books have been translated into four languages and published worldwide. He has lectured extensively on the history of the Viet Nam War in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, and has appeared on FOX News as a military/political commentator. Del Vecchio is currently working on screenplays based on his novels, a book about resilience in the fourth quarter of life tentatively titled Exit Strategies, and an expose on the financial crisis from 'a street-level' perspective tentatively titled From The Bottom Looking Up.

What People are Saying About This

Al Santoli

"A magnificent achievement. A defining novel of the post-war Vietnam experience."

Samuel Zaffiri

"Not since James Jones'...has anyone so clearly and forcefully portray the experiences of men returning home from war."

Editorial Reviews

"In this...final installment of his trilogy about America's war in Southeast Asia (The 13th Valley; For the Sake of All Living Things), Del Vecchio focuses on veterans who returned home in the late '60s only to find themselves viewed largely as lepers...the overall purpose of his powerful proletarian art demands such detail to underscore his characters' pain and, for a few, uplifting recovery." -Publishers Weekly

"Carry Me Home completes a trilogy begun by The 13th Valley, and deals, much like James Jones' Some Came Running, with veterans trying to adapt to civilian life....in the end they gain a frightening power from Del Vecchio's accretion of utterly authentic detail. And Wapinski, at least, comes to a hard-earned redemption through the example of one fine old man and a beautiful, communitarian idea." -Booklist

"Arresting, searing and shattering...the most eloquent novel ever to examine the American Viet Nam veteran and his return home to a nation that had failed him." -International Review

From the Publisher

In this immensely detailed and nearly humorless final installment of his trilogy about America's war in Southeast Asia (The 13th Valley; For the Sake of All Living Things), Del Vecchio focuses on veterans who returned home in the late '60s only to find themselves viewed largely as lepers. Back from his second tour in Vietnam, Marine Sgt. Tony Pisano, 20, bears a leg wound, is assigned to burial detail, marries student nurse Linda, tries out college and faces widespread hatred. Tony's story, central to the novel, melds with that of his doomed buddies, who are now rootless ``expatriates'' in their own country. More grounded is the also returned Capt. Robert Wapinski, whose Pennsylvania farm becomes a haven for many vets fighting public castigation, post-traumatic stress disorder and the effects of Agent Orange. Del Vecchio shows these vets' fury at the V.A. (which combats recognition of their various addictions, insanities, damaged genes, etc.) at the whinings of the``Me'' generation, and at the media, which the vets accuse of misrepresentation, and for which they hold a mock trial at Wapinski's farm. In one telling moment, Tony, recovering from one of many breakdowns, is told by his indignant wife, ``Your daughters' daughters will live with your psychosis long after you and I are gone.'' At every turn, Del Vecchio sacrifices pace for infinite detail, but the overall purpose of his powerful proletarian art demands such detail to underscore his characters' pain and, for a few, uplifting recovery. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

"Arresting, fury and chattering...the most eloquent novel ever to examine the American Vietnam veteran and his return home to a nation that had failed them." -- International Review

Harry W. Hayes