This is a book about sacrifice, love and remembrance -- the sacrifice of Americans who died in Vietnam on the Fourth of July, the love of their friends and family, and the remembrances that honor these heroes after all these years. As our Nation marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam conflict, it's fitting to look beyond the debate over that controversial war and honor the men who bravely did what their country asked of them. The stories told here are as much about the fabric of 1960s America as they are about the men who served and died. Every year on the Fourth of July, while most Americans are grilling hotdogs, watching baseball and enjoying fireworks, relatives and friends of 167 American heroes pause to remember a loved one who died serving our country in Vietnam on our Nation's birthday. In Norfolk, Virginia, an elderly woman decorates her son's grave then goes to a veterans' hospital to take cookies to the patients. ESPN commentator Chris Mortensen remembers the haunting scream he heard the day in 1968 when the woman across the street learned her only son had been killed. Former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros reflects on the sacrifice of a college classmate. A Michigan family attends Mass in memory of a young man who studied for the priesthood but died a Marine. A Marine veteran on Long Island lights a candle in memory of his fallen comrades from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines. In Long Beach, California, a former member of Congress who served as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam pauses to reflect on a young soldier who "gave a gift to our Nation." A woman in Kentucky thinks about the brother she never knew and wonders about what might have been. A retired surgeon fondly remembers a vibrant young man whose life he vainly struggled to save on an operating table in Vietnam. A man in Florida remembers a high school friend from Connecticut who never got to come home to "marry that girl and have a life." A woman in Wyoming and her daughter send a sky lantern heavenward in memory of the father and grandfather they never knew. These are their stories..
About the Author: Died on the Fourth of July is John F. Schlatter's second book paying tribute to veterans. In 2012 he published Postcard Memories from World War II, an account of how he found postcards written by servicemen in the 1940s, returned the cards to their families, and learned their inspiring stories. He began his writing career as a newspaper reporter, served two years as an Army officer immediately after the Vietnam conflict, and spent more than 30 years in corporate communications before retiring in 2012. Born in Centreville, Mississippi in 1950, his family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1951. He graduated from Fulton High School in 1968 and then attended the University of Tennessee, earning a B.S. in Journalism in 1972 and M.S. in Communications in 1973. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant from Army ROTC and served two years of active duty 1974-76. He was a reporter for The Oak Ridger newspaper in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and a media relations representative for the Tennessee Valley Authority. He joined the Bechtel Corporation in 1981 and retired from the company in 2012. He also served as Chairman of the Oak Ridge Board of Education in the 1980s. He is married to the former Becky Wood of Flint, Michigan. They have three children, Valerie, John, and Kate; and four grandsons, Jack, Phillip, Jay and Carter.