First Lady Seeks More Help for Military Families

[pinboy3niner]

7. I had a friend whose VA psychiatrist encouraged him to write about his war experience

So he did, often doing his writing in the coffee bar of Kramer Books, a D.C. bookstore. The bookstore owner took an interest and helped my friend publish his work in softcover pamphlets at first--until Random House also took an interest.

Random House published a hardcover edition of my friend's work.

I have a signed copy of his book, and I'm looking forward to having a signed copy of yours.

My friend, Rod Kane, is no longer with us. He'd served as a combat medic with the 1st Cav in VN. Rod survived the war and its traumatic aftermath (barely) and had protested with Vietnam Veterans Against the War, but he had a hereditary form of emphysema. I used to drive from Virginia to pick him up in Maryland to take him to his appointments at the Virginia hospital where he eventually got a lung transplant that extended his life by about 8 years. During that time, seeing his book published meant a lot to Rod--and I'm glad he got to see that before we lost him.

Keep writing, Victor. I'm pulling for you. And I know that if my friend Rod were here, he'd be pulling for you, too.