Vietnam and Beyond is a collection of wartime letters written home by Jim Markson from March 1967 to March 1968 along with added reflections decades later. After his tour of duty in Vietnam, he returned to life back home in Brooklyn, New York, with his family who although functioned without him were not the same until he returned.  He was told to find his place back home, yet he closed his eyes and saw a different world and life that he left behind, a life that was surreal in the setting of war, a life of which people could not even begin to imagine.

He was diagnosed with night terrors 39 years after he left Vietnam and 20 years after his divorce from his wife and co-author, Jenny La Sala.  It is a relief for him to finally speak to people about this and share with those who are interested.

Vietnam and Beyond

JIM MARKSON AND JENNY LA SALA have collaborated to produce a powerful book that combines Jim’s letters home from Vietnam with his later recollections. While Jim served in a supposedly ‘safe’ position, providing security for various American air bases during his tour, the letters and memories demonstrate that in Vietnam no place was safe and that everywhere was the ‘front line.’ This became especially clear during the 1968 TET Offensive. This book helps us understand that the American war in Vietnam needs to be understood not only from the perspective of the leadership, the infantry and the others involved in combat on a daily basis, but also from the point of view of the many thousands of Americans who did their duty in relatively unheralded ways.

Dr. Philip F. Napoli, Author of Bringing It All Back Home and assistant professor of history at Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York

 
 
 

Title: Rise Of The Warriors