Our Brother's Keeper: My Family's Journey Through Vietnam to Hell and Back - Paperback

by Jedwin Smith (Author)

"Our Brother's Keeper" is the story of all wars. While it is an unvarnished depiction of combat and its somber compilation of battlefield casualties, more importantly it is also the story of war's staggering list of collateral damage-the family and friends of the slain.

Since 1941, three generations have been seared by five catastrophic wars; for the present generation, it is Iraq and Afghanistan. But for author Jedwin Smith, his parents and his brothers and sisters, it is the haunting specter of Vietnam that will never be forgotten. Seemingly on a whim, Jeffrey Earl Smith, the author's younger brother, put aside his anti-war sentiments and joined the Marines in July 1967.

Sent to Vietnam four months later, his death during a Viet Cong ambush in March 1968 was the catalyst that finally ended his parents' turbulent marriage and created a lost generation of Smith siblings.

For the author, himself a former Marine, it was the beginning of a 32-year odyssey to track down the individual who killed his brother and extract revenge-a quest that takes the author across the country in search of the Marines who were at Jeff's side on that horrific day three decades earlier, and ends in Vietnam at the village of Mai Xa Thi, where the author confronts Duong Tu Anh, the former VC commander responsible for the attack that killed Jeff.

This encounter is chilling, extraordinary, and life-changing.

"Our Brother's Keeper" is more than a moving and beautifully written family saga of the Vietnam War and its bitter and ongoing aftermath, it is also an inspiring personal tale of loss and healing, anger and forgiveness, self-discovery-and the transcendent power of love.

Author Biography

The recipient of 57 major writing awards during his 36 years as a print journalist, Jedwin Smith twice was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize - in 1984 for his coverage of the U.S. Marine Corps peace-keeping force in Beirut, Lebanon; and in 1986 for his extensive coverage of Africa's longest and deadliest struggle, the Eritrea-Ethiopia civil war, for which he was a Pulitzer finalist. Jedwin, a former Marine, has made numerous TV guest appearances on The History Channel, National Geographic Explorer, The Travel Channel and The Discovery Channel. In 2010 he worked with the Department of Defense in conjunction with Operation Homecoming - helping Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans write their wartime experiences. Besides this special 10th anniversary edition of "Our Brother's Keeper," he is the author of celebrated boxing referee Mills Lane's biography, "Let's Get It On" in 1997, as well as the 2003 publication of "Fatal Treasure" - the untold story of legendary treasure hunter Mel Fisher and his decades-long search for the Atocha, the richest of all Spanish treasure galleons. Presently working on a Civil War novel, plus teaching writer workshops, Jedwin and his wife June have been married 48 years; they have four daughters, three sons-in-laws, and 11 grandchildren.