Born From War

The inter-generational impact of modern war on American military families, told through the intertwined experiences of father and son whose only real connection has been through war. "As a father and a multi-tour Vietnam veteran, I struggled to explain my war and my voluntary service in it to my children. Reading about author Patrick Naughton's similar experiences in his family helped me understand that broad generational gap that confounded so many of us between our war and what was faced by younger veterans of America's global war on terror. What we had between seminal events was more than a simple failure to communicate. The insights provided by Naughton's Born from War are enlightening and invaluable." - Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret.), author, actor and filmmaker Patrick Naughton's father barely spoke of his time in Vietnam to his family, yet his service was the sole reason Patrick joined the U.S. Army as a teenager. Patrick Naughton Sr served in Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne and advising the South Vietnamese Army, while Patrick himself would serve in Iraq. Three decades of history and politics divided their service yet the similarities between their experiences are undeniably striking. Patrick's attempts to understand his father led to a search for those who served with him in Vietnam, an examination of the personal relationship of a father and son whose few connections have been war, and a quest to understand war and its undeniable generational influence. The result is an engaging and eye-opening weaving together of the combat experiences of two generations of a military family. From the failure of grand stratagem, through personal combat stories, and the memories of those lost-America's wars against communism and terror are laid raw through the experiences of one family. AUTHOR: Patrick Naughton is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army and a military historian. In addition to the normal tactical and operational assignments of over 28 years in the Army, including a year in Iraq, he has also served as a legislative liaison to the US Senate, an interagency fellow with the Department of Labor, a fellow with the Simons Center for Ethical Leadership and Interagency Cooperation and a Congressional partnership program fellow with the Partnership for a Secure America. He has also served as a senior fellow with West Point's Center for Junior Officers. Patrick holds a master's degree in history from the US Army Command and General Staff College, where he was an Art of War Scholar, and a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has published over a dozen articles in peer-reviewed history and national security journals. His work can be found at www.patnaughton.com 80 photographs