From Baseballs to Bombshells

Book excerpt: Growing technology and affluence, rock n roll, baseball, and muscle carsall told through the youth and early adult years of a small-town Montana boy and war veteran. This is a history of the glorious 50s and 60s in America. It is a history also of politicians, the indecency of segregation and war, and the struggle for racial equality and peace. A history of two great nations. Intertwined is the unique history of Vietnam and the Vietnamese long struggle for independence. It is a rendering also of the unique culture of Vietnam with fascinating stories of emperors within the walls of a Forbidden City. Included in the book is a review of the relationship of two nationsone mighty and one resistantultimately entangled in a catastrophic war. Nearly fifty-nine thousand Americans lost to family,friends, wives, and lovers. More than two million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians perished in a war that could not be won.