by Lee Heckman (Author), LaRayne M. Topp (Author)
A soldier's experiences in times of war are as varied and filled with impact as the cause he or she fights to defend. The collection of soldier memories in Letters from Lee: One Man's Story of Vietnam are those of one man, Lee Heckman, who took up arms during the Vietnam War. It's been more than 40 years since Lee Heckman was called upon to fight that war. Although he has spent the years since in a peace-filled Nebraska town, his nights have been anything but. The effects of posttraumatic stress disorder have brought the war back to him in waves as deep as the South China Sea, couched in dreaded nightmares, panic attacks and flashbacks. The letters from Lee contained in this book were written to a girlfriend back home during the days of a young man's life when all he longed for were a fast car, a girl on his arm and a cold beer. These dreams were crushed by an Army ticket to a tropical country in Southeast Asia. Lee's letters, written from the viewpoint of an H-13 Loach helicopter during the terror of war, are mix with Heckman's memories in a look back at the war from a perspective of four decades. Whether you are a seasoned veteran or can't locate Vietnam on a world map, you'll find Letters from Lee to be a sometimes irreverent but always honest story of Vietnam.