BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- In R.M. Leich's new book, Not My Father's War (now available through AuthorHouse), Nashville native William (Will) B. Wilson IV strives to fulfill his patriotic duty, but ends up searching for forgiveness as he comes to the realization that Vietnam is like no other war ever before.
"CBS News" National Security Correspondent David C. Martin says, "For the men and women who had the Vietnam War come steamrolling through their lives and for the 58,000 who died in that awful war, this deeply felt book delivers as good an epitaph as there will ever be."
Set in the 1960s, the novel is told through the eyes of Will, a Nashville, Tenn., aristocrat with a long ancestry rooted in the Southern traditions of early America. His silver-spoon upbringing in the shadow of his father, a legendary World War II veteran, instills a sense of duty in Will. He follows family tradition by attending Yale University and entering the ROTC program, a path most other students avoid. Despite his willingness to follow tradition, Will does not succumb to his contemporaries' views of the black population. He is also enamored with a young woman, Katherine "Kat" Sloane. The couple quickly fall in love, but as the conflict in Asia heats up, they realize their time together is short.
Will is commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant and sent to basic training where he is put in charge of a unit. His second in command, Booker Ellis, is a black solider with combat experience. Descended from slaves, Booker is the polar opposite of Will, but they soon become friends. Shipped to Vietnam, the two try to bring their small group through the war unscathed. Kat, who opposes the war, continues to correspond, but she is unable to reconcile her feelings. All the while, Will begins to see what Kat is talking about in her letters. Then a catastrophe strikes that shapes Will for the rest of his life.
Not My Father's War follows Will as he returns to the civilian world and attempts to resume a "normal" life. Leich details the traumatic guilt that plagues Will and other men like him in the wake of the destruction they encountered, and the forgiveness they long for to make them whole again.
Leich graduated from Culver Military Academy and Yale University. He was a second lieutenant and served as a reconnaissance/survey officer during Vietnam. After his service, he earned an MBA from Indiana University and enjoyed a successful business career. Not My Father's War is his first book.
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