LEXINGTON, Ky., November 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- War has the ability of making heroes and destroying lives. In Returning Son: From Bagdad, Kentucky to Baghdad, Iraq (and back) (now available through AuthorHouse), author Dennis W. Shepherd explores the politics and emotions that surround the soldiers who fight in Iraq and those who fought in Vietnam.
Set in the present day, Shepherd's true story examines three different wars. The first is the current war raging in Iraq. Told through the eyes of Pvt. Sean Cassedy, the story follows the young Marine from Bagdad, Ky., through boot camp and into the throes of war as he and his unit march toward Baghdad. Returning Son also focuses on the Vietnam War and the sour homecoming Sean's father Linn Cassedy received when he returned to the United States. Finally, Shepherd details the emotional war that rages within loved ones on the home front.
Certain he is defending his country, Sean enters into war hoping to honor both America and his father. However, back home, Linn and his family wait in anxiety. Once the invasion of Iraq begins, news blackouts cause great turmoil in the Cassedy household. Sean is injured less than 100 miles from Baghdad; his legs are crushed as the Marines carry out a mission. At first he is listed as missing in action, and the Cassedy family experiences an emotional roller coaster until he is found and returned home. His reception sharply contrasts Linn's a little more than three decades earlier. This event causes Linn to revisit his days as a soldier.
A deep, heart wrenching exploration of a family's experience with combat, Returning Son uses the Cassedy family's true struggle to illustrate America's shifting social attitude toward war.
Shepherd is an attorney and 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He and his wife, Sudar, have one son and two grandchildren. He used his military expertise to write Returning Son, his first book.
ABOUT AUTHORHOUSE
The only profitable print-on-demand and eBook publishing company of its kind, AuthorHouse was founded in 1997 and has helped more than 7,000 authors publish their works. For more information, visit www.authorhouse.com.