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Moving Target: A Memoir of Pursuit

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I made the mistake of starting to read "Moving Target" before going to bed one evening; at 3 am I was still unable to put this book down. It's the memoir of Ron Arias, a staff correspondent for People Magazine. It starts out as a biography of Arias' parents. His father, Armando, is being held as a POW in Korea. His mother holds the family together until Armando's return. But this happy event is soon overshadowed by many troubles; Armando is being discredited by the Army, his promotion to captain is delayed (is it because he's Hispanic?) And he's a changed man, brooding, a strict disciplinarian but now with an edge since his return from near-starvation and survival of a Korean POW camp. Ron and his brothers find the household tense and troubling after Armando returns.

And there are more mysteries. Why does Ron's mother refuse to take communion at Sunday Mass? There is truth to be uncovered here, and Arias takes us on a young man's journey to find himself and his family.

The memoir also shows us Arias' development as a writer, from a chance encounter with Hemingway in Pamplona, to a course in English literature in Argentina from a Professor Borges (yes, Jorge Luis Borges.) And in Argentina, Ron begins a career as a journalist. We follow Ron through a stint in Peru as a Peace Corps volunteer and watch how a young and talented journalist develops. But the story of his family and his identity is an equally compelling thread.

This is probably one of the best memoirs I've read in years. The writing is crisp, the description of everyday details sharp and focused. Arias has the ability to go back and look out of the eyes of innocence and ignorance-we follow him along in the book as if we all were sent back in time in his life. If you liked "The Color of Water" or "Angela's Ashes" this book will resonate with you. You really should read it. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Ron Arias, a People Magazine writer whose journalism ranges from disaster coverage to movie star profiles has written an absorbing account of his search for the man he called Daddy, a decorated veteran of WWII and Korea who cut off all contact with Ron and his two brothers after their mother died when they were young adults. It's a sad story about a father unable to express his emotions and whose natural reticence became almost pathological after his three-year internment in a Chinese prison camp during the Korean conflict. At the same time the memoir is the inspiring story of a young man, Ron Arias, who, despite the personal tragedies he has faced and the challenges of his childhood enjoys a fulfilling personal and professional life.

Moving Target: A Memoir of Pursuit: is a page-turner. The pursuit is Ron Arias's search to know who his father really was. Was Armando Arias a hero or a spy? Was he able to escape from prisoner of war camps during World War II because of his skill or because he had made friends with the enemy? Was his ability to get needed items for POWs in Korea because he was friendly with his captors or because he was just clever?

Finding the answers was not easy. Armando did not talk about his war experiences with his family and very rarely with anyone else. Was it because he had something to hide or because his experiences were so painful that he could not talk about them? Most of the information about who Armando really was had to come from those who had served with him, POW survivors, relatives and friends who knew him.

Writing with the skill of a professional journalist, which he has been for nearly 30 years, Ron Arias drops in new clues just in time to keep the reader turning to the next page and moving on to the next chapter without a break.

But Moving Target is more than a search for a real father. It is also a trip through history. Those old enough to remember the 40s, the 50s and the 60s will be reminded of the way things were, the way people lived, how they coped and survived. Younger readers will gain insight into a time that their parents and grandparents knew.

Ron Arias's work as a journalist specializing in disaster coverage - earthquakes and wars - and his quest to find the real Armando takes him to Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Cuzco, New York, Nogales, San Diego, Los Angeles, El Paso, Washington D.C., New England and Sarajevo. It?s a news travelogue and a family history, as well as a mystery of international intrigue. (From a 3/18/03 review by Robert E. Kimball, editor-in-chief of the Nogales International, Nogales, Ariz.)

Moving Target: A Memoir Of Pursuit is comprised of the personal recollections of journalist Ron Arias and his search for his father, Armando Arias, who was a POW in the Second World War and the Korean War. Arias' father's marriage to Emma Lou Arias disintegrated upon Armando's return to the states; Emma Lou died under suspicious circumstances; and Armando Arias' left his sons, never to return to them alive. Ron Arias' search and the truths he uncovered, about his family, about the horrors of war, and about human nature itself, fill the pages of this compelling and personal biographical memoir.

Moving Target succeeds in transforming what could be a pedestrian topic into a fascinating tale of discovery. Ron Arias manages masterfully to make the reader a committed member of the author's family and his relentless quest to uncover the truth.

Arias accomplishes this considerable feat with an effective approach composed of painful candor, suspense and clean, compelling writing.

Moving Target was one of the best books I have read ever. It was a moving story of a family and the hunt for a father they knew or didn't know. I was jealous of the young mother, wishing she had been mine. Later on I was glad she wasn't! Her death was an enigma. Her writings were truly unbelievable and know that's where Ron got his talent for writing. I read this book several months ago and it took this time for me to write. It is tragically moving, poetic with an uncanny melodic verbage. The quest to find this father again took Ron to many places, winding up in of all places, California. The perseverance to not quit gave this reader a gut-wrenching mystery that kept me riveted to my seat. Once you start you cannot put it down. I will read this book again. I hope Ron continues to write as he haa a talent that needs shared with the world!

Moving Target, by Ron Arias, is the story of an American family, but not your typical next-door-neighbor kind of family. This is the story of a military family from the perspective of a sensitive, intelligent boy. While fellow army-brats will nod their heads in recognition as they read this memoir, most civilians would be astonished by the impact war and the warrior culture of discipline and rootlessness can have on a marriage and family.

Once begun,this book is not easy to put down. It is a chronicle written in a clear, accessible style, and often reads like a mystery novel. It takes a trip through recent history, putting personal faces on the Korean Conflict and the Cold war. As the writer matures and explores his father's military career and his mother's aspirations and marriage, many questions emerge. I felt compelled to follow Mr. Arias on his search to find the "real" man who shaped his life. Both his parents are brought fully to life, and as a bonus, Mr. Arias shares his adventures as a journalist. It is a courageous, heartbreaking, intimate life story that I will not soon forget.

The author has captured the depth and spirit that keeps our POW's alive, knowing that we cannot forget them and the sacrifice that they have made for us. It does not matter if they are held three weeks or three years, we must keep them in our hearts, minds, and prayers. This book should be required reading by the Military and their families, and those that are quick to find fault with the men and women in uniform. I came away from each chapter as a member of the family and their ordeal after the war. We must remember that the families are just as much POW's!