Customer Reviews

Shrapnel in the Heart: Letters and Remembrances from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book for a college history course and until now have thought very little about war, military, or world politics. Young people today rarely understand or realize what goes with becoming a soldier. This book gives real images of the devastation war brings from the people who lived through the tragedy of losing their loved ones. It opens our eyes to things we just shouldn't close our eyes on.

Shrapnel In the Heart is a book to be read by everyone no matter what generation they were born in. Shrapnel In The Heart is a book that has letters and rememberances left behind at the Vietnam War Memorial. Some of the letters tell the story about the people behind the letter. The stories are sad, but the courage of the men and women is a true inspiration. The people written about in this book were extrememly young (18, 19, 20) and it seems like they died in vain. But through their letters that were left behind it is easy to see that these young men knew their duty and refused to shirk from it. These men and women are true heroes.

I recently bought this book while visting Arlington National Cemetary. It made me undertand more about what was going on here in the United States with families only knowing things about the Vietnam War from what they saw on television. I just could not put this book down for one second. This book even made me cry many times and made me swollow hard tears. We musn't forget those who went over there to fight a war our government tried to win. We should remember them, whether they came home or not.

I first read Shrapnel in the Heart shortly after its release, having bought it at the Vietnam Vets Memorial. I cannot believe that I was in college, and then newly married when all of Vietnam was going on and I was virtually untouched. I only know of one person "on the wall" and he was a college classmate, commissioned on Graduation day and killed 10 months later. Now I have two sons, graduates of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, one a Marine in Artillery and I cannot imagine war, or their never coming home. One of the dead soldier's stories always haunts me... the boy was several weeks shy of his nineteenth birthday and he hadn't even gotten his wisdom teeth yet. How sad to be his mother, sister, friend, fellow soldier. It is a sad accounting of some of America's darkest days.

Buy this book and change your outlook on Nam forever. If you ever valued the boy next door, your son , or daughter you will want this book as a bed side companion to re-read again and again. Each story is a man lost, a mother in pain, a comrade who mourns . It paints the picture that we will be reliving for the men of Afganistan/Irag times. The book will be relevent for time immortal. At,6'3 and 320 lbs of old warrior ,
this book took me back and immersed me into the turbulent past times of my life. To damn up my tears , it would have been like holding back a hurricane because of the imagery in this book . This book is well worth the price. I bought it and will continue to buy it again and again until all those I know have a copy. America should emerse itself in the books wisdom about ours soldiers and society. We need to learn to drop the idea that all we are told is the truth and scrutinize our leaders more closely. Thanks Ms Palmer for this great and timely book of truth. Herb, I knew you at Lackland, I hope you have found peace.

A letter I wrote to Laura Palmer after years of reading her book again and again... Dear Ms. Palmer: "Shrapnel in the Heart" keeps everything in my life in perspective. Green Berets aren't supposed to cry, but we do. I cannot read your book without an onset of tears. But crying is a skill I acquired in Vietnam and your book takes me back. I quoted two short letters from your book in our employee newsletter in hopes that others would realize that things could be, and have been much worse. Many of my employees cried too. A couple of years ago I left a bloody Viet Cong flag at the wall with a note of apology. The note wasn't much, but getting to the wall was harder for me than Jump School, Ranger School and Special Forces training combined. Please, do it again. Capture the thoughts left at the wall from 1987 forward. You started this thing, now it must be continued. Your "Shrapnel in the Heart" is my psychotherapist. Write another so that some other vet can have a life saving catharsis. Thanks for soothing the pain over the years. Roy Fouts President and CEO

Many books about Viet Nam focus on the military person - - this book not only shares the grief of the wives and mothers left behind, but the feelings of loss felt by brothers and sisters - - it took me months to get through the introduction. The focus of the book is on items left by families at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C. - - I highly recommend the book, but be prepared: It WILL pull at your heart strings

This is a wonderful book/memoir, tugs at your heart, and puts faces on many of the names listed on the wall in Washington, D.C. I never personally knew anyone that made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam, except I felt the loss of over 58,000 fellow Americans. The reader will see that many of the losses were teenagers, and the overall average age was 23, youngsters just beginning their lives and fulfilling their dreams. The tales and letters are heart-rendering, haunting, and so very tender, like a mother losing a son, a wife losing a newly-wed husband, babies growing up without fathers, etc. This should be must-reading for all people going off to war, and for those that are sending them off from their air-conditioned offices in a totally safe environment. This is a powerful, eloquent review of what happened to our young warriors and the impact on their families and on the nation. Names like Lancaster, McDermott, Masterson, Stocks, Dixon, Kalsu, Holton, Neely, Valenzuela, Wright, etc., will live on forever with their names etched in black granite on the wall. Semper fi to all services...

This was a great book and gave you insight of what our soldiers went through in vietnam, and what their families went through back home and the ones who lost love ones. A dear friend of my husband was in the book so that made it special.

Only those that had the wonderful opportunity to be there
would understand the depth of the hurt that was so carefully
described in the volume.