This is the true story of two brothers-in-law who traveled to the Central Highlands of Vietnam where one of them was stationed during the Vietnam War. For Jim, an anti-war guy, this was just another funky place he'd have to talk about. For Nick, a West Point soldier and Special Forces ranger, who really believed in the war, this was a trip to his past, a place he'd never spoken about. The author never intended to write about the trip, but something happened to them during one day of their trip that rocked him deeply. This story is about that one day in April 1996, a day Jim and Nick spent together in a small village in the Central Highlands.
Jim is Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at UC Irvine where he has served as Chairman of the University faculty and Chair and President of the School of Medicine faculty. He is an internationally renowned neurobiologist who has made major scientific breakthroughs in the basic and clinical brain sciences. He was the first to describe a growth factor in the central nervous system, and the first to show how to stimulate the mass production and mobilization of adult stem cells in the injured brain. Dr Fallon was the neuroanatomist on the team that the New York Times called the most startling discovery during the decade of the brain and his stem cell research was the first presented by NIH to the US Congress showing the promise of adult stem cell therapy. He is a Sloan Scholar, Senior Fulbright Fellow, National Institutes of Health Career Awardee, and recipient of a range of honorary degrees, awards, and sits on several corporate boards and national think tanks for science, biotechnology, the arts, and the US military. His firm, NeuroRepair, was named as top new biotech form of the year by Future in Review, and in November 2011 his adult stem cell technology was announced as one of the top 26 medical breakthroughs in medicine for the recent years by Newsmax. He is a Subject Matter Expert in the field of "cognition and war" to the Joint Command and has contributed to the development of a tissue electrode array designed for potential use in theater of war amputees. His recent imaging genetics research has discovered new genes for Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. Most recently Fallon has lectured worldwide on neurolaw and the brains of psychopathic killers and dictators. In the past two years, he has been featured on four Discovery Channel science specials, as well as stories on his personal and professional life on NPR, CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC, and major radio networks throughout the world. His recent talks on the brains on dictators and other psychopaths have been highly regarded internationally. He has recently acted as himself on Criminal Minds, the new Russian film DAU to premiere at Cannes, and his character portrays the lead in a new TV Crime Series (pilot to debut May 2012).
