SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. (PRWEB) November 11, 2017
It was the sixties. We were the baby boomers and our fathers had fought in World War II—the heroes who saved the world from tyranny. It was our obligation to serve, as they had. To duck service, was not an option; not if you believed in life in America, the American way, and family values.
At one point in Mel Smith’s novel "Nam, The Story of a Generation", Vietnam War veterans Joe and Cam ponder the perceptions of their service. “The World War II generation,” Joe says, “never appreciated what we did in Nam…. We didn’t fight hard enough. We didn’t support the government of the people...didn’t know the meaning of sacrifice...like they did in doubya, doubya two.” So unfair.
A Vietnam War veteran, Smith spent more than a decade researching and writing this riveting novel, intending to give readers a “full dose” of the Vietnam War era experience, both in the States and in-country. “The novel is about the Vietnam War, beginning to end, but it is also about commitments, patriotism, culture, Vietnamese history, and the fundamentals of American society—with a little romance thrown in,” he says.
“Smith’s effort is nothing short of extraordinary,” wrote David Aretha, editor of The Sixties Chronicle and books on the Vietnam War. “The story is emotional and heartfelt and feels 100 percent authentic. Most impressively, it covers all major aspects of the war: American culture before, during, and after the conflict; the various mind-sets of young men and their parents before they entered the war (and during and after); debates about the war’s purpose; in-country living, fighting, and friendships; death and war wounds—and coping with both afterward; the rich tapestry of the counterculture; the war from the perspective of Vietnamese fighters and civilians; the protest movement and veterans’ reactions to it; the effect the war had on veterans in the near aftermath as well as thirty years later. It’s a tremendous history lesson and thoroughly entertaining.”
"NAM, The Story of a Generation" is a tale of times that defined a generation: the counter culture that grew out of it; commitment without conscience; love in impossible circumstances; the unimaginable horror of war, healing hope, and renewal. The Vietnam War is the common thread that binds together the lives and fortunes of the three main characters.
An epic novel about a generation and the conflict that changed two nations.
Born in Helena, Montana in 1948, Mel Smith grew up in the hardscrabble neighborhood on the edge of town featured in NAM, The story of a Generation. Smith joined the Naval Reserve in the fall of 1966 and went “active” in the Navy in the summer of 1968. He served aboard two Navy destroyers, the U.S.S. TAYLOR DD-468 and the U.S.S. DEHAVEN DD-727 and pulled two WestPac tours to the war zone. He received an early out from active duty in the spring of 1970 as President Nixon trimmed the armed forces then serving. Smith attended Montana State University graduating with a B.S. in Film and Television, 1973. He founded AdSmith, an advertising agency, in 1981 which still operates today. He and wife Alane live in the greater Phoenix area of Arizona.
For further information, interviews, media kit or proofs please contact:
First Steps Publishing
541-961-7641 or contact(at)firststepspublishing(dot)com
