McNamara, American war criminal dies

McNamara, American war criminal dies
By Walter Haan, www.war-books.com

Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War, has died at 93. He knew in the sixties that we could not win that war and that we should not be sending troops to Vietnam. But he kept his mouth shut. He didn't admit his silence until decades later.

Want to know what it was like for the teenagers McNamara sent to Vietnam? Read Monk's War in Vietnam by Frank M. Beyea (shown above right) published this year (ISBN: 978-0-913337-70-7). Here's a small section from the book, one of Beyea's experiences as an 18-year-old:

“I was having a hard time getting my breath back and all hell had broken loose since the explosion. Three NVA were coming at us down the trail with guns blazing, and as I tried to get off my back and into a firing position, I discovered that the entire stock of my M-14 had been blown off at the narrow part of the grip just behind the trigger. Nevertheless, I did manage to fire off a short burst that got one of the NVA and that’s when a round grazed my shoulder and knocked me down once more."

Monk's War in Vietnam is available from Amazon.com and bn.com.

Beyea, now in his sixties, has Prostate Cancer from his exposure to Agent Orange. McNamara's war just keeps on giving. --Copyright 2009 by Walter Haan, www.war-books.com

Ordinary people with extraordinary spirit who energized us

Ordinary people with extraordinary spirit who energized us
By Walter Haan, www.war-books.com

Over this July 4th weekend I found a handwritten note written by my late wife, Wanda, on which she had expressed her views about Southfarm Press military history and memoir authors. I think this weekend is an appropriate time to share with you what she wrote about these people:

“Our authors are ordinary people with extraordinary spirit, all over 75, who wrote about their lives serving freedom, sometimes as part of our military. Not jet setters, not golfers, not cruisers on luxury liners, not rich in money, but rich in spirit. They all have a point of view, a tenacity and spirit that brought them to their publisher. Us.

“They had something to say and said it. They told us about the past. Their past, and history.

“Through reading their books, we can enrich our spiritual lives even though their books are not literary masterpieces and they will never be classics.

“But their books will always be around in the future as a reminder of them and their sacrifices for freedom. Southfarm Press is energized by their enthusiasm."—Wanda Haan

Wanda, of course, was editor, managing editor and executive editor of Southfarm Press all rolled into one attractive, intelligent woman. At the bottom of her paragraphs reprinted above, she listed the last names of whom she was talking about: Bogart, Heide, Vance, Schultz, Knox, Gordon, Unsworth and Gould. To those names I add Chase and Beyea, whom she didn’t live long enough to know.

Frank and Mary Bogart, Till War Do Us Part (1995), ISBN: 978-0-913337-24-0
Sigrid Heide, In the Hands of My Enemy (1996), ISBN: 978-0-913337-29-5
Heidi Scriba Vance, Shadows Over My Berlin (1996), ISBN: 978-0-913337-30-1
Alfred W. Schultz, Janey: A Little Plane in a Big War (1998), 978-0-913337-31-8
Ralph Knox, The Emperor’s Angry Guest (1999)
Joseph Furbee Gordon, Flying Low: And shot down twice during World War II in a spotter plane (2001), ISBN: 978-0-913337-43-1
Thomas P. Reep and Constance Reep Unsworth, Abe Lincoln and the Frontier Folks of New Salem (2002), ISBN: 978-0-913337-36-3
Dudley C. Gould, Follow Me Up Fools Mountain (2002), ISBN: 978-0-913337-47-9;
Good Night Love (2006), ISBN: 978-0-913337-56-1
Jean L. Chase, The Grasshopper That Roared (2005), ISBN: 978-0-913337-54-7
Frank M. Beyea, Monk’s War in Vietnam (2009), ISBN: 978-0-913337-70-7

Frank M. Beyea, I must note, has not yet reached 75.

We WERE energized by their enthusiasm. And I still am. They all found us, we did not find them. I once asked one of our authors how he found us and was told that the mayor of Jaspar, Indiana recommended us! As we did not know the mayor, we were very surprised.

Read their books and be enveloped with their energy and spirit for freedom.—Copyright ©2009 by Walter Haan, www.war-books.com

All of the books listed above are still in print, still available as new books from our Web Site, www.war-books.com except for our hardcover edition of The Emperor’s Angry Guest. (now available in a paperback edition from Trafford Press) and Monk’s War in Vietnam which must be purchased online from Amazon.com and bn.com while our Web Site is being enlarged.