For the Children of Combat Veterans

by JaiUneGuruDeja on 28 October 2010

My Dad, Neil Alexander Kelley, fought the Japanese in WWII. He was an emotionally detached father and he only told me one word about his combat experience. One day, when he was watching baseball in the early Sixties, I popped the impertinent question "Dad? How many Japs did you kill?". His locked jaw expression didn't change and he said flatly "Eight.". Years later I learned that Neil was a member of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion. The Marine Raiders were our first Special Forces. He fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the war in the jungles of Bouganville, the beaches of Guam and the hills of Okinawa. The killing he did was at close range. This book explains why my Dad took his own life in 1967.

The author, and ex-Army Ranger, couldn't have better credentials. His logic is irrefutable and the writing is crisp. Thanks to this book, I now understand why I had so little time with my Dad. Thanks to this book, I now understand the sacrifice that he made to defend his country.