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A Trumpet for Freedom - The Legacy: Lost Heritage and War

by Don Carmichael

312 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0552; ISBN 1-55369-150-4; US$28.00, C$32.95, EUR23.00, £16.50

The author looks at three sequential periods of history - World war II, Korea and Vietnam - and explore the causes and effects of these wars. A Trumpet for Freedom is a mixture of fact and fiction

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about the book      about the author      excerpt      catalogue info

About the Book     A Trumpet for Freedomis the story of one man's adventures in three wars. Looking at three sequential periods in history - World War II, Korea and Vietnam, Carmichael explores the causes and effects of these wars in the perspective of history, the qualified views of others and his own personal experiences.     Written in three parts, Part I deals with the mysterious legacy of Don Carmichael and John Close, whose ancestry tends to overlap, confuse and cause consternation to the author when revealed at the death of his mother. The search goes on from 1968 to present, though dormant because of a dead-end in information.     Part II takes the reader back to the end of the Korean War where the second book ends and places the Vietnam War in perspective with Don Carmichael and John Close playing a quasi-fictional and non-fictional part.     Part III is an analysis of the Vietnam War from its inception to the end (1945-1975) by two old soldiers: Don Carmichael and Joe Fix with a perspective of those who have analizyed this war before. We look at Harry Summers, Bruce Palmer, Phil Davidson, et al and add our thought to the pot for historical consumption.     Some final words about the time and circumstance of the search for roots through the guise of soldiering - for posterity.

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About the Author     Don Carmichael, was a combat soldier in three wars, rising from private to Colonel.     ...insurance manager, college teacher, television commentator and writer.    ...and family man with Sally Jeanne, two big dogs and two little kitties in Crestview, Florida.

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Excerpt

From the Prologue

    I returned from Vietnam on the 12th of December, 1968. It was a year of travail - the TET offensive, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy - and a serious fall by my mother. I had returned during my tour to aid my wife in the attendance of my mother, now bedridden and soon to be in a nursing facility.
    Mother died on Christmas day. She was 80 year of age plus five days. She did not seem to know me in those last moments. As an only child, I had been her pride and joy through the good days and bad. From what I knew of her life, it had been tough yet filled with some moments of happiness.
    We had her cremated, and her remains were sent to the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, California. The service - her sisters and brother did not attend - was held in Alameda, California.
    As a result of her infirmities and age, we had moved her in with us prior to my tour to Vietnam, but her irrationality (and perhaps our children) drove her to seek independence in a small apartment. She had left her personal things, a box of mementoes, and other keepsakes in our garage. Her legacy included some personal papers, a small insurance policy with me as beneficiary, and some old newspaper clippings. The clippings were interesting and depicted early San Francisco and discussed the Guggenheims and the social prominence of the Close marriage. Society was apparently aglow with the recent matrimony of George and Carolyn Close.
    And some information about their son, John Close.
    Who was George and Carolyn Close? John Close? What part did they play in my mother's life? And mine?

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Catalogue Information

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