Elusive Honor
A Post-Vietnam Trilogy
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
I was a reviewing officer and board member for hundreds of Naval Discharge Review Board cases in 1979. Often, I find myself searching long-term memory for any recollection of specific cases of individual applicants. Only three people ever surface in conscious memory: the “combat nurse”, “the new recruit”, and “the too tall marine”. These three people have been my ever-present companions for nearly thirty years.
Sometimes their stories return vividly with visions that both haunt and comfort…but those images always recede with fond remembrance of each meeting in a far away city so long ago. These individuals mattered then---and I know they and their families matter today.
For several years after Board assignment, I asked myself why these three still called to me? In time, the answer came. They unknowingly brought me a gift of greater awareness of the living souls in life’s encounters. In fact, they were more than a little responsible for who I became after 1979, and who I am today. Cherishing the life of others has become more important to me. The post-Vietnam trilogy experiences taught me that the survival of dignity, civility, and the brotherhood of man are powerful and sustaining life forces. I have affirmed the truth in the maxim: “I am my brother’s keeper.”
All of the author's proceeds from sale of this book will be donated in equal shares to "THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT", and "THE INTREPID FALLEN HEROES FUND", a non-profit organization that provides treatment and services to our catastrophically wounded servicemen and women and their families. 100% of all donations go directly to treatment/care programs. Administrative organizational costs of the Wounded Warrior Fund are covered by a separate philanthropic endowment.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Four years after the Vietnam War, the author met three Vietnam Era veterans. Since then, they have lived in the author's mind---coaxing, prodding, and haunting him for closure. Now, twenty-eight years later, he is telling their story. What follows is a rare insider's view of a Naval Discharge Review Board in action....with updated notes for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan War who may seek review of a discharge they feel was unjust.
Dr. Geoff Pope, Professor of English
Northwest University:
"A keen and compassionate memoir"
This book is part of the Veteran's History Project at the Library of Congress.
The LOC catalog nr is: LCCN 2008364019
About the Author
Elusive Honor is a first non-fiction book authored by retired US Navy Commander John Braxton Bartlett. John is a native son of Grafton, West Virginia. He holds degrees from Alderson-Broaddus College (Philippi WV), and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. He received his Commission from Naval Officer Candidate School (Newport R.I.) in 1961. His Navy Surface Warfare Officer career included assignments aboard USS Estes AGC-12, USS George Clymer APA-27, and USS Durham LKA-114. John participated in the first amphibious landing of US Combat Marines in Vietnam in 1965 and was Operations Officer for the last lift of US Combat Marines from Vietnam in 1972. CDR Bartlett served in 8 of 19 combat campaign periods of the Vietnam War including Operations: "Dagger Thrust" and Keystone Robin. He holds several personal decorations and foreign service ribbons from Navy, NATO, and Joint Service Assignments. He was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal by the Secretary of Defense. Following military retirement, John pursued a Federal Government Service career attaining the grade of GS-15 with the nuclear weapons arm of the Department of Defense. He retired from Federal Service in the US Department of Energy (DOE) having served as the DOE Site Representative of the Johnston Atoll Nuclear Test Site Reservation. While in DOE he also served as Branch Chief of a US-USSR Treaty Compliance Inspection Team. He later worked for State of Hawaii Civil Defense and in overseas defense contract management. John is a retired federal contract consultant and an active disaster assistance volunteer for the American Red Cross and Washington County Emergency Management Services. He is a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, a Life Member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), and is a member of National and Kitsap County Washington Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America. John and his wife Carol live in the Puget Sound area of Seattle Washington.