A woman decides to reunite her estranged family with the letters from her husband written while he fought in Vietnam that she secretly saved.
Anita Anderson's husband of 30 years, Tom, has a heart attack then falls into a coma. Her sons and daughter arrive home for what they believe to be his inevitable death. Through her heartache, Anita leans on the letters that she and Tom exchanged while he fought in Vietnam. They are eventually shared with her family, and everyone is reunited. A bit later, Anita decides to share them with other Vietnam veterans so they can heal, also.
Excerpt
19 May 1969
My darling Anita,
Today is Ho Chi Minh's birthday so everyone is very apprehensive that we might be attacked. In fact there was some sniper activity on the road leading into this camp.The word is that a truck driver was shot and seriously wounded....
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Reviews for "When Duty Calls"
Reviewed by jeff carpenter
11/24/2017
This book was interesting in concept, the idea of using letter home from Vietnam as a trigger to bring together a family that had grown distant. However, the way the book played out was not for me. I was thrown off by the description that said the husband fought in Vietnam, and then discovered he was a chaplain, and that the fighting was mostly to get a chapel built. I didn't discover he was a chaplain until I interpreted it from some letters a quarter of the way through the book, and I thought it was a bit misleading to be drawn in thinking there would be letters from a person who experienced the horrors of combat. Because of that, the letters home didn't really resonate, and I felt the book was more relevant to the family at the center of it, not to other readers. I would be hard pressed to recommend it, although I definitely appreciate the value to the family in the middle of the experience.
Reviewed by Debbie Brandt
10/27/2017
Tom's letters written during the time when he was in Vietnam and the letters serve as a tool to bring an estranged family back together. I think the concept was wonderful and I love the elements of faith in the book. I have to say that often times it seemed like the reader was expected to know certain terms or lingo and to know or figure out what was going on with only glimpses of the past. It always seemed like I was missing a piece of the story. I also guess I am not sure how these letters by themselves would have brought the family back together. It doesn't really tell us what broke them up and the letters are nice but not significant enough to heal a major rift. For me it was a stretch to think these letters would suddenly and miraculously heal a family.
I wish the author would have talked more about what life was like for the soldiers in Vietnam and really explored their experiences more.
Since I served in the Air Force during the Vietnam war I was very interested in reading this book. I must say it was a great book as it took place after that time period but how at this later time of life the letters that had been shared between the husband and wife while he was over there had the effect to bring a estranged family back together at a time when the family needed it. I would recommend this book to anyone but especially those who served over there or the families that were home.
Thank you for allowing me the chance to read this book.
Reviewed by andrew anderson
5/27/2003
Could you please contact me re Booker T Washinton Club have difficulty on given email address thanks andrew anderson
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