Foreword to the book, "Silent Warriors."

[keyseddie]

I published a book which is designed to be a fundraiser for American veterans. The link Silent Warriors by Edward Woods USMC Vietnam 1966-67: Arts & Photography | Blurb Books
A portion of the success of a book is tied to the person who writes the foreword. My search team suggested and rated potential contributors. There's and my forst choice was the person who accepted. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the senior woman in congress and has a long history of support for vets. I'm not sure if your screen, especially a phone, will allow you to view the foreword and other written material so here it is:
I am honored to write the foreword for Silent Warriors. My husband, Dexter, who volunteered for combat service in Vietnam, is a recipient of the Purple Heart, and he knows first-hand the experience of soldiers and veterans who have dealt with the aftermath of conflict to this day. As our country continues to lead the world, we must ensure that we honor all servicemen and women who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedoms. Our family has a proud tradition of serving our nation, as evidenced by my stepson, Doug, who served as a Marine officer in Iraq, and his wife Lindsay, who also served as a Marine officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. Edward Woods, a combat Marine who served in Vietnam has done a wonderful job of curating words and images that present the veterans, families, volunteers, and citizens who honor those who gave their lives for our country. I hope you find deep value and significance in Silent Warriors as much as Dexter, our family, and I have.




The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC

I wrote and produced this book as a labor of love to honor those names on the Wall. I financed the project alone and all profit goes to I charity I am forming. I have applied for a 501c3
non profit charity status. I'm not asking anyone to buy the book, but if you do, in the USA you get a charitable deduction of $61.39.
What I ask, is when you have the time, to look at and read it and let me know if you see it properly. A half hour and you can see all images and read the text. I see it fine but I'm looking on a 27" iMac. Thanks. One more thing. Please look at the last image in the book and tell me if it means anything to you. Or what you think it may mean to certain viewers.

 

[keyseddie]

Help me understand. 80 views and no comments when, in the same time frame, there were 7 pages of comments relating to the crybaby who can't seem to run her business without blaming someone else and 6 pages about the poor soul who will probably need therapy because he hit a deer. So I researched some history. A memorial day thread to honor fallen vets in 2010 had 230 views, no response. This year Traveler posted a Memorial day tribute. 139 views, 2 responses. Traveler also started a thread re Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in 2007, I believe, posting a pic. 608 views, 9 responses, most of them commenting on the pic.

I realize this is an international site. But is it an unfriendly site for American veterans? Should not veterans from all wars in all countries be honored? Is it wrong on this site to honor dead Americans? Is my thread illegal on this site?
Feel free to delete it if that is the case.

 

[Derrel]

That's pretty cool that you wrote a book! How are you having it published? I ask because of all these fabulous new "on-demand" publishing systems that are making it more affordable and easier to get books published. I think if more people were aware of the book-on-demand concept, that many more books would be written by authors whose topics might not be deemed worthy by the people that run large book publishing firms. Here in town, Portland State University got one of the very first automated, self-contained book printing systems some years ago, and it allows for runs as small as...one book! I know you're a writer, so I figured you might know a lot more about books on demand and the publishing biz than anybody here.

No, wait...I'm pretty sure I am confused about who wrote this book...

 

[The_Traveler]

I imagine that most people have no idea what to say except congratulations on persevering through the process and thanks for your service.

Lew

retired 24 years Army service

 

[keyseddie]

I imagine that most people have no idea what to say except congratulations on persevering through the process and thanks for your service.

Lew

retired 24 years Army service

Maybe that's it, Lew. Thank you for both.

 

[robbins.photo]

Help me understand. 80 views and no comments when, in the same time frame, there were 7 pages of comments relating to the crybaby who can't seem to run her business without blaming someone else and 6 pages about the poor soul who will probably need therapy because he hit a deer. So I researched some history. A memorial day thread to honor fallen vets in 2010 had 230 views, no response. This year Traveler posted a Memorial day tribute. 139 views, 2 responses. Traveler also started a thread re Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in 2007, I believe, posting a pic. 608 views, 9 responses, most of them commenting on the pic.

I realize this is an international site. But is it an unfriendly site for American veterans? Should not veterans from all wars in all countries be honored? Is it wrong on this site to honor dead Americans? Is my thread illegal on this site?
Feel free to delete it if that is the case.

Ok well just to play devils advocate here you really didn't pose a question above - merely mentioned that you wrote a book and that this would be the forward. So not really certain what sort of response you were really hoping for here to be honest. Congratulations maybe? I don't mean that in a felicitous way, I'm an honorably discharged vet myself. But you know I didn't sign up for the fame, the acclaim or to be thanked or congratulated by every Tom, Dick and Harry out there so I guess it doesn't bother me when people don't make a fuss over the fact that I served.

Honestly most people don't have a clue what to say about military service if they've never served themselves or never known anyone personally that did, and that really doesn't bother me at all. Granted it might be nice if just for once Hollywood didn't portray us all as depraved psychotics with zero impulse control, but hey - not much can be done about that I suppose other than not paying them for the sludge they turn out and laughably label as entertainment.

 

[Designer]

As far as comments are concerned, I often don't have any comment, even when asked, but my thoughts as I read this post were; I would consider buying the book, I thought of my friends who fought in Vietnam, I thought of my son, the U.S. Marine, and the men whose names are on the wall. What kind of comment could I leave that would mean anything?

 

[keyseddie]

Gentlemen, I'm not sure what I expected. I hear what Designer and robbins are saying. Surely not for accolades. I think I'm beyond that. I guess I wanted people to acknowledge it as a worthy cause. I'm kinda new at this brand of communication, but the above posts are opening my eyes. My thanks.

 

[keyseddie]

That's pretty cool that you wrote a book! How are you having it published? I ask because of all these fabulous new "on-demand" publishing systems that are making it more affordable and easier to get books published. I think if more people were aware of the book-on-demand concept, that many more books would be written by authors whose topics might not be deemed worthy by the people that run large book publishing firms. Here in town, Portland State University got one of the very first automated, self-contained book printing systems some years ago, and it allows for runs as small as...one book! I know you're a writer, so I figured you might know a lot more about books on demand and the publishing biz than anybody here.



No, wait...I'm pretty sure I am confused about who wrote this book...

Thanks, Derrel. Yes, I wrote the book, and had it published by Blurb.com. I did quite a bit of research before choosing them and it was a good choice. The process of design can be daunting but whenever I hit a snag customer service helped me with competence and promptness. After publication they asked if I would do a recorded interview in front of a panel of their executives about the experience. I agreed and they agreed to give me $100 for it. I highly recommend them. The book should be on amazon shortly as well.The problem with POD books, similar to all the bad photography for sale on the internet by anyone who knows how to make a watermark and buy a camera, is now there are hundreds of thousands of bad books for sale. Most people sell them at cost.There is a considerable dearth of worthy books on their site or others. I see value just letting people know about the book via veterans organizations and the like. The book is going to libraries, which is good. The fact that my book is a fundraiser is paramount to good sales. So is the person writing the foreword, for any book. I'll publish more books for profit after my autumn excursions. But the only people who will buy them I believe, are the people who already own my work or know my work and are contacted by myself or someone else. Not through searching on amazon or blurb. Hope this helps.

 

[Vince.1551]

Amazing work. I was enlisted at 18 years old and can relate.

 

[robbins.photo]

Gentlemen, I'm not sure what I expected. I hear what Designer and robbins are saying. Surely not for accolades. I think I'm beyond that. I guess I wanted people to acknowledge it as a worthy cause. I'm kinda new at this brand of communication, but the above posts are opening my eyes. My thanks.

No worries, my response wasn't meant to be hostile in any way. Just that most people frankly are pretty much at a loss when it comes to stuff like this, for a lot of folks it's one of those topics that falls into the "you really want to say something but a lot of times it's hard to figure out what exactly" category.

Me personally I'd be a happy camper if just once Hollywood would do even the slightest amount of research into military service - of course I'd be happy if just once the were at the very least able to figure out that a bullet proof vest is not a magic device that completely protects you from all of the negative effects of small arms fire. Yes, in many cases it will keep you from taking a permanent dirt nap. No, you won't be dancing around taunting your opponent mere moments after taking half a dozen 9 mm slugs at point blank range.

 

[limr]

FWIW, I just saw this thread. I always like to read through responses before I compose my own (if I have one). When I first read the OP, like some others, I wondered what kind of comment was expected, and continued to read the thread. Then I reread the OP and realized something that I hadn't caught the first time around. There was a change in the color and font of the text, which I understand happened when you copied the forward. But then it didn't change back and I didn't realize that the last part of that was text of your own that you added after the forward. It looked like it was still copied material and if someone isn't reading carefully all the way to the end, it's hard to see that there were actually some questions there at the end. I generally skim through something to get the gist and then re-read more carefully, but I reckon there are many who just do the skimming but not the re-reading. Maybe they didn't even realize there were more specific requests in the OP.

And face it, it's a lot easier to be snarky on a thread that doesn't require reading than to be thoughtful on a thread that presents a more serious topic. :er:

As for the book itself, it's a worthy cause and I applaud you for your help and your service. I personally won't be buying it at the moment because my budget is tight. I mean really tight. But I would consider it when things ease up a little bit. In the meantime, I do what I can. I used to volunteer to send letters and care packages, for example, and I've donated ESL books for one campaign that was trying to teach English to the local community. I'll donate a few dollars here and there to a program called "Cup of Joe" through Green Mountain (I think) that buys cups of coffee for deployed service men and women.

I don't think we're anti-military here; it's just that we don't always know what to say.

 

[limr]

As for your question about the last image: do you mean the one with the shadow against the wall or the one on the back cover?

The one on the last page to me evokes the idea of the ghosts or memories of those who died, how they are present again when people remember them at the wall.

 

[keyseddie]

The one on the last page to me evokes the idea of the ghosts or memories of those who died, how they are present again when people remember them at the wall.

Yes, Leonore, that image. And yes, tanks for your thorough insight. That is the exact intent of that final image and that's why it was placed there.

Thanks to all.