Reception and Book Talk with President Emeritus James Wright (4/12)

President Emeritus James Wright returns to Silicon Valley for a stop on his book tour promoting ENDURING VIETNAM: An American Generation and Its War. The evening will begin at 5:30 pm with a private reception at Calafia, which is located in Town & Country Village (#130). Its executive chef/proprietor, Charlie Ayers, was the first Google chef and a former personal chef for the Grateful Dead. A selection of light dinner foods (Small Bites, Big Flavors, Lasting Impressions) will be served, with a self-pay stationary wine and beer bar available. At 6:45 we will walk over to Books Inc. (also in Town & Country Village (#74)), where President Wright will speak for 30 minutes, take questions for 15 minutes, and then sign books. Books will be available for purchase and signing at Books Inc. for $29.99 plus tax.

The human face of combat is on full display in ENDURING VIETNAM: An American Generation and Its War, the latest book written by James Wright. With his focus on the U.S. servicemen and women who served there, particularly those who saw combat firsthand, Wright brings clarity to the American experience in Vietnam.  A complete picture forms of the complicated and ambivalent nature of this war, and the young people involved:  who they were, what they did in battle, and what their sacrifices meant.

Based upon personal accounts and 160 interviews with veterans and their families, ENDURING VIETNAM provides a comprehensive overview of the war and then focuses on the experience of those who served. “These personal stories illustrate my strong belief that accounts of war need to be more than critical analyses of national presumptions and strategic goals, and more than studies of the tactics, objectives, and results of the conduct of the military operations on the ground,” says Wright.  “These are all part of the story of war.  But they seldom remind us of the human experience—and the human cost.”

For more information about the book, please see the feature article in the March-April issue of the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.
http://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/wright-stuff

The President Emeritus of Dartmouth College and a former marine, Wright is uniquely suited to write this book.  Since his retirement, he has served in a number of ways to remind Americans of the face of war.  He returned to his professional roots as a historian, focusing on those Americans who have fought their country's wars.  His book, Those Who Have Borne the Battle: A History of America’s Wars and Those Who Fought Them (2012) explored the complex relationship between the American public and its veterans.  In addition to working on these books, he has helped establish educational counseling programs for wounded veterans, paid countless visits to military hospitals, has written a number of op-ed pieces on the current American wars, provided interviews and spoken at a number of public programs and forums, and participated in the 2016 Ric Burns PBS documentary, Debt of Honor.