A Gift to My Daughter 

Listen to the interview with the author here

Author: Jack Billups (USA) 

About the author:  As a 19-year-old Army volunteer, Sgt. Jack Billups received the Bronze Star with the V attachment. He was awarded the Air Medal, which went to those who participated in combat aerial missions. Assigned to the 1st Air Calvary infantry as a M60 machine gunner, Jack served in the steamy jungles near the Ho Chi Minh trail along the Cambodian border.

Jack grew up during the 1950s and early 1960s in a peaceful Southern California community populated by many senior citizens and dotted with chicken ranches. The conflict in Vietnam was a troublesome and loomed large over those of his generation as many young men feared being drafted. Billups signed up, rather than lived with uncertainty. Always an independent soul, he became fully adult during his military service. Going in as a kid at 19, Jack's life was quickly transformed during his tour in Vietnam; he returned a different man. While overseas, he lost a girlfriend he thought he'd marry and had to start life all over when he returned.

Astonished that some Americans were antagonistic to veterans, Jack, like many Vietnam veterans slipped back into society remaining quiet about their service. Stepping out into a new beginning, Jack started a masonry business from scratch in San Diego. He enjoyed the physically exhausting job, creating masterful fireplaces and beautiful natural stone work, the perfect trade for a creative soul who enjoyed hard work.

After 23 years, Jack was worn-out by his trade. He and his wife Anabel relocated to Arizona and Jack started a second business as a distributor for Matco Tools. Part time he pursued natural artistic gifts and illustrated books and other publications.

Jack Billups is a dependable and talented Everyman who makes no claim about his service in Vietnam except for being a patriotic American who did "the right thing" as he saw it. He maintained that attitude throughout his life. Asked to talk about his military experience by his daughter, he began writing it out, and ended up exposing 50-year-old forgotten memories and emotions about the jungle war, concluding with a trip back to Vietnam with his daughter.

About the book:  "Hey Dad, instead of a gift, would you share your Vietnam experiences with me?" My daughter's request set into motion a journey 50 years into the past as a "grunt" in the steamy jungles of Vietnam. Four months later, with my memoir completed, Naomi asked another question. "Hey Dad, let's go to Vietnam, just you and me?" Could the ghosts of Vietnam past morph into a father and daughter blessing in the present?

"My Vietnam: A Gift to My Daughter" is a compelling memoir that reconciles America and Vietnam, then and now, including the culture shock of seeing Vietnam as it exists today. It offers a heartfelt and heartwarming message to the people of both countries, and a greater understanding of what the old song "Ruby" called "that crazy Asian war."