About the book
Two movements, one life
Told in two movements, this memoir opens on a childhood in the segregated South of the 1940s and 50s: cotton fields, Jim Crow, and a library fifteen miles out of reach. It closes on a soldier's war and its aftermath: Special Forces training, combat in Binh Dinh province, and the difficult return to civilian life, including PTSD and its lasting impact on relationships and mental health.
A testament to the resilience of those who served, and a call for greater understanding and support for veterans and their families.
Enlistment
At seventeen, he traded the cotton rows for the Army.
He finished high school and enlisted, and when basic training was not enough of a challenge, he requested Special Forces. He became a Weapons Sergeant, tasked with training inexperienced South Vietnamese soldiers against a far larger enemy force.
“All he could hear was a thud, thud, thud. He could not even return fire.”
Night patrol, June 1967, about twenty-five miles south of Da Nang. The Vietcong detonated two mines and opened up with machine guns. Pinned behind a dike, he came through with a shrapnel wound to the back of his head.
For valor
Five days that earned three of the nation's decorations.
Over five days he led a charge to neutralize enemy emplacements, called in precision artillery, fought hand to hand, and prevented the capture of three American soldiers.
Silver StarGallantry
Bronze StarMerit
Purple HeartWounded in actionComing home
The war did not end when he came home.
He separates from the Army and struggles to adjust, feeling the disconnect between the special operations world and civilian life, and the loss of a sense of mission.
He earns a Bachelor of Science from Fordham University, then an MBA in Finance from Baruch College.
He serves as President of the New York Regional Group of the Blinded Veterans Association, advocating for and mentoring veterans. He lives in Elmont, New York with his wife and two children.
About the author
Leon Collier
Leon Collier was born in Harlem in 1946 and raised in the segregated South. He enlisted in the Army at seventeen and served as a Special Forces Weapons Sergeant in Vietnam. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Fordham University and an MBA in Finance from Baruch College, and serves as President of the New York Regional Group of the Blinded Veterans Association. He lives in Elmont, New York with his wife and two children.
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