Specialist Fourth Class John Joseph Defazio : Advocating for the Disabled American Veterans

Readers today often express an interest in reading something “real,” just as many movie goers look for films “based on a true story.” One cannot find anything more real than this book. Every contributor is invested in its vision, and each one personally offers to help readers. In this sense, this book’s impact goes far beyond the pages. Joe DeFazio is the point person and his humbly expressed record of what he is able to accomplish for other suffering veterans is nothing short of heroic. Bruce McDaniel, a multi-decorated medic, is also an understated hero who, with his wife and family, has extended a life of compassion long after the Vietnam War’s end into today, taking refugee children into their home to love and rear. His own thoughtful reflections on the war and its aftermath in his afterword to this book and his own Walk through the Valley: The Spiritual Journey of a Vietnam War Medic and The Hardest Part: Homecoming Stories from the Vietnam War bear out Joe’s concerns and example. You won’t come away from this brief book the same. It will widen your vision of how you too can help.

Jeanne DeFazio is the coeditor of the following Wipf & Stock publications: Creative Ways to Build Christian Community, Berkeley Street Theatre, and Empowering English Language Learners. She co-authored, with Teresa Flowers, How to Have an Attitude of Gratitude on the Night Shift and authored Keeping the Dream Alive: A Reflection on the Art of Harriet Lorence Nesbitt.

Jeanne DeFazio is a former SAG/AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) actress of Spanish Italian descent, who played supporting parts in theater, movies, and television series, then served the marginalized in the drama of real life. She became a teacher of second language-learner children in the barrios of San Diego. She completed a BA in History at the University of California, Davis, MAR in Theology at Gordon- Conwell Theological Seminary, and a Cal State Teach English Language Learners program. From 2009 to 2024, she served as an Athanasian Teaching Scholar at Gordon-Conwell's multicultural Boston Center for Urban Ministerial Education.

Check out my book trailer for Creative Ways to Build Christian Community here!