Gary M Derigne

I'm the author of two historical novels about the Vietnam War and its aftermath, "One Young Soldier" and "Angie's War." I learned about Vietnam by serving there in 1969 as an infantryman with the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, including being wounded in a jungle firefight late in my tour.

I began writing about the war about fifteen years ago as a cathartic exercise, to help with my PTSD. Some of my friends from the war read the first version of "One Young Soldier" and encouraged me to publish it, since it had helped them explain to their families what the war had been like for them (something they felt they'd never been able to do adequately themselves).

Success with "One Young Soldier" brought me a number of speaking engagements, and the opportunity to help lots of people better understand the human cost of war. With lots of encouragement from readers of that first book, I wrote "Angie's War" as a sequel, a longer chronicle to bring the story to modern times, and include more about the aftereffects of war on the families of those who go away to fight.

Angie's war is gaining high praise from those who have read it so far, and I'm encouraged that with more promotion, it will do very well.