"For 40 years, I didn't talk about Vietnam. Not to my wife, not to my kids. Too painful. Too ashamed of what I'd seen and done. But when my grandson asked me if I'd been in a war, I realized he knew nothing about the most defining experience of my life."
"LifeScribe gave me a safe way to start. I could record when I was ready, stop when it got too hard, and only share the chapters I wanted my family to hear. I've recorded 28 chapters now. Some are about combat—the ones my therapist suggested I record for myself but never share. Some are about the brothers I served with, the ones who didn't make it home. And some are about coming home and rebuilding a life."
"My grandson is 16 now. He asked if he could listen to my chapters for a school history project. I gave him access to the 'appropriate' ones—the stories about basic training, the friendships, the helicopter rides, the Vietnamese people I met. He came back crying, saying he had no idea what I'd been through, and that he was proud of me."
"That conversation was worth more than 40 years of silence. I only wish I'd started sooner. There are too many stories I've already forgotten."