Valley of The Purple Hearts

Valley of The Purple Hearts

The 101st Airborne West of Hue after The 1968 Tet Offensive

The story of an infantry squad in Vietnam.

When eighteen-year-old Buck Marino first meets Rolley Zwyrkowski, he little realizes the young sergeant and their next year together in Vietnam will change his life forever. The months following the 1968 Tet Offensive and the battles of the 101st Airborne between Hue and Phu Bai, and westward into the A Shau Valley, provide the backdrop for a story about boys becoming men in a paradoxical war. And when he meets Army nurse Janie Jorgensen, Buck believes he has found the love of his life only to crash into the reality that the war has left his heart and soul lost in a futureless void.

 

Winner of the 2017 Best Indie Book Award for Mainstream Literary Fiction, Valley of The Purple Hearts follows the men of Second Squad through the shadowy jungles and mountains of I-Corps as they fight main force Viet Cong and NVA regulars. With constant enemy contact, booby-traps, sniper fire, and all-out firefights, Buck and his buddies follow their squad leader, Rolley, who puts the lives of his men first. As Rolley faces the young and inept Lieutenant Mallon, Buck realizes his squad leader is becoming jaded and has lost his sense of humor. When the young sergeant sacrifices his safety for that of his men, Buck must step up to face Mallon in the heat of battle, and try to save his friend. 

BIB award

Valley of the Purple Hearts Purchase Options

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You may also enjoy my other books below:

Melody Hill: A Vietnam War Novel

Gomorrah Principle: A Vietnam War Sniper Story

Raeford’s MVP: Military Fiction with a Love Story

Tallahatchie: Southern Fiction and Dark Comedy

Rawlings, No Longer Young: A Western Historical Fiction Novel

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A Matter of Perspective

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I’m beginning to understand why they call them “love apples,” but I’ll stick with tomato for now. This year the garden has produced some interesting ones. For example, there’s this magical specimen. The way I see it, there’s a lesson to be learned here. I’m not sure what exactly it is–perhaps something to do with first impressions. Or maybe it’s a matter of perspective…or maybe, it’s both. Anyway…

A good-hearted tomato.

Many folks will immediately see a a big heart. That’s what my wife saw. Made me think of something romantic, like a good-hearted woman, so I decided I’d take a photo of it. But as I focused my camera on it, I began to see it differently…the warped male side of me was emerging. Sure enough, it was much more than a heart.

 

It shapeshifted on me. Like one of those Native American spirit animals…or in this case, vegetables, it had become something more. Not only did she have a good heart, but she had a pretty butt, too. Don’t you just love the way mother nature expressess herself? ….Or maybe it’s just the hormonely intoxicated work of the male mind. 

Another Perspective.

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