“I felt it was an obligation that Icould not deny. This seems to me a combination both of my own work as awriter, and also a way of ending the war for myself and for Homer,”said American author Wayne Karlin describing his new book “Wanderingsouls”.
The book, to be published in the United States this September, tellsthe story of two drifting souls – that of an American soldier and theVietnamese military medic who he shot dead during the Vietnam war. Hesurvived the war, but was left with lingering regrets for nearly 40years before he could return the young Vietnamese soldier’s documentsto his family.
Wandering souls
On March 19, 1969, First Lieutenant Homer R. Steedly shot and killed aNorth Vietnamese soldier named Hoang Ngoc Dam, when they met on ajungle trail. Homer took a diary from the body of the dead soldier,which he subsequently sent to his mother in the US for safekeeping.
Thirty-five years later, Homer rediscovers the forgotten dairy andbegins to confront his suppressed memories of the war that defined hislife, deciding to return to Viet Nam and meet the family of the man hekilled to seek their forgiveness.
While the soul of the Vietnamese soldier wandered in limbo before beingbrought back to his village one day in 2008, together with his remains,the other soul, that of the American soldier—the soul of a livingman--also drifted, clinging on to only one thing – grief.
“For many of those years after the war, Homer was deeply traumatised.When he tried to talk to people, nobody wanted to listen. People wouldlook at him strangely when he wanted to talk about the war,” WayneKarlin said.
So for a long time he isolated himself and he also engaged in manydangerous sports like caving, parachuting, and motorcycle racing, etc.He also tried to kill himself, Wayne confided.
“The deaths and injuries [that] occurred under my leadership stillhaunt my memories,” Homer was quoted as saying. “I expect they will beamong the memories that flash before my eyes when I lie on my deathbed.Somehow I feel guilty for having come back alive.”
As an artilleryman serving in the US Marine Corps from 1963 to 1967 inVietnam, author Wayne Karlin said that, for him, the ghosts that visithim, and the obsessions that overtake him from the war are lesstraumatic because he can write them out instead of keeping everythinginside.
“When I went to the war I was totally led to believe that I was helpingpeople who want democracy and to be free of communist aggression.Growing up in the US , we heard the same thing in schools, all thetime. And so I believe it,” Karlin said.
“But, when I came, I saw that we were hurting the Vietnamese people bybeing here more than helping them... I saw that many people were goingto die...,” he continued.
Karlin said that when he came home, he started to read as much as hecould about Vietnam, to understand how what he saw fit into the largerpicture—namely that he and other US soldiers were fighting againstpeople who, in their own view, were fighting for their independencefrom them. “I wish I were not a part of that [war],” Karlin added.
35 years to end a war When Karlin’s book was finished in 2009, Dam’sremains were brought home and Steedly had fulfilled his wish to pay hisrespects and light incense at the altar of the Vietnamese soldier heshot. The souls of both the dead and the living men find peace in theend.
Karlin said he wrote the book not only as a writer, but also as “a wayof ending the war for myself and for Homer.” However, he said that thework has given his soul no peace, since in order to write it, he had todelve deep into what makes people feel less peaceful on their souls.
As a professor at Southern Maryland College, Karlin is now working toheal the scars left over from the war by leading a group of US studentsto visit Vietnam to understand more about the country’s history,culture and people.
Also during his trip, he visited two schools which were built in 2005with funds provided by the Dove Fund supported by US veterans. Theschools are located in the villages of Ai Tu and Cam Thanh in Quang Triprovince – the former battlefield for himself and his fellow soldiers.
Part of the profits from Karlin’s books have gone to the schools.Before “Wandering souls”, he wrote seven novels and two books ofnon-fiction about the Vietnam war.
He is also the American editor of the Curbstone Press’s series of books“Voices from Vietnam ” and of various war novels by Vietnamese writers./.
The book, to be published in the United States this September, tellsthe story of two drifting souls – that of an American soldier and theVietnamese military medic who he shot dead during the Vietnam war. Hesurvived the war, but was left with lingering regrets for nearly 40years before he could return the young Vietnamese soldier’s documentsto his family.
Wandering souls
On March 19, 1969, First Lieutenant Homer R. Steedly shot and killed aNorth Vietnamese soldier named Hoang Ngoc Dam, when they met on ajungle trail. Homer took a diary from the body of the dead soldier,which he subsequently sent to his mother in the US for safekeeping.
Thirty-five years later, Homer rediscovers the forgotten dairy andbegins to confront his suppressed memories of the war that defined hislife, deciding to return to Viet Nam and meet the family of the man hekilled to seek their forgiveness.
While the soul of the Vietnamese soldier wandered in limbo before beingbrought back to his village one day in 2008, together with his remains,the other soul, that of the American soldier—the soul of a livingman--also drifted, clinging on to only one thing – grief.
“For many of those years after the war, Homer was deeply traumatised.When he tried to talk to people, nobody wanted to listen. People wouldlook at him strangely when he wanted to talk about the war,” WayneKarlin said.
So for a long time he isolated himself and he also engaged in manydangerous sports like caving, parachuting, and motorcycle racing, etc.He also tried to kill himself, Wayne confided.
“The deaths and injuries [that] occurred under my leadership stillhaunt my memories,” Homer was quoted as saying. “I expect they will beamong the memories that flash before my eyes when I lie on my deathbed.Somehow I feel guilty for having come back alive.”
As an artilleryman serving in the US Marine Corps from 1963 to 1967 inVietnam, author Wayne Karlin said that, for him, the ghosts that visithim, and the obsessions that overtake him from the war are lesstraumatic because he can write them out instead of keeping everythinginside.
“When I went to the war I was totally led to believe that I was helpingpeople who want democracy and to be free of communist aggression.Growing up in the US , we heard the same thing in schools, all thetime. And so I believe it,” Karlin said.
“But, when I came, I saw that we were hurting the Vietnamese people bybeing here more than helping them... I saw that many people were goingto die...,” he continued.
Karlin said that when he came home, he started to read as much as hecould about Vietnam, to understand how what he saw fit into the largerpicture—namely that he and other US soldiers were fighting againstpeople who, in their own view, were fighting for their independencefrom them. “I wish I were not a part of that [war],” Karlin added.
35 years to end a war When Karlin’s book was finished in 2009, Dam’sremains were brought home and Steedly had fulfilled his wish to pay hisrespects and light incense at the altar of the Vietnamese soldier heshot. The souls of both the dead and the living men find peace in theend.
Karlin said he wrote the book not only as a writer, but also as “a wayof ending the war for myself and for Homer.” However, he said that thework has given his soul no peace, since in order to write it, he had todelve deep into what makes people feel less peaceful on their souls.
As a professor at Southern Maryland College, Karlin is now working toheal the scars left over from the war by leading a group of US studentsto visit Vietnam to understand more about the country’s history,culture and people.
Also during his trip, he visited two schools which were built in 2005with funds provided by the Dove Fund supported by US veterans. Theschools are located in the villages of Ai Tu and Cam Thanh in Quang Triprovince – the former battlefield for himself and his fellow soldiers.
Part of the profits from Karlin’s books have gone to the schools.Before “Wandering souls”, he wrote seven novels and two books ofnon-fiction about the Vietnam war.
He is also the American editor of the Curbstone Press’s series of books“Voices from Vietnam ” and of various war novels by Vietnamese writers./.
