Anna M. Aquino

My oldest daughter is working on a history fair project and she had to pick a turning place in history and do a project on it. I jumped at the chance to get her to do a project on Vietnam. As many of you know my dad was a grunt soldier in the war and essentially it’s my dad’s story that God used to get me writing. Watching her interview my dad and me has opened up some great dialogue in my house. It’s reminded me yet again why I am so passionate about talking about my father’s story and one day getting my book about him published. I want the next generation to know what happened. It’s something deeply rooted within me. It’s also making me want to dust off my first book again and see if I can generate any interest in it in the world of publishing.It can be easy when you go through life to get so caught up in the current project that you lose sight of the foundational things that are within you. But you need to take moments to reevaluate in life where you are and where you are go...

My dad is one of the toughest men I have ever been around in the natural. He was a grunt soldier in Vietnam, and survived an entire tour spending 99% of that time in the bush. To put that in the perspective of statistics, the life expectancy of a grunt soldier in Vietnam was two weeks. Daddy survived thirteen months at the height of the war. Which I will readily credit, was both: the hand of God on his life, and my daddy’s refusal to quit. It is no wonder that while growing up to me, he was a larger than life character. He’s since survived all sorts of health issues, most likely caused by Agent Orange. In short my daddy is a survivor. He had lived through ordeals that most would give up in. He has fought to stay alive in the midst of horrible trauma. He has always said to me, “You have two choices in life: You can either lie down and die, or get up and keep fighting.” I get a little annoyed when I hear people start to whine and complain ...