An unexpected email, decades after my brother's death in Vietnam, connected me to others still haunted by that day and our journey together revealed that going back can change the way we go forward.

This journey has taken me to Marine Corps reunions, to a rice paddy in Vietnam, to my childhood home and into the recesses of my memory and my heart to look with new eyes at my brother, his death, and the ways his life and death shaped my life's work and world view.

The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis: Always Faithful. Along the way, I learned new lessons about faithfulness, about the healing that can come when we seek opening instead of closure, and about the sacrifices that peace --- no less than war --- requires. 

 "A profoundly wise and unflinching story. Truth-telling we need to hear."

Andrew Todhunter, Atlantic Monthly Contributor

"This book unlocked my past and helped me let go of things that bothered me for years. It has the power to heal all kinds of wounds."

Ed Doyne, USMC Ret'd; Former CO Kilo 3/1; TBS Classmate of Robert Christian, Jr.

The book is expected to be in print this fall. An audio recording will be available this summer. Information on ordering will be available soon.  Please contact me if you would lke to be notified when the book and recording are available.

Bobby and Jan Christian  

A shrine my son and I created in Vietnam in January 2007