American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day
Coram's superb biography of the most decorated living American veteran begins with Bud Day's Great Plains childhood and takes him through joining the air force, marrying his high-school sweetheart, and flying ever-more-demanding missions in Vietnam. After his luck ran out, he escaped from the first POW camp in which he was interned but was recaptured and endured five years of torture in a second. Retiring with the Medal of Honor, he returned to public life a generation later, launching breach-of-contract suits against the Clinton administration for what he perceived as its bad faith in dealing with Vietnam veterans. Although partially disabled and an ongoing sufferer from PTSD, Day remains active in veterans' affairs and Republican politics. Coram's motives for writing the book--see the preface--may raise some eyebrows, but as he did for his previous fighter-pilot biography,Boyd(2002), he has researched thoroughly and written fluently and with sympathy for his subject, an authentic hero worthy of many books.Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.