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Wandering Souls: A Vietnam Veteran's Tale of the Journey to Peace with Author Wayne Karlin
Wayne Karlin

Wandering Souls: A Vietnam Veteran's Tale of the Journey to Peace with Author Wayne Karlin

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Can't make this time? A video recording will be sent to all participants after the seminar.

Award-winning writer Wayne Karlin joins us in conversation to tell the poignant story of how an American veteran helped a Vietnamese family find peace, and in turn, how he finally found peace with his own heart, long after the war concluded.
First Lieutenant Homer Steedly, Jr. and Sergeant-medic Hoang Ngoc Dam became inextricably bound when they met accidentally on a jungle path in Viet Nam and Homer shot and killed Dam. Nearly forty years later, Homer returned to Viet Nam to bring the journal he took from Dam’s body to his family, and to help them find and bring Dam’s remains to his home village.
Led by acclaimed author Wayne Karlin, our conversation will bring to light the grace and courage of a soldier who took onto himself the debilitating grief of his former enemy’s family. It is also the story of the grace and mercy of a family – and an entire village – who took that soldier to their hearts and allowed their gratitude at the ending he brought to their story to outweigh their need to hate him for the death that began it.
Recommended follow-up reading for this seminar includes:
  • Wandering Souls: Journeys with the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam by Wayne Karlin

Wayne Karlin is the author of eleven books of fiction and non-fiction. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he is the recipient of the Paterson Prize in Fiction, the Juniper Prize in Fiction, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in the Arts Award.

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 1 review
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Kathy (Potomac, US)
An overwhelming story of war, grief and reconciliation

Wayne tells the powerful true story of a soldier and his experiences in the Vietnam war. It expresses the impact on the soldier's life and his feelings about ending the life of another. His reconciliation with the family of that Vietnamese medic/soldier had me in tears. Incredible story and presentation.

Customer Reviews

Based on 1 review
100%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
K
Kathy (Potomac, US)
An overwhelming story of war, grief and reconciliation

Wayne tells the powerful true story of a soldier and his experiences in the Vietnam war. It expresses the impact on the soldier's life and his feelings about ending the life of another. His reconciliation with the family of that Vietnamese medic/soldier had me in tears. Incredible story and presentation.