Soldiers Once: My Brother and the Lost Dreams of America’s Veterans My brother, Jim, a Vietnam veteran whose life unraveled in the decades following the war, was buried on the eve of 9/11. He was a soldier once, proud and courageous, but in the end he lived in poverty and isolation, with little more than a drawer full of medals to show for twenty years of service. Thinking of my brother as I watched new wars being engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq, I wondered how we could keep the promise to support the troops, not just in the urgency of the battle, but in the long aftermath when they return home. Told in Soldiers Once, my brother’s story is the centerpiece of a larger story about our nation’s moral duty to heal our wounded warriors. http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/cover1/519848841_hLFDW-Ti.jpg http://87theng.smugmug.com/gallery/7995857_ewzD8/ 2009-04-24T01:10:07Z Copyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved. SmugMug <p><a href="http://87theng.smugmug.com">87thEng</a><br />Jim was with the lst Engineer Battalion 1st Inf. Div. He was a Engineer that was in the JUNCTION CITY Op. I and II achieved very significant results. The tabulated materiel results are at ...</p><p><a href="http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/7995857_ewzD8#519848841_hLFDW" title="Jim was with the lst Engineer Battalion 1st Inf. Div. He was a Engineer that was in the JUNCTION CITY Op. I and II achieved very significant results. The tabulated materiel results are at ..."><img src="http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/cover1/519848841_hLFDW-Th.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Jim was with the lst Engineer Battalion 1st Inf. Div. He was a Engineer that was in the JUNCTION CITY Op. I and II achieved very significant results. The tabulated materiel results are at ..." title="Jim was with the lst Engineer Battalion 1st Inf. Div. He was a Engineer that was in the JUNCTION CITY Op. I and II achieved very significant results. The tabulated materiel results are at ..." style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-12-22T03:34:22Z 87thEng http://87theng.smugmug.com http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/cover1/519848841_hLFDW-Th.jpg <p><a href="http://87theng.smugmug.com">87thEng</a> </p><p><a href="http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/7995857_ewzD8#519848828_EGddB" title="87thEng's photo"><img src="http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/whitneyinsert-1-11/519848828_EGddB-Th.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="87thEng's photo" title="87thEng's photo" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-12-22T03:34:23Z 87thEng http://87theng.smugmug.com http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/whitneyinsert-1-11/519848828_EGddB-Th.jpg <p><a href="http://87theng.smugmug.com">87thEng</a> </p><p><a href="http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/7995857_ewzD8#519848814_JGwcX" title="87thEng's photo"><img src="http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/87-flag-2/519848814_JGwcX-Th.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="87thEng's photo" title="87thEng's photo" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p> 2009-12-22T03:34:24Z 87thEng http://87theng.smugmug.com http://87theng.smugmug.com/Other/Soldiers-Once/87-flag-2/519848814_JGwcX-Th.jpg