The Story Behind the Book

How "Trauma and Tenacity in Vietnam: A Surgeon's Story" came to be written:
 

In 2011, a business professor from Indian River State College in Vero Beach, FL, put me in touch with Dr. Sheldon Kushner, an adjunct teaching undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology classes. Sheldon immediately wanted to talk about his tour of duty as a trauma surgeon in Vinh Long, South Vietnam from 1968-69. He had most of the letters and audio reel-to-reel tapes he sent to his wife from that time. In order to listen to these tapes, I needed to purchase a vintage Craig tape recorder on Ebay. Sheldon also shared several hundred slides he kept in boxes, some of which had aged with time, which were taken as a visual chronicle while in country.

 

What followed were interviews over several years, learning more from the memories he had held inside, feeling comfortable enough to share them with my husband, Bill, and I. For Sheldon it was a catharsis and for us, it was a learning curve to know more about the work he did with civilians who were traumatized by the war. 

Listen to the INTRODUCTION to the book HERE

​

​

​

​