This book is based on the community of Pueblo Colorado during the Vietnam Era and particularity focused on the young men who died during that war whose home of record is Pueblo Colorado. Not only is it about these brave youngsters who went to war, it is about the community, their support, both then and today. The purpose of this book is from the authors desire that as time passes the memory of these individuals do not fade in oblivion, nor the atmosphere that surrounded the community during this period.

The motivation for this book came when the author initiated his desire to do something for his friends who died in Vietnam and convinced a local cemetery, Roselawn, to host a travelling replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC, to the cemetery in July2016 as part of the Cemeteries 125th Anniversary.

After the four-day event the author felt that more needed to be said about the sixty-four meny whose 'home of record 'was Pueblo and approximately twenty more brave heroes who had either a personal of relationship or a relationship with someone from Pueblo. We also wanted to show the great outpouring that the people who came to the event, the Gold Star Families, and other community members who showed they still cared and remembered after nearly fifty years since the end of Vietnam.

As back drop for the book we used the ceremonies during the event to display this emotional and dramatic stage to tell our story. In addition the author spend countless hours of research to assure the upmost accuracy of the history of the war tself. Being a veteran of the Era, but not the Southeastern Theater itself, the author tells the story as he saw it unfold and as he understood it from the perspective of the community, his family, and those whom he served with, in the National Guard, during the era. He tries to be honest about his feelings and yet tell the story from the perspective of what happened, the feeling of the community, and the United States.

He goes into detail of the root causes of the war, the United States reaction and tries to understand the perceptions of Vietnamese people themselves. McKenna puts together a dramatic story that is not only historically correct .it also captures the attitude of both the people who went to Vietnam and those who stayed behind and listened to the news each day hoping they would not recognize a name they knew, the greatest feat of the book however is the dedication to each person honored in the book, He went to extreme lengths to look up individual records (as mush as he could), being blatantly honest to the point it may have distorted someone's previous understanding and perception of the facts, and created a record of the heroics, passion, patriotism, and the dedication of these young men, and a testament to the values of the community they all shared in common, Pueblo Colorado.

He also makes sure that anyone who had a, even a small part in he telling this story is acknowledged, because it was the community who told the story, not the author, it were people who served in Vietnam who put together the ceremonies with pride and respect, and it the Gold Star Mothers and other Gold Star family's members that brought an astonishing spirit that overwhelms anyone who was at Roselawn in July 2016. This celebration told of who this community was in the 1960's and 70- and who we are today. If you are into honesty, optimism, heart-felt emotion, history, patriotism, and great feeling book, then please read this. This is our story. and we are proud to share.
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