Shrapnel in the Heart

Shrapnel in the Heart Banner

Letters and Remembrances from the Vietnam Memorial
by Laura Palmer

the website

Introduction from the book

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War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam (edited by Jurate Kazickas - Laura Palmer is a contributor to the book)

"Writing Vietnam" Panel discussion at Brown University, 22 April 1999 - Laura Palmer participated and this includes the following excerpts from Shrapnel:

Letter by Eleanor Wimbish
"Eleanor Wimbish was the mother of Billy Stocks, who died in 1969. He was with the 23rd infantry division. She left many letters to him at the wall, she would leave a picture there. And I think her voice, for me, became the voice of every mother." - Laura Palmer
Why God
"Bob Kalsu was the only pro football player who died in Vietnam. He was -- had been in ROTC at the University of Oklahoma, and he played for a season with the Buffalo Bills. He was on the same team as Jack Kemp. When he was called up, he could have gotten out of it, but he simply didn't think it would be right, and so he went to Vietnam." - Laura Palmer

Letter by Carole Ann Paige
"Carol Paige wrote a letter that I think is, perhaps, the one that says -- it's complete, it talks about pain, it talks about loss, but it talks about healing, and it was written to Ricky Waldron, who was also with the twenty-fifth infantry division, killed October 25th, nineteen sixty-eight." - Laura Palmer

War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters who Covered Vietnam (edited by Jurate Kazickas - Laura Palmer is a contributor to the book)

Inspired by a conference which reunited many of these pioneering women. Nine women reporters recount what their war in Vietnam was like: Tad Bartimus, Denby Fawcett, Ann Mariane, Jurate Kazickas, Kate Webb, Laura Palmer, Edith Lederer, Anne Merick and Tracy Wood

From the Back Cover: “This book is about our experiences as women reporters covering the Vietnam War from 1966 until the fall of Saigon, in 1975. Each of us has written a chapter about what we saw and felt in Indochina—our adventures, fears, excitement, and the difficulties and loneliness."

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Canada
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Shrapnel Associations -Links with connections to the book

Visit the website and order the book!

"John Campbell has just completed his most important Vietnam mission: with a relentless persistence and passionate dedication he found the families and friends of every soldier who was lost from Gloucester County and let them remember the soldiers they loved the most. THEY WERE OURS will bring a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat. But you won't put this book down without feeling proud, enriched, and awed."

-Laura Palmer

Dusty's Poetry Home Page poetry by a nurse who served in Viet Nam. Letters of a Nation : A Collection of Extraordinary American Letters
by Andrew Carroll (Editor), Marian Wright Edelman
This well reviewed book includes John "Soup" Campbell's letter to Edward "Eddie" Van Every, Jr. (Shrapnel in the Heart, page 62)
Buy the hardback edition from Amazon.com

Purchase a tape of Laura Palmer discussing her book.
This is a very moving and extremely interesting talk. She describes how she came to write the book, some of the research difficulties, and what "Shrapnel" has meant to her.
Famous Door Theatre Company produced a wonderful play based on the book.
It was one of those rare evenings of theater that might change your life . . .

Life After Hamburger Hill: One Vietnam Veteran's Story by Laura Palmer The book inspired Howard Hersh to write a piece of chamber music.

The American Library Association picked "Shrapnel in the Heart" as one of the Best of the Best: Twenty-Five Years of Best Books for Young Adults

Inspired by reading Shrapnel in the Heart:

The Wall -A First Visit
-- by John F. Eden Night Rounds -A Visit to the Vietnam Memorial
-- by Marilyn Knapp Litt

Other Links

Each Day Seems to Slip Away into Dusk: Letters Home from Vietnam
--Joan McAninch Samuelson's tribute to her fiancé Michael Alan McAninch

Women on the Frontline

For many of the women journalists who covered it, the Vietnam War was a pivotal experience that profoundly shaped and influenced their personal and professional lives.

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Thanks to our visitors since August, 1998

My Vietnam Related Websites:
Women in Vietnam ~ Not only nurses served . . .
Dusty's Home Page ~ Poetry and prose by a woman who was a nurse in Vietnam
Emily's Poetry ~ By a Red Cross Donut Dolly
Battle Dressing ~ The Journey of a Nurse in Vietnam
Tim O'Brien's Home Page ~ National Book Award Winner and Americal Vet
Shrapnel in the Heart ~ The most moving book you will read on Vietnam
The Irish on the Wall ~ An effort to locate the Irish who died in Vietnam
Project Hearts and Minds ~ Help put Viet Nam back together
All About Vietnam ~ An annotated bibliography of books about Vietnam for sale thru Amazon Worldwide!
Photos from a Holts' Military History Tour ~ My trip to Vietnam, February 1998
Illinois Vietnam Women's Memorial ~ Honoring all the Illinois women who served

My Other Websites:
Chicago Theatre Z - A ~ This is the best theater town in the country!
Writers Theatre of Chicago ~ And this is the best theater in town
Literature of the Korean War ~ Don't let the literature be forgotten
Poetry of the First World War ~ Owen, Hardy and others
Samuel Pepys ~ One of my favorite authors
Gil Thorp ~ THE Coach
Maybe Later . . . ~ My Creative Nonfiction
Chi-COW-go ~ Cowz plus Commentary (this used to be a cow town)
Graham Fulton, Scottish Poet ~ Charles Manson Auditions for the Monkees
Soccer Literature ~ I'm a fan and I read
O'Leary Lantern ~ Fire! Fire! Fire!

Other Important Websites:
PreviewPort.com ~ Connecting Authors and Writers Worldwide
Remember Oklahoma City ~ Civil Service and Military Employees will never forget

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Page last updated August 17, 2003

	Buy Shrapnel in the Heart from Amazon [paperback] or [paperback from the UK]
		Leave a letter of your own

Letter by Eleanor Wimbish "Eleanor Wimbish was the mother of Billy Stocks, who died in 1969. He was with the 23rd infantry division. She left many letters to him at the wall, she would leave a picture there. And I think her voice, for me, became the voice of every mother." - Laura Palmer	Why God "Bob Kalsu was the only pro football player who died in Vietnam. He was -- had been in ROTC at the University of Oklahoma, and he played for a season with the Buffalo Bills. He was on the same team as Jack Kemp. When he was called up, he could have gotten out of it, but he simply didn't think it would be right, and so he went to Vietnam." - Laura Palmer
Letter by Carole Ann Paige "Carol Paige wrote a letter that I think is, perhaps, the one that says -- it's complete, it talks about pain, it talks about loss, but it talks about healing, and it was written to Ricky Waldron, who was also with the twenty-fifth infantry division, killed October 25th, nineteen sixty-eight." - Laura Palmer

United States	United Kingdom	Germany	France
[hardback]	[hardback]	[hardback]	[hardback]
Canada
[hardback]

Shrapnel Associations -Links with connections to the book
Visit the website and order the book! "John Campbell has just completed his most important Vietnam mission: with a relentless persistence and passionate dedication he found the families and friends of every soldier who was lost from Gloucester County and let them remember the soldiers they loved the most. THEY WERE OURS will bring a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat. But you won't put this book down without feeling proud, enriched, and awed." -Laura Palmer
Dusty's Poetry Home Page poetry by a nurse who served in Viet Nam.	Letters of a Nation : A Collection of Extraordinary American Letters by Andrew Carroll (Editor), Marian Wright Edelman This well reviewed book includes John "Soup" Campbell's letter to Edward "Eddie" Van Every, Jr. (Shrapnel in the Heart, page 62) Buy the hardback edition from Amazon.com
Purchase a tape of Laura Palmer discussing her book. This is a very moving and extremely interesting talk. She describes how she came to write the book, some of the research difficulties, and what "Shrapnel" has meant to her.	Famous Door Theatre Company produced a wonderful play based on the book. It was one of those rare evenings of theater that might change your life . . .
Life After Hamburger Hill: One Vietnam Veteran's Story by Laura Palmer	The book inspired Howard Hersh to write a piece of chamber music.

Inspired by reading Shrapnel in the Heart:
The Wall -A First Visit -- by John F. Eden	Night Rounds -A Visit to the Vietnam Memorial -- by Marilyn Knapp Litt