Unwavering by Taylor Kiland and Judy Gray

Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Unwavering:

Hell hath no fury like a military spouse.

Quick synopsis:

The story of the POW/MIA movement during the Vietnam War.

Fact for Non-History People:

There were 591 American servicemen repatriated in 1973 from Vietnam.

Fact for History Nerds:

643,000 tons of bombs were dropped on Vietnam over the three-and-a-half-year campaign known as Operation Rolling Thunder.

My Take on Unwavering:

Sometimes you need a book to highlight something so obvious that you previously missed. Nowadays, the POW/MIA flag is ubiquitous. Even as a former Army officer, I revered the flag and found it to be a comfort in rough times knowing the sentiment behind it. However, I never really knew the actual history behind the flag. As the son of a Vietnam vet, I am doubly at fault for this oversight. Luckily, Taylor Baldwin Kiland and Judy Silverstein Gray have written Unwavering to fix my ignorance.

Unwavering follows the beginning of the POW/MIA movement during the Vietnam war. The book covers an amazing amount of ground and follows dozens of people over decades. The authors write it almost like a novel and it makes the story much easier to follow without having to dive too deeply into every nook and cranny. There is a lot of information in here that you may not have known (just like I didn’t) and it’s written with clarity and care for the people covered within the pages. I highly recommend it.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by the publisher.)

Verdict:

A great book but also an important one. Buy it here!

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