Daniel P. Bolger

Daniel P. Bolger is the author of Our Year of War: Two Brothers, Vietnam, and a Nation Divided. From his Q&A with Deborah Kalb:

Q: Why did you decide to write this book focused on Chuck and Tom Hagel, and how unusual was it for two brothers to serve in the same platoon during the Vietnam War?

A: The idea for the book came from E.J. McCarthy, my long-time editor and now my agent. An author we both respected greatly, the late Keith W. Nolan, had been researching one of his many fine Vietnam military histories when he learned about the Hagel brothers. Sadly, Keith died before he had time to follow up. But E.J. and I talked about it and the idea really resonated. 

I had met Chuck Hagel once as a senator and once when was the secretary of defense. That time in Vietnam shaped him and his brother Tom. And their time in Vietnam in that terrible year of 1968 seemed to me to be the part for the whole, offering some real insight into what Americans did in Vietnam, and what Vietnam did to us in America.

It was—and is—pretty unusual for two brothers to serve in the same small unit. In World War II, the five Sullivan brothers died together when their light cruiser went down off Guadalcanal in...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue