The PBS National Memorial Day Concert performed “Vietnam Valor and Brotherhood”, the story of two soldiers — Brad Kennedy and Ernest “Pete” Peterson — who formed a brotherhood while serving in the 11th US Cavalry in Vietnam, a.k.a. the Blackhorse Regiment. The two now meet each year at the Vietnam Wall to remember those who died.
One of the soldiers, Plain View Press author Brad Kennedy, published Betrayal: Will Stone in Vietnam (2012). A literary fiction novel, Betrayal examines honor and loyalty — personal, social, military, and political. The story raises questions of American foreign policy and military strategy, and goes deeper to ask, “What price must a man pay to remain moral? Are we all brothers? What is worth dying for?”
“Vietnam Valor and Brotherhood” was performed by actor Dennis Haysbert (24, MAJOR LEAGUE) as Pete Peterson, and Joe Mantegna as Brad Kennedy. Hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise, the 30th annual National Memorial Day Concert was broadcast Sunday, May 26, 2019, and is available as Video on Demand, May 26 to June 9, 2019.
http://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/features/vietnam-valor-brotherhood/
Pam,
Sorry to be so tardy in getting back to you. What you saw and heard Memorial Day 2019, is actually the tip of the iceberg. This story has been told before in my book Betrayal, available since 2012.
I have done public readings at book fairs and other venues in NY, NJ, and PA. In Betrayal, the story is told with the authenticity and richness it deserves.
This is fiction, but as Thomas Wolfe, the great novelist of the 1930’s and 40’s said, “All serious fiction is autobiographical.”
One testament to Betrayal’s authenticity is we mentioned one fallen soldier by name during the Memorial Day Program.
Two weeks later, we received correspondence from that soldier’s family still in a quest for closure, then some 50 years later. I sent them an electronic copy of the book with page references to the numerous passages involving him. After that, we exchanged several letters back and forth. It seemed to bear witness to the truth in the old maxim, ‘For every soldier that falls, there’s always another who remembers him.’
Pam, had this wonderful story been told before this year? I actually thought I’d heard it before now.