Our Year of War

Two Brothers, Vietnam, and a Nation Divided

By: Daniel P. Bolger

Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel

Two brothers -- Chuck and Tom Hagel -- who went to war in Vietnam, fought in the same unit, and saved each other's life. They disagreed about the war, but they fought it together.

1968. America was divided. Flag-draped caskets came home by the thousands. Riots ravaged our cities. Assassins shot our political leaders. Black fought white, young fought old, fathers fought sons. And it was the year that two brothers from Nebraska went to war.

In Vietnam, Chuck and Tom Hagel served side by side in the same rifle platoon. Together they fought in the Mekong Delta, battled snipers in Saigon, chased the enemy through the jungle, and each saved the other's life under fire. But when their one-year tour was over, these two brothers came home side-by-side but no longer in step -- one supporting the war, the other hating it.

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his brother Tom epitomized the best, and withstood the worst, of the most tumultuous, shocking, and consequential year in the last half-century. Following the brothers' paths from the prairie heartland through a war on the far side of the world and back to a divided America, Our Year of War tells the story of two brothers at war -- a gritty, poignant, and resonant story of a family and a nation divided yet still united.

Well written ... highly recommend.

I'll admit ... when I heard the intro I was apprehensive that it was written by a former general, fearing a one sided diatribe. I was pleasantly surprised to find the comments from the perspective of upper level brass and the historical lead ins to be very helpful in grasping the overall reasons for why a lot of the scenarios transpired in an objective manner. This harrowing period in these two soldier's lives is portrayed with class and dignity worthy of their sacrifice and of those who served with them.

Bolger is filled with contradictions and obvious political Bias

Book reads like a speech given at an awards ceremony and not a very good one. The Hagals are a an exceptional Brothers and their story is the backdrop for Bolger to give his slanted political opine. Bolger is left leaning and filled with vitriol towards Nixon. He leaves out the fact that Nixon’s actions got Hanoi scrambling to the negotiation table and us out of the war. He leaves out the Easter offensive when the South Vietnamese held off the North’s largest offensive ever without the help of the US troops; and that Congress would no longer fund resupplying the South Vietnamese nor would they continue to pledge air support. Bolger is quite sympathetic to the Black Panther Party, cop killers, and Vietcong Guerrillas; but a harsher critic to US Military and law enforcement. I wonder if he went to school with General Milley