Content area
Full text
The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton Marc sis Stackpole Books, 2024, 240 pages
Some military history authors simply possess the aptitude to select quality book subjects. These could be topics that are interesting to the public, center on a completely overlooked event or person in history, or key on an event or person deserving of far more attention from the public. One author who clearly owns this ability is Marc Leepson. During his illustrious career, he has crafted many books that embody the above characteristics. His latest book, The Unlikely War Hero, focuses on a subject that is incredibly interesting, has been clearly overlooked in the past, and demands to be known by the public for his extraordinary contributions to our Nation and the Armed Forces.
Leepson's journey from selecting a subject to completed book was a long one. Over twenty-five years ago, he read an article regarding the Vietnam prisoner-of-war (POW) story of Doug Hegdahl. The author not only believed it would make an excellent book but also a movie in the future. Leepson and a screenwriter/ director went to visit Hegdahl to set the conditions for both. It appears the trio had a good talk, but Hegdahl soon told them he was no longer interested in any further dialogue.1
Decades passed, and after Leepson had crafted six highly successful books, he wanted to once again pursue a book on Hegdahl. The author attempted to get in contact with him, but there were no return emails or phone calls. Leepson did not let this deter him. With the assistance of many past interviews of Hegdahl and augmented by the assistance of Hegdahl's former POWs; a book, The Unlikely War Hero was created.
Within its pages, Leepson tells Hegdahl's incredible story. For most, the name and his story will be totally unfamiliar. Consequently, it is necessary to address the series of events that Leepson superbly details in the book.
On 6 April 1967, Hegdahl, a U.S. Navy seamen apprentice, fell from the USS Canberra in the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea. No one, including Hegdahl himself, truly knows how he wound up in the water.2 However it occurred, he was not...