'Vietnam Experience' comes alive in local couple's new book
A prolific Arlington Heights couple has created another history book -- filled with more than 200 images and rare facsimiles of actual documents -- this time tackling "The Vietnam War Experience."
Gerry and Janet Souter will sign copies of the hardcover book from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Arlington Heights' ChristkindlMarkt at North School Park, 410 N. Arlington Heights Road.
All told, the Souters have written about 35 books. This one comes on the heels of another ambitious project. "The Founding of the United States Experience: 1763-1815" was published a year ago and also featured pull-out documents like those in the new book.
"We're just tireless search engines," Gerry Souter said. "That's our forte--it's like digging for buried treasure."
"Vietnam" is another in the "Experience" series published by London-based Carlton Publishing Group.
"Many books have been written about Vietnam," Souter said. "Our challenge was to add something to the body of literature that presented a micro look behind the big picture of battles and politics."
The couple said they targeted their book to people interested in military and social history who want to examine the war from a distance, as well as to veterans and their families who lived it.
"The book will basically appeal to anyone interested in how we found ourselves in the war," said Janet Souter, who works at the Daily Herald as a community news coordinator for the Neighbor section. She unearthed many of the documents reproduced in the book and completed its early editing.
The authors trace the history of the war, from President Truman's 1945 attempt to mediate the conflict with Ho Chi Minh, through the Tet Offensive in 1968, the Battle of Hamburger Hill and the fall of Saigon in 1975.
Along the way, they insert reproductions of top-secret memos, telegrams, reports, maps and letters, as well as more personal items, including a comic book designed to teach soldiers how to clean their M-16 rifles and Christmas cards painted by prisoners of war.
They hope such artifacts bring the war experience home to their readers.
"It's one thing to read about a telegram sent from Ho Chi Minh to President Truman," Janet Souter said, "but to hold the telegram in your hand makes it all the more real."
Researching the war in such depth gave the Souters an insight into both sides of the conflict, they said, but it also led to another conclusion: how closely the stages of the Vietnam War resemble the Iraq War.
"We found ourselves looking at the cause, the politics, the commitments, battle strategies, and outcomes," Gerry Souter said, "and seeing the conflict in Iraq overlaying the same decisions at all levels that drove the Vietnam War."
If you go
What: Authors Gerry and Janet Souter signing their latest book, "The Vietnam Experience," published by Carlton Publishing Group, London
When: 1-3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Arlington Heights' ChristkindlMarkt, North School Park, 420 N. Arlington Heights Road
Cost: The book costs $24.98 at Barnes & Noble and will be available at the signing
Find the book: www.barnesandnoble.com