Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into writing?
I am a professional photographer and former Navy Officer and Gulf War veteran. I became interested in writing and photography during high school where I was editor of the school newspaper and won a small creative writing prize. I began college as a journalism major but shifted to International Relations and Economics at Lehigh University. My dad had his own dark room when I was a young boy, so you can say photography has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father was a Korean War veteran and so when I left for the Gulf War as a young Navy Officer, he didn’t give me any advice, but instead he gave me his Minolta camera and lenses. I captured a couple of shots on our way to the Persian Gulf that helped me understand the power of photography.
What inspired you to write your book?
The inspiration comes from a desire to say thank you to our fallen heroes from WWI and WWII. Several years ago, I met a Ukrainian cab driver years ago in Vancouver who fought for the Red Army during WWII, and he told stories of the terrible atrocities of the Nazis and how cruelly they were treated by the Russians. He said the Ukrainians were stunned when the American military came to help them fight on their own soil. Some 60 years later, he was still grateful to the American GIs for their help and their generosity.
What theme or message do you hope readers will take away from your book?
The key takeaway is that these were real people, and they deserve much more than to be remembered as a statistic in a history book. They were brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and they had real dreams and aspirations but sadly they never made it home.
What drew you into this particular genre?
Photography is a perfect language to express the complex mixture of emotions one feels when visiting any of our 23 overseas WWI and WWII cemeteries. It is hard to articulate those emotions, but you can evoke those feelings in others by showing them a powerful image. Photographing Normandy American Cemetery for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings was a very moving experience for me.
What social media site has been the most helpful in developing your readership?
I am not certain, the book only recently came out so it is evolving. My website, www.NeverHomeHeroes.com/index has gotten some decent traffic, and I think LinkedIn has been impactful because many veterans use it, and there are numerous companies and organizations that try to do right by the veteran.
What advice would you give to aspiring or just starting authors out there?
After six years working on this book, it often seemed the road would never end. But you will get there. Life will try to derail you, but you just keep going. Trust your vision.
What does the future hold in store for you? Any new books/projects on the horizon?
Right now, it is all about getting these stories of our fallen heroes into as many people’s hands as possible. I have hopes for another book, but that is a ways off.
About the Author
When I was four or five years old, my Dad purchased Time-Life’s books on photography, bought a Minolta SLR camera and built a darkroom in our basement. Since that time, photography has been a part of my life.
I even remember the giant, heavy flash that ran on D-sized batteries and the smell of the leather case for his manual light meter. In my teens, Dad taught me the basics of photography on that Minolta. And today his photographs remain among our family’s most prized possessions. Though my father passed away a few years ago, I feel a special connection with him every time I pick up my camera bag.
I hope you enjoy the images here and that you find peace and tranquility in them. Perhaps your mind will drift to days gone by, or trips you have enjoyed with your family and friends; perhaps it will make you think about your next vacation. Thanks for visiting today, and please come back soon.
