Died on the Fourth of July: Remembering the Men Who Gave Their Lives in Vietnam on America's Birthday

This is a book about sacrifice, love and remembrance -- the sacrifice of Americans who died in Vietnam on the Fourth of July, the love of their friends and family, and the remembrances that honor these heroes after all these years. As our Nation marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam conflict, it's fitting to look beyond the debate over that controversial war and honor the men who bravely did what their country asked of them. The stories told here are as much about the fabric of 1960s America as they are about the men who served and died. Every year on the Fourth of July, while most Americans are grilling hotdogs, watching baseball and enjoying fireworks, relatives and friends of 167 American heroes pause to remember a loved one who died serving our country in Vietnam on our Nation's birthday.

In Norfolk, Virginia, an elderly woman decorates her son's grave then goes to a veterans' hospital to take cookies to the patients.
ESPN commentator Chris Mortensen remembers the haunting scream he heard the day in 1968 when the woman across the street learned her only son had been killed.
Former San Antonio Mayor and HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros reflects on the sacrifice of a college classmate.
A Michigan family attends Mass in memory of a young man who studied for the priesthood but died a Marine.
A Marine veteran on Long Island lights a candle in memory of his fallen comrades from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines.
In Long Beach, California, a former member of Congress who served as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam pauses to reflect on a young soldier who "gave a gift to our Nation."
A woman in Kentucky thinks about the brother she never knew and wonders about what might have been.
A retired surgeon fondly remembers a vibrant young man whose life he vainly struggled to save on an operating table in Vietnam.
A man in Florida remembers a high school friend from Connecticut who never got to come home to "marry that girl and have a life."
A woman in Wyoming and her daughter send a sky lantern heavenward in memory of the father and grandfather they never knew.
These are their stories..