Wayne's War — Burton '66

By Wayne Myles Burton, Class of 1966

Wayne’s War chronicles the author’s experience as a staff officer and company commander in the 9th Infantry Division during Operation Speedy Express in 1968–69 in the Mekong Delta. Grounded in the 240 letters he wrote to his wife during this time, as well as experiences before and since, he describes the conflict between duty and conscience he encountered at a personal level that the country experienced nationally, both during the Vietnam War and the decades that follow. His unit’s mission of winning the hearts and minds of the people through mechanisms bordering on genocide begets his disillusionment, causing him to rethink most of what he’d been taught to believe. His later life builds on his new beliefs, sending him on pathways he never anticipated before participating in the war.

- From the publisher.