Soldier Hill — Requiem For a Fallen Soldier

The road to becoming a writer

As a kid, the Vietnam War remained a taboo subject. The personal wounds too fresh and painful for people to talk about. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, you couldn’t find a hamlet unaffected by the Vietnam War and the conflict’s fallout.

While a high school student in the ’80s, I wondered if anyone from our town had fought and died in Vietnam.

A teacher mentioned a guy who graduated, joined the Army, and never made it back. My teacher wasn’t sure of his name since it happened before he began his tenure at our high school.

My teacher also told me about a tree outside our high school that was dedicated to this soldier.

Jeffrey and the Tree

At the roots of this memorial rested a tablet: Jeffrey. Missing the last name with no mention of any military service. At the time, a humble tree flanking an everyday high school. Nothing extraordinary.

From that day on, my outlook changed — life punched the gas and shifted gears. After I graduated, the Board of Education built an addition to the high school. During construction, the soldier’s tree was removed and destroyed.

This ‘oversight’ fueled my muse and anguish to right this wrong. For years, the ambition to honor this soldier’s sacrifice festered. It also inspired me to become a better writer to give that sacrifice justice.

High school remains a challenging time for most of us. Looking for a way out and beyond this weird fugue. An uncertain moment of who we are and who we’re supposed to, if not destined to become.

At this juncture, life remains rich yet unknown. Anxious and exciting over what lies ahead. Full of aspirations and questions.

I decided to tackle the story through honesty and authenticity. To harken back to my own times, that lonely and confused soul, doing his best to fly under the radar.

Soldier Hill: A Personal Quest

The protagonist is a high school outsider trying to fit in and find himself. Once he learns about the unknown soldier, he develops a spiritual bond and a sense of purpose.

‘Soldier Hill’ is a coming-of-age story with a personal quest — a high school sophomore’s vision to identify with a lost soldier and discover his identity.

While the boy is out, searching for the soldier’s identity, the school decides to demolish the memorial tree. That’s when the boy must scheme to save it.

I never knew this fallen soldier or his family. Their whereabouts and if they stayed in town. The entire episode remained a mystery, adding to my quest to remember this young man’s life and sacrifice.

My goal was to explore the connection that remained alive all of these years. There’s no political ranting, and the book is neither a hawk nor a dove.

It’s about the anonymous main streets where the fighting and dying takes place. The loved ones left behind to process war, its fallout, and legacy.

Soldier Hill is about the essence of calling and sacrifice. It remains my most personal work.

I hope I succeeded.

Thank you for reading.