JT Caldwell’s debut novel, The Chaplain’s Assistant; God, Country and
Vietnam, is the story of opera singer Ted Bertson’s three wars – against the Army when he’s drafted to Vietnam, against various enemies in Vietnam and later, after his discharge – against the enemies within him.

This fictionalized account is every bit one man’s war memoir as it is a unique story of battles fought, ordeals endured, friends lost, and the absurdities that are part and parcel of the killing and mayhem that is warfare.

Much has changed with how we fight wars but little is different with a
soldier’s account of the war he is in and the war he leaves behind; the fear, the dreams, and all too often, the struggle to fit back into a life that can neither be resumed or repeated. For better or for worse, Caldwell captures it all and leaves us a little battle scarred in the process.

The Chaplain’s Assistant; God, Country and Vietnam is a must read for veterans of all recent wars, students of history and families of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.