Make Music, Not War

Make Music, Not War: A Memoir of Vietnam is the true story of a 23-year-old husband, father, and teacher forced by his draft board to fight in a war which he didn't approve of and had no interest in. He survived psychologically by writing letters filled with romantic visions of his young wife, questions about his faith in God, and doubts about the morality of what he was doing.

This memoir is based on excerpts from the 324 letters that Leland Olson wrote to his wife Gretchen during his army basic training and tour of duty in Vietnam (1969-70). Leland was in the artillery (1st of the 82nd, D Battery, Americal Division) stationed in the Northern I Corps south of Chu Lai. He worked with a team that calculated data used to aim 8-inch and 155 mm howitzers.

Although Leland was stationed in a combat situation, he didn't see much combat, and his story is mainly about surviving the boredom of having a supporting role in the war, a role many of the soldiers who went to Vietnam played. This book is not about sweltering in the jungle or wading through rice paddies. It's about sitting in a bunker 12 hours a day using maps, charts, computers, slide rules, radios, telephones, and a guitar.

But in between fire missions, readers will meet captivating characters, share experiences they might not expect in a combat zone, and most of all, gain access to the writer's thoughts and feelings about what he experienced as reported to his wife Gretchen, who was 10,000 miles away.