" I'm the daughter and granddaughter of soldiers, and the mother of a son who recently retired from the Army after nearly 22 years of service."

Most of my "war" poetry has been inspired by people I knew who started going to VietNam in 1963, when I was 16, through to the end of the VietNam war. Some were friends, some were boyfriends, and one was my husband - we divorced later. The POW poems were mostly inspired by the man whose bracelet I wore--Maj. Jon Reynolds--and my imagination.

"I also write poems about my son, Michael T. Ream, who is a Sgt. in the Army, presently on his second "tour" in Germany. He has also served in Somalia, Korea, and just returned to Germany from Bosnia. It sometimes seems that I have been sending care packages forever!"

I'm married; live in Florida with husband, Scott, and two dogs and three cats; and am a legal secretary. I like to read and crochet and write letters and poetry. I'm researching my father's service in China during WWII, and I'm on the DAL Net "vietnamvets" channel as "ArmyMom."

This book is a collection of the main body of my war poetry, with a few non-war poems thrown in for good measure. I am the person I am today partly because of my association with these honorable people who show their best faces in times of crisis. Dedicated to my son, who has recently retired from the US Army after 22 years, it is a salute to all military people, past, present, and future. Here's to the American Military and the folks who support them, with a special thanks to military troops from around the world who are our allies!