April 5, 1967: Eighteen year old Fred Leo Brown enters the U.S. Army Recruiting office and signs papers reading: Vietnam- Airborne Infantry – Volunteer. Though not a writer, he finds himself constantly sending diary-style letters to his mother. So much so, that the cumulative results represents a near daily diary from June 16, 1967 (day of induction), until October 31, 1968 a few days following him being severely wounded in combat.

An entry of his work was first published in New York’s Provincetown Review in 1968. A shortened version, Call Me No Name, would be published in 1973. Starting in the mid 1990, he started organizing his letters and connecting them with memoirs. Vietnam War Diary would be published in 1998. Includes original 800 words Grunt Vietnam War Dictionary.