LaRue's Maneuvers

It's the late 1960s, and the rock 'n' roll generation is coming of age in the oppressive shadow of an unpopular war. Tucked away in an army psychiatric ward, Jesse Danbar is hiding in self-induced amnesia, haunted by a tragedy shrouded in a "fearful darkness" of guilt and self-recrimination and decorated by his country for combat heroism he knows nothing about. Under the nom de plume 'LaRue', Danbar writes curious poems that evolve into a memoir he hopes will illuminate his past and...
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It's the late 1960s, and the rock 'n' roll generation is coming of age in the oppressive shadow of an unpopular war. Tucked away in an army psychiatric ward, Jesse Danbar is hiding in self-induced amnesia, haunted by a tragedy shrouded in a "fearful darkness" of guilt and self-recrimination and decorated by his country for combat heroism he knows nothing about. Under the nom de plume 'LaRue', Danbar writes curious poems that evolve into a memoir he hopes will illuminate his past and release him from its clutches. From the Battle of Michigan Avenue to student rebellion in Paris to Age of Aquarius California to military headquarters and secretly tender and also sinister places in Vietnam, to a not-so-safe haven on the New England coast, he battles to find himself and the will to live. The truths he learns about war and life and love transcend anything he could have imagined. They are as relevant today as in another time when a well-intentioned America lost its way and stumbled into tragedy.The author is donating his proceeds from the sale of LaRue's Maneuvers to veterans' causes.