Born From War: A Soldier’s Quest to Understand Vietnam, Iraq, and the Generational Impact of Conflict

2025 Nonfiction Book Awards, Gold Winner
2025 PenCraft Book Award, Non-Fiction - War, Second Place
Finalist, 2025 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Awards

“As a father and a multi-tour Vietnam veteran, I struggled to explain my war and my voluntary service in it to my children. Reading about author Patrick Naughton’s similar experiences in his family helped me understand that broad generational gap that confounded so many of us between our war and what was faced by younger veterans of America’s global war on terror. What we had between seminal events was more than a simple failure to communicate. The insights provided by Naughton’s Born from War are enlightening and invaluable.” ― Capt. Dale Dye, USMC (Ret.), author, actor and filmmaker

Patrick Naughton’s father barely spoke of his time in Vietnam to his family, yet his service was the sole reason Patrick joined the U.S. Army as a teenager. Patrick Naughton Sr served in Vietnam with the 82nd Airborne and advising the South Vietnamese Army, while Patrick himself would serve in Iraq. Three decades of history and politics divided their service yet the similarities between their experiences are undeniably striking.

Patrick’s attempts to understand his father led to a search for those who served with him in Vietnam, an examination of the personal relationship of a father and son whose few connections have been war, and a quest to understand war and its undeniable generational influence. The result is an engaging and eye-opening weaving together of the combat experiences of two generations of a military family.

From the failure of grand stratagem, through personal combat stories, and the memories of those lost—America’s wars against communism and terror are laid raw through the experiences of one family.

Table of Contents

Prologue – By God, we've kicked the Vietnam syndrome
Chapter 1 – What are you going to do with your life
Chapter 2 – Get out of this house
Chapter 3 – He never wanted to worry me
Chapter 4 – Singing when the lights went out
Chapter 5 – A little pissant war
Chapter 6 – He cried on the way home
Chapter 7 – I finally had my war
Chapter 8 – A breaking point
Chapter 9 – Huh, looks like Vietnam
Chapter 10 – My men are a strange group
Chapter 11 – No VC here
Chapter 12 – The grenade belonged to him
Chapter 13 – Must get some rest now
Chapter 14 – Charlie’s shit is weak
Chapter 15 – Luckily the beer arrived
Chapter 16 – Disgusted with the whole business
Chapter 17 – The majority of the company has gone
Chapter 18 – The best part was the hot water
Chapter 19 – Killing people is the easiest thing in the world
Chapter 20 – The equal of the VC
Chapter 21 – Your dad did some really heroic stuff
Chapter 22 – The days are still long
Chapter 23 – Arrived down under
Chapter 24 – Is your Battalion Vietnamized
Chapter 25 – We are still killing Cong
Chapter 26 – The most unhappy thing
Chapter 27 – Vietnam Fini
Chapter 28 – You don't know what the fuck you're talking about
Chapter 29 – They threw as much gas on the fire as they could
Chapter 30 – Still a nightmare that wakes me up
Chapter 31 – I always wear my boots
Chapter 32 – We were looking for George Washington
Chapter 33 – Defend to the Death
Chapter 34 – The mission is to destroy the enemy
Epilogue – Vietnam is still with us