“This book is a MUST READ for anyone who lived through the Vietnam era, those who served and those that didn't serve. This book might help those wives, family members who never really understood the experience in which over 50,000 men and women lost their lives in a country we had never even heard about until "the war."

This is the story of the men and women who were drafted or volunteered to serve and came home to chants of "baby killer" and worse....the interesting makeup of the book contains first person stories but also intermittent chapters called Veteran Voices of service people with significant thoughts to which all service people regardless of rank or country can relate.

As a Donut Dolly who served, I think this book is a best seller for its conception, its mission and the healing it can provide to those who served and those that didn't. It truly honors our 50,000+ that we lost and allows the perspective of time to those who served to heal and understand the mutual experience of a "war" that seemed to have no meaning at the time.”

Mary M

“Everyone who knows a Vietnam Vet should read this, it explains a lot of why they have anger and trust problems. I was married to a Vietnam Veteran until he passed away in 2015 from cancer caused by exposure to Agent Orange. This book helped me understand some of his darkest moments. We were married 33 wonderful years, but he had anger problems that made some of the times difficult. I would encourage the family members of the Vietnam Vets and anyone that is in a relationship with a Vet to read this. It is written in an easy to read and understand format. I feel much better after reading it, just wish my John could have read it also. He would not have felt so alone.”

Karen M

“I’ve never told you just how much WHEN WE CAME HOME helped me with the anger and bitterness I had felt for decades. I knew I wasn’t alone and there was tremendous comfort with that. I am forever in your debt….thank you with all my heart.”

Walter M

“I wish more of the civilian population would read it and be able to understand what these men and women went through in hell for a year and are still living with 40 to 50 years later.”

Nathleen S

“I purchased this book for my father, a Vietnam Veteran, but must confess I read it before giving it to him! The insight from this compilation will help tremendously in understanding these veterans, their feelings, and many of their behaviors. It also helps the veterans themselves to understand that what they feel is very universal among fellow veterans and their difficulty in coping upon their return was shared by many. This is the story of the men and women who were drafted or volunteered to serve and came home to chants of "baby killer" and worse....the interesting makeup of the book contains first person stories but also intermittent chapters called Veteran Voices of service people with significant thoughts to which all service people regardless of rank or country can relate.

As a Donut Dolly who served, I think this book is a best seller for its conception, its mission and the healing it can provide to those who served and those that didn't. It truly honors our 50,000+ that we lost and allows the perspective of time to those who served to heal and understand the mutual experience of a "war" that seemed to have no meaning at the time.”

Crystal H

“Jack McCabe has done a masterful job, of outlining the lives of these young American in Viet Nam, before they lost their innocence, in that land 15,000 miles from home and all that they knew to be real and safe. He delved into their backgrounds, their needs, their desires, then follows them to Viet Nam, and their year, or more of service to the Vietnamese people.

For those who have never been there, or any other war-torn country, it changes one's
perspective on life, and death. And death, that unwanted visitor, shadows one for that time, "in country". This story touches the heart strings, as it is told over the 371 pages of his book, and then to some, the story came home with them. Most of these young men's stories came home with them, in one way or another, either a physical wound, or by emotional scar.”

Larry M

“An unusual story about the war in Vietnam, told from the perspective of those who were part of a tragic event and by their families and their friends. One doesn't always get to know how the people who loved the victims felt, then and for years after, but Jack McCabe was able to reach out to many of the families, wives, and others and help us to understand the many emotions that follow the funerals or the physical recoveries of those involved.
I have read many books about the involvement of Americans in Vietnam. I rank this one as one of the best.”

VNDD

“A different War Story. As a Vietnam Vet myself I found this book to be one of the best I have read. It brought up memories and emotions that moved me. I highly recommend it.”

Cornelius M

“I graduated from high school a month before the action described in Those Left Behind. As unjustifiable as the war was in many ways, the courage and love and the examples set for the future, by people like the men in this book, will live on. Thank you for writing this.”

Gregory C

“This was the best written book I have read! Knowing the family it was a very insightful book and was very graphic in its content. We finally found out what really happened to our family's loved one. Highly recommend!”

Marcia H

“McCabe did a great job researching and writing the book. My cousin died as a result of injuries sustained on the 999. Over the decades there were many questions on events leading up to, during and after the disaster. McCabe’s book answered most of these questions with clarity and detail.
Many thanks for shedding light on a tragedy that happened long ago in a distant land.”

Patrick K

“Jack McCabe tells of visiting Chicago and returning to his childhood neighborhood for the first time in many years. Much had changed. Some houses have gone, others have expanded losing their former charm. But memories flood back. Before long he is writing them down.

The area is small, just a few blocks on the northwest side of the city. That is its richness. To know the story, McCabe says, you need to know the coordinates. They are the boundaries of his childhood set in a particular time and place, but the experience of calling them back to life is universal.

In this collection of vignettes covering his years up to high school, McCabe relives what Jean Shepherd – his book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash inspired the movie A Christmas Story – dubbed the “jungle of Kidhood” and in an almost Shepherd-like way. It is a world of family, crazed neighbors, goofballs and bullies, gigantic or wizened nuns, tender moments, boyhood capers, and flirtations with hilarity and disaster. Somehow he emerges from it, much to his continuing surprise possibly. Not everyone did.

These stories are told, as they would be over a couple of drinks, with humor and an eye to human foible and the absurdities of life. There is nostalgia for something lost and hints of darkness. Yet in no time at all I was laughing.”

Brian S

“This is a joyful and at times sad memoir. It made me laugh out loud to read of his adventures. Jack was a thoughtful boy, not at all times perfect as none are, and aware of other’s feelings too.

The descriptions of family and friends and neighbors are so clear and I felt like I knew them. And what a time he had with his different nun teachers. In the end, one instilled a love of reading for him.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and didn’t want to put it down and was sad when I finished it. I recommend it to all from his generation and to the next generations too.”

Mama B

“I am loving the book! It makes me laugh out loud and then almost cry on another page. Your writing makes me feel like I was there.”

Pat W

“The stories transported me back to my childhood, which for me, was a wonderful time in my life. Congratulations to you Jack and thank you for providing me with some awesome recollections.”

Ed H

“What a delightful memoir!! I thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane.”

Kris P