For Immediate Release

DALLAS, TEXAS: Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes: A Vietnam War Story by Marjorie T. Hansen

Through her husband’s letters from Southeast Asia about his combat missions in Vietnam and over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos in 1971 and 1972, Marjorie T. Hansen shares a gripping journey into one of the most divisive and turbulent periods in the nation’s history. Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes: A Vietnam War Story captures in a flier’s words the conflict, drama, frustration, and longing for home and family that mark combat missions. Through meticulous research and compelling narrative, Marge brings to readers a chance to understand what may have been only an ongoing headline in the news for those at home or a distant episode in American history for younger readers. In her voice and Charlie’s, she shares the experience of those who serve and those who support them. Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes is a story of enduring love that played out all over the world: Japan, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Alabama, California, Hawaii, South Vietnam, North Dakota, Texas, and even to a remote jungle base in the war zone on the Laotian-Thailand border.

For Marge and Charlie the legacy of the Vietnam War continued as both would face the effects of Agent Orange—he from his assignment to front-line bases and she from her visit to him at one of those bases. Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes recounts the story of one war, one humble hero, one marriage, and one family. This book stands for all those whose voices have not been heard. The powerful book will bring about a renewed dialogue on current national policies affecting Vietnam War veterans and families. For many, the Vietnam War will never end.

Review:

Marge's youngest son, Chris, wrote the "First Book Review" for his mom after reading her manuscript.

From the first sentence of the book—“We stood on the runway at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (NKP) February 3, 1972, holding each other as I fought back tears and desperately tried to smile as we said good-bye,” Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes is a unique journey into one of the most divisive and turbulent periods in the nation’s history told by Charlie Hansen in his letters to Marge written in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. From Charlie’s letters and Marge’s accompanying words comes a historically accurate reminder of what was happening on both the war front and the home front in 1971 and 1972.

His letters, the heart of the book, give the reader a glimpse into the great love that two people had for each other even though they were 8,000 miles apart and provide a tender look at a loving husband and father who yearned to be with his wife and his young sons. From describing combat missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the heartbreaking scene watching Vietnamese widows grieve over the bodies of their fallen heroes, the letters also give the reader an intimate view of a military family dealing with adversity, loneliness, fear, and sacrifice like thousands of other families who waited at home during the Vietnam War.

Through the eyes of an air force wife, Marge tells their love story that played out all over the world from the campus of Florida State University to Japan; from Florida’s white sand beaches to the rugged California coastline; to Hawaii, to South Vietnam; and to a remote jungle base in the war zone on the Laotian border in Thailand; from the frozen plains of North Dakota to deep in the heart of Texas. Marge lovingly tells Charlie’s story – about his commitment he made to a life of service when he was a child growing up in East Point, Georgia serving as an acolyte in the Episcopal Church when he was only nine years old. Charlie received an honor appointment to the United States Naval Academy, graduating with the Class of 1956, Company 13. He was commissioned into the United States Air Force which led to a twenty-year air force career and a twenty-year engineering career after his retirement from the air force. His life of service to others made a difference.

The book will grab you and hold you close much like Marge and Charlie held each other on the hot, humid NKP runway in 1972.

Brave Warriors, Humble Heroes: A Vietnam War Story is not only about a disastrous war and an enduring love, it introduces an important story that is far from over. The powerful book will bring about a renewed dialogue on current national policies affecting Vietnam War veterans and families. For many, the Vietnam War will never end.