Roots of defeat: a young captain's experience of the Vietnam War, 1955-1963, and what came after : a memoir of the war and what went wrong

When Captain Michael J. Frankwicz shipped out to Vietnam in 1962, he was a young paratrooper trained in the Vietnamese language and deeply committed to serving his country. What he encountered-both in the jungles of the Central Highlands and within the halls of military command-would forever alter his faith in the mission and those who directed it. Decades later, long after cancer had claimed his life, his daughter Rebecca opened a dusty binder of letters, essays, and unfinished drafts. What she found was more than a war story. It was the voice of a man wrestling with betrayal, resilience, and the cost of standing up for what's right-even when powerful systems demanded silence. Roots of Defeat weaves together Captain Frankwicz's personal letters from Vietnam with his later reflections as a veteran who came home both scarred and searching for truth. The result is not only the memoir of a soldier, but the story of a father, a man of faith, and a human being who never stopped caring for others,-even as he carried the hidden weight of war.