Bøger af Ronnie D Foster

"One Day As A Lion" Is a work written by a McKinney, Texas, resident about local boys. But these subjects of the book form part of a tragic sphere. The 21 subjects, who each command a chapter, were all young men from Collin County who died serving their country in the Vietnam War. That was the hook for me. The truth is, I cracked open this book knowing little about the war. Perhaps this is an indictment of our education system, but I had never studied the Vietnam War, not in high school, not in college. We spent weeks learning about England in the 1500s, but not a single minute about one of the most tumultuous periods in this nation's history. So it was that I had a deeper mission in mind than just finding out about local heroes when I opened "One Day As A Lion." Foster snagged me in the first chapter. Ronnie Foster served in Vietnam, and it's obvious early on that there was a greater sense of purpose guiding his fingers across the keyboard in the creation of this work. A former Marine, Foster knows what he's talking about, and it's that inside knowledge that really helps move this book along. When Foster talks about life in the rice paddies, it's obvious he knows what he's talking about. But the Collin County men who lost their lives in country are at the heart of "One Day As A Lion." Young men like Royce Glenn Scoggins and Charles W. "Bill" Bryan left their homes and family in McKinney to willingly serve their country and never came home. Foster's purpose in allowing us to get to know these young men is to bring the war home and make it more real. "One Day As A Lion" is an unflinching look at war. It gets up close and personal and pulls no punches. If you're looking for a candy-coated collection of obituaries, look elsewhere. Nearly every chapter deals with the life and death of local soldiers. Their time in Vietnam is chronicled, as is the way each of them died. At times, the book is a hard read simply because the reader gets to know these young men as more than names at the beginning of a chapter, yet their fate is already cast. "One Day As A Lion" is an emotional roller coaster, but it is a must-read for anyone wanting to know more about what happened half a world away some 35 years ago. Well-written and factual without being overly so, "One Day As A Lion" is an entertaining and intriguing read. Oh, and what of the title? It comes from an old Tibetan proverb: "It is better to have lived one day as a lion than to live ten thousand years as a sheep." Fitting.

In 1950 the army of communist North Korea, in a vicious and merciless attack, invaded the free Republic of South Korea, murdering everyone who got in their way, and the United States found itself in another war. With the war in Korea coming just about five years after the end of WWII, the world was not interested in hearing about more death and destruction. Partly due to apathy and the fact that most families were still trying to put their lives back together after the last war, the Korean War became known as the "Forgotten War". In one of the most bloody and savage campaigns in our history, our boys, although under trained, out armed and outnumbered at almost every battle, fought valiantly and courageously. Hundreds of young Collin County Freedom Fighters left their homes and families, donned the uniform and traveled halfway around the globe in the never-ending fight for freedom. Twenty-six boys didn't come home. These are their stories. "A soldier is not dead until he is forgotten."

On the Wall of Honor at the Veterans Memorial Park in McKinney, Texas, are the names of over 425 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines from Collin County, Texas, who gave their lives in the service of our country. From the Great War - World War I, are the names of 71. Thirty-four died in combat or as a result of wounds received. The Spanish Flu pandemic was creating havoc in all corners of the globe. Thirty-three would die of disease. These are their stories.