A family of Vietnam War
veterans, James Zumwalt (right) is pictured with his father, Admiral Elmo R.
Zumwalt, Jr. (middle), and his older brother, Elmo R. Zumwalt III (left). In a
bitter irony for the family, it was Admiral Zumwalt’s decision to use Agent
Orange during the war that ultimately sealed Elmo III’s fate. He died in 1988
from Agent Orange-related cancers. But his
death motivated Admiral Zumwalt to work
tirelessly to get the VA to recognize a correlation existed between Agent
Orange exposure and numerous cancers Vietnam veterans were suffering. Both James
and his father returned to Vietnam in 1994 to seek its assistance in conducting
a joint US/Vietnam study on the lasting effects of the chemical defoliant. That
visit inspired James to return to Vietnam repeatedly to interview its veterans
about the conflict. Those interviews led him to write Bare Feet, Iron Will - Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields, which documents the personal experiences of his former enemy's fight for independence.
