After contacting all of the men who served with her father, Karen returns to Vietnam to visit where her father died. The death of her father affected the whole family in a negative way. The whole family would not talk about their feelings. She and her brother felt abandoned by her mother, she was working so hard to support the family. They both acted out, while the youngest child saw what her brother and sister did and chose not to cause their mother further grief. A very interesting read for those who grew up during the Vietnam era. ( )

When David Spears was killed in Vietnam in 1966, he left behind a wife with a 9th grade education and 3 small children. His wife, Shelby, didn’t know how to cope with her grief or help her children cope with theirs. After the funeral, they never spoke about their loss and Shelby turned to booze and other men for comfort. When she realized what it was doing to her children, she turned things around by getting her GED, LPN certification and finally her RN degree. Hero Mama is a moving tribute to her written by her middle child, Karen Spears Zacharias. It tells of the family’s struggles and triumphs. It moved me to tears more than once. The end of the book tells of the author’s journey to find out exactly what happened on the day her father was killed. While I understand her need to discover this, I found the details a little long. ( )