Hero Mama: The Mother Who Held Her Family Together

Ms. Zacharias talked about her memoir Hero Mama: A Daughter Remembers the Father She Lost in Vietnam--and the Mother Who Held Her Family Together, published by William Morrow, at the New School for Social Research in New York City. In the book she described her childhood growing up in a single-parent household after her father died in Vietnam in 1966 and remembered growing up in a trailer home in Tennessee watching her brother experiment with drugs while her mother put herself through nursing school. Ms. Zacharias talked about the sacrifice of families who lose men in war and about her own family. She showed video of clips of her father’s home movies, including scenes from Vietnam. She also showed video from her 2003 trip to Vietnam. Former Senator Kerrey then interviewed her and Joe Galloway, author of We were Soldiers Once ... And Young which also includes the stories of families. Ms. Zacharias also answered questions from members of the audience. close