New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton calls Racing Back to Vietnam a “superb, first-hand account… an honest look at one man’s personal experience during the Vietnam War.”
In 1971, United Air Force flight surgeon John Pendergrass spent much of his time in the backseat of an F-4 Phantom, racing across the skies of Vietnam. Forty-five years later, he boards an altogether different type of aircraft and heads back to Vietnam for an altogether different kind of race—an IRONMAN® triathlon.
A veteran of IRONMAN triathlons on six continents, Racing Back to Vietnam follows John’s year in combat and his return to Vietnam, revisiting a country that, for him, is bound up in history, memory and emotion. A memoir of war as seen from the skies and a reflection on life’s high adventure, John tries to reconcile the Vietnam he saw from the backseat of a fighter jet with today’s modern Vietnam.
A thought-provoking, heartfelt and gripping memoir, Racing Back to Vietnam is one man’s trip back through time on a journey of rediscovery.
About the Author
Dr. John Pendergrass is an eye surgeon, decorated Vietnam veteran, and six-time IRONMAN® triathlon competitor. A native Mississippian, he graduated from Delta State College and earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Mississippi. Pendergrass is the first person over 60 to ever compete in six IRONMAN triathlons on six continents, which served as the inspiration for his first book, Against the Odds. Pendergrass is married with three children and has practiced ophthalmology in Hattiesburg, MS for over 40 years.
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RACING BACK TO VIETNAM
Written by Dr. John Pendergrass
978-1-57826-699-9, $22.00 hardcover
978-1-57826-700-2, $9.99 eBook
Published by Hatherleigh Press.
Distributed through Penguin Random House.
Available wherever books are sold.
