Thirty five years. That's right....after returning from South Vietnam on March 23, 1969, it took author Kerry "Doc" Pardue 35 years to summon up the verve to write about his one year stint as a combat medic in one of the most unpopular wars America has ever engaged in. Graduating from high school in 1966 from Chicago Heights, Illinois, Pardue attempted college for a year. After deciding to take a scholastic hiatus and work for awhile, Uncle Sam decided otherwise for the author as the war drums were loudly beating in S.E. Asia and Kerry was needed. Rather than allowing himself to be drafted and risking the chance of being sent to the front lines as an infantryman in a very deadly war that would ultimately claim over 58,0000 American lives, Kerry enlisted as a combat medic. Falsely being advised that he would be stationed at a secure hospital, Kerry would find out the hard way that the majority of medics with his military occupational specialty were destined to serve with infantry units on the front lines. The author was ultimately assigned to "The Scouts," 2/47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. In his book the "Poems in the Keys of Life," Pardue gives the reader a very emotional, vicarious description of what he witnessed, experienced and after over three decades and careers as a police officer, postal worker and college recruiter, unlocks from his subconscious concerning the unimaginable horrors of war. The Vietnam War was the longest in U.S. history, until the war in Afghanistan that began in 2002 and continues at this writing (2014). It was extremely divisive in the U.S., Europe, Australia and elsewhere. Because the U.S. failed to achieve a military victory and the Republic of South Vietnam was ultimately taken over by North Vietnam, the Vietnam experience became known as "the only war America ever lost." It remains a very controversial topic that continues to affect political and military decisions today. Nevertheless, Kerry Pardue would put his life on the line to save a fellow "brother," going into battle elbow to elbow with other infantry soldiers facing the same adversities while serving his fallen comrades. With the same mercy and tenderness the author showed on the battlefield, Pardue recreates this passion through the inspirational poems this insightful book contains that both honors his Vietnam comrades he served with as well as acts as a catharsis for what most combat medics eventually deal with, the dreadful PTSD manifestation called "survivor guilt." Brice Barnes, a former colonel that Pardue served under in the 9th Infantry Division accurately describes Pardue's "Poems In The Key of Life" as follows; "His poetry accurately reflects the pathos of suffering and death, the indescribable bond that warriors faced, the simple pleasures of a cold beer, and a plethora of other activities and emotions that surrounded our daily life back in Vietnam." Those that have never faced combat or witnessed a combat medic at work are rarely cognizant that these courageous heroes risked their own lives to save the lives of others, doing everything within their power to keep our wounded alive until they could be medivaced to the rear for more skillful care. One core theme that will jump out at the readers of Pardue's poems is his wonderment at why he is alive today despite the fact that so many of his friends and comrades around him took their "last ride home" in body bags. The frailty and pain of Pardue's psyche is poignantly revealed in his poems, where watching a soldier's last earthly breath left this Doc with an unmendable emotional wound that this book could only bring solace to. Two main rules the author would learn in Vietnam was that men would die in battle and no matter how hard he tried to save them, many would die regardless. Nevertheless, Pardue maintains; "I have come away from my writings with a firmer belief in God, being a good father, an awesome grandfather, a stronger belief that we did the right thing by going to Vietnam, and a sense of peace. Although he came home from the Vietnam War over 35 years ago, the war still lives in his mind, heart and soul. Despite this, "Poems in the Keys of Life" is Doc Pardue's reflective journey that both healed and ultimately provided him with his road map home for his heart, soul and spirit.