In That Time

Michael O'Donnell and the Tragic Era of Vietnam

By: Daniel H. Weiss

Narrated by: Daniel H. Weiss

Through the story of the brief, brave life of a promising poet, the president and CEO of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art evokes the turmoil and tragedy of the Vietnam War era.

In That Time tells the story of the American experience in Vietnam through the life of Michael O'Donnell, a bright young musician and poet who served as a soldier and helicopter pilot. O'Donnell wrote with great sensitivity and poetic force, and his best-known poem is among the most beloved of the war. In 1970, during an attempt to rescue fellow soldiers stranded under heavy fire, O'Donnell's helicopter was shot down in the jungles of Cambodia. He remained missing in action for almost three decades.

Although he never fired a shot in Vietnam, O'Donnell served in one of the most dangerous roles of the war, all the while using poetry to express his inner feelings and to reflect on the tragedy that was unfolding around him. O'Donnell's life is both a powerful, personal story and a compelling, universal one about how America lost its way in the 1960s, but also how hope can flower in the margins of even the darkest chapters of the American story.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Daniel H. Weiss (P)2019 PublicAffairs

Critic reviews

"Poignant...Weiss brilliantly evokes O'Donnell's fatal mission and the toll his MIA status took on his loved ones...As a précis on the tragic place Vietnam holds in the American consciousness...this slim book succeeds admirably." (Publishers Weekly)

"They called it the pucker factor--the helplessness you felt riding in a chopper taking fire from below. It took half a century to dull those memories. Dan Weiss brought them back in one chapter." (James Sterba, Vietnam correspondent, New York Times, 1969-1970)

"Dan Weiss has told a compelling story about the creative and artistic spirit of one soldier, but learning about Michael O'Donnell forces us to remember that there were more than 58,000 such stories of lives cut short; wives, parents, and siblings left behind; children unborn; songs not sung; and poems not written. Each of these deaths is like a jagged scar on the soul of our nation, made all the more infuriating for having occurred as part of a poorly explained and inconclusive war. In That Time reminds us what happens when leaders fail, that at the end of every bullet is someone's son or daughter, someone like Michael O'Donnell." (William S. Cohen, secretary of defense, 1997-2001)

Brilliantly done

Analysis of Vietnam war is brilliantly summarized. Story of Michael O’Donnell represents the true tragedy of the war. I read it twice.

Poignant, full and tragic

I find it helps to understand a great event, particularly a tragic one, to know a small part of the much larger event.

I bought this audiobook as it promised to illuminate one life lost to the Vietnam tragedy. The young man whose life was lost before he had opportunity to live much at all. Those who loved him who were changed forever by the void his loss left in their lives.

This book does that while also explaining the military mystery surrounding his loss. It tells the complete story of rediscovery, exactly how the deep, hidden, jungle scene of his loss was found, and how his remains were recovered many decades later. It is a complete story that helps one understand the terrible consequences of war - all wars - on those who fight, and those who love them and suffer without end when they are taken. This is a complete story of loss, of just one of many wonderful lives cut short in a terrible war. Narration is earnest, sincere, and professionally delivered. Highly recommend this audiobook.

A Voice for Unsung Heros

An excellent story of a very troubling time in the history of our country. Thanks!